FDL Cousins Win Top Prize at 43rd Annual Mercury National Walleye Tournament
16 June 2021 News
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (June 15, 2021) — Mercury Marine®, a division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), today announced the confirmed final results of the 43rd Annual Mercury National Walleye Tournament. The competition among 284 two‑angler teams took place last weekend on Lake Winnebago.
Chad and Josh Liedke of Fond du Lac took the top prize package: a LUND 1875 Impact XS multi‑species fishing boat equipped with a Mercury 150hp Pro XS outboard, a 9.9hp ProKicker and a MotorGuide trolling motor; a complementing set of accessories; and $5,000 cash. In the two days of fishing, the cousins hauled in 10 walleyes weighing a total of 23 pounds, 10 ounces — edging out the second‑place team, also with a 10‑fish total, by just over one pound.
Josh Liedke earned another distinction with this victory, becoming the first member of the winning team who also works for the sponsor of the competition. He is a die‑cast operator with Mercury Marine. “This is still unreal to me,” he said. “The reality of it hasn’t even set in.” Whereas Josh’s cousin Chad has fished the tournament for a dozen years, and once finished in the top 10, this was Josh’s first time to participate in the Mercury National.
The Liedke cousins credit their win to a strategy of fishing the deeper, muddy bottoms farther north on the lake toward Oshkosh. On both mornings the team got off to a great start, with Chad landing the team’s biggest fish — at five pounds and four pounds, respectively — as each day’s first catch. The anglers also attribute their win to moving from spot to spot. The fish, they said, were spread out. According to Josh, his cousin’s 2007 Mercury 225hp OptiMax “performed great, like it always does.” The team also relied on their boat’s Mercury 9.9hp ProKicker.
In all, this year’s field of competitors caught 1,939 walleyes weighing a total of 3,298 pounds. Throughout each day’s weigh‑in process, the Mercury release boats shuttled live fish back to the lake for release into their habitat.
Mercury, LUND Boats and MotorGuide provided prizes to the top 80 teams, with a total estimated cash value of prizes exceeding $115,000.
“After suspending the event last year as a result of the pandemic, we were delighted to resume our annual tournament this year with protocols in place to protect the health and safety of our participants. I want to thank all of our competitors for observing our revised procedures and allowing us all to enjoy a great competition,” said Michelle Kilburn, Mercury senior manager of competitive angling. “I also want to thank LUND Boats, MotorGuide and our other co‑sponsors. And, of course, many thanks go to the members of The Walleye Federation and its director, Ken Krueger, for all their hard work in making this year’s event a success. I know we can all say to the tournament participants that we’re all looking forward to seeing you under more familiar layout and operations in 2022 for the 44th annual event!”
Pictured Above: Cousins Chad (left) and Josh (right) Liedke stand with their prizes for taking the top spot in the 43rd Annual Mercury National Walleye Tournament.
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