Local Team Wins Mercury Marine National Walleye Tournament

Patience and consistency paid off for the winners in the Mercury Marine National Walleye Tournament this weekend in Fond du Lac. Ken Steffes of Pipe and Luke Schneider of Malone were the last team to have their fished weighed. They had to beat better than 30 pounds, but a final weight of 16.44 for their five fish, gave them a two-day total of 34.4 pounds for their 10 fish. Ken says he and his son-in-law Luke participated in their second Mercury Marine National Walleye Tournament and winning first place and a $13,000 check was the furthest thing from their minds. Luke says they only had one fish in the live well by 11 Sunday morning, but then the Walleye started hitting a half hour later. He says they got four more fish in about an hour and realized they had a good chance of winning the tournament. This was the 38th year for the national tournament on Lake Winnebago.

Some of the crowd watching the weigh-ins.