Wisconsin's Keenan brothers capture top two spots on day one of Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It didn't take long for the Keenan family to assert its presence at the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship. Brothers Tom and Mark Keenan respectively placed first and second and established a commanding lead in the Pro Division on opening day after notching up the only two catch weights over 30 pounds.

Tom Keenan, who hails from Hatley, Wis., set the mark to beat early. One of the first pair of competitors to weigh in their fish, he and co-angler partner Jerome Chwierut of Glenview, Ill., placed five walleyes weighing 32 pounds, 1 ounce on the scale and never looked back.

“We just stuck it out there and got five good fish,” Tom said. “We didn't anticipate that much. We got a little lucky.”

There was a resounding disparity between the top five weights of the day – all caught by Wisconsin pros – and the rest of the field. Following Tom in second place was his older brother, Mark, who along with co-angler Brian Garrity of Wausau, Wis., brought in four fish weighing 30 pounds, 11 ounces. Pro Dean Arnoldussen of Kaukauna, Wis., and co-angler Trish Gauthier of Isle, Minn., placed third with five walleyes weighing 29-3. Pro Patrick Neu of Forestville, Wis., and co-angler Leo Schlauch of Suamico, Wis., placed fourth with four walleyes weighing 26-2. And fifth place went to pro Tom Zollar of Green Bay and co-angler Stephen Carpenter of Slave Lake, Alberta for four walleyes weighing 24-14.

The only other boat to top 20 pounds was that of sixth-place pro Jack Neuman of Naperville, Ill., and co-angler Greg Darsow of Billings, Mont. They caught three big fish weighing a collective 20 pounds, 7 ounces. After that, the field bunched up at around 13 pounds and under.

Big Walleye honors went the pro/co-angler team of Craig Lemieux and Mark Schleis who weighed in a 9-pound, 7-ounce fish. Lemieux, a pro from Neenah, Wis., earned $1,200 for the award and Schleis, a co-angler from Denmark, Wis., earned $600.

Deteriorating conditions played a key part in stifling many anglers' efforts today. While the day began sunny and calm, by afternoon the wind had picked up and precipitation moved in. That caused more than a few boats fishing on the open water of Green Bay to retreat into the shelter of the Fox River, and that had an impact on their catch weights.

A few of those who stuck it out on Green Bay, like Tom and Mark Keenan, were rewarded with hefty stringers and will likely face smooth sailing into the semifinals. Both brothers made roughly 20-mile runs to their fishing locations. While they weren't fishing in exactly the same spot, they admit that their cooperative effort in locating big keeper walleyes was one of the main reasons for their one-two punch Wednesday.

“Yeah, obviously we work together to find quality locations,” Tom said. “We can cover a lot more water with the two of us.”

“We share a lot of spots and knowledge,” said Mark, who hails from Appleton, Wis. “But this tournament is a little different because we usually fish together.”

Having fished together on the Master's Walleye Circuit for nine years, the Keenan brothers took team-of-the-year honors last year. Continuing the family tradition on the RCL circuit, Mark placed second earlier this year at Saginaw Bay while Tom placed eighth. In last year's RCL championship in Green Bay, Mark finished the tournament in ninth place.

But Tom counted day one of the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship as one of the most memorable in Keenan family fishing lore. “It was a great day,” he said. “It was one of the best days my brother and I have had together.”

Tomorrow the Keenans, working together, plan to move to different locations and do some practicing for the upcoming rounds. With so few boats bringing in full five-fish stringers, they both know it won't take much weight on Thursday for either of them to qualify for Friday's 12-person semifinals.

“I think it's going to be good tomorrow,” said Tom. “You don't have to get many bites to do pretty well. If I catch one 2-pounder, I think I'll be fine.”

As for the rare brother combination sitting atop the leaderboard of the $1.4 million tournament, Tom naturally hopes for more of the same in the days to come.

“It is pretty cool,” he said. “Hopefully, it will stay that way the rest of the week.”

Competition resumes at 7 a.m. Thursday at Metro Park Boat Launch on Bay Beach Road when competitors take off for the final day of the opening round. Following Thursday's 3 p.m. weigh-in at the boat launch, the field will be cut to the top 12 pros and co-anglers. These anglers will advance to the one-day semifinal round Friday where the pros will compete for a spot in the final round and co-angler competition will be decided. Only the top six pros will advance to Saturday's final round.

Catch weights are carried over during the opening round, but anglers will start the semifinal and final rounds from zero. Weigh-ins Friday and Saturday will start at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 2440 West Mason Street. A Family Fun Zone complete with children's games, interactive product displays and giveaways will be set up at Wal-Mart starting at 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.