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BAY CITY, Mich. — Catching a four-fish limit of walleye weighing 19.7 pounds, Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., took the early lead in the three-day Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) Mercury Championship presented by DOW Chemical.

The 50 anglers fishing the championship tournament may fish either the Saginaw River or Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron. With nearly perfect spring weather on day one — light winds and temperatures in the 60s — the pros chose to fish the bay rather than the river, counting on more and bigger fish hanging out there.

Many four-fish limits came to the scales on day one, but the pros may be forced to fish the river on day two if the prediction for high winds holds true.

To catch his bag, Courts slow-trolled nightcrawler harnesses at about 1 mile per hour, employing the same technique most of the other pros are using.

"I'm basically trolling contour lines about six miles from the mouth of the river," Courts said. "The fish are definitely post-spawn and have come out of the river and are lying in the deeper troughs.

"There are definitely good quality fish in the bay, but they're constantly moving each day. Once you find them, you can catch them; it's just finding them that's the tough part."

Rounding out the top five on Day One are: Mark Christianson, Walker, Minn. (15.13 pounds); Dave Van Oss, Appleton, Wis. (14.95 pounds); Karyl Walcher, Minneapolis, Minn. (14.18 pounds); and Bobby Crow, Paterson, Wash. (13.97 pounds).

Walcher is the oldest angler in the field at age 66.

"I'm feelin' great and had a fun day on the water," he said.

Walcher didn't find his fish until early afternoon, so he plans to return to that spot on day two and work it hard.

"I think I can do much better there," he said.

The youngest angler in the field is 23-year-old Chase Parsons of Brillion, Wis. Chase is the son of Gary Parsons, last year's PWT Angler of the Year and also a contestant in the championship.

The largest fish on day one (5.92 pounds) was caught by veteran walleye pro Keith Kavajecz of Kaukauna, Wisn. Kavajecz was using a Bass Pro keel weight in front of a single "chopper-style" spinner blade and nightcrawler harness.

"The spinner was running 11 or 12 feet down, and I was trolling just over 1 mile per hour," Kavajecz said. "There aren't a lot of walleyes where I caught that one, but there are some bigger fish. So after I caught my limit today, I went to that spot hoping to get a bigger fish or two, and it just so happened I did."

Unlike regular-season PWT tournaments, the person in the boat with the pro during the championship may not fish, only observe.

"The observer is allowed to net fish for the pro, but not fish himself," said Chip Leer, PWT tournament director. "The pro anglers are also allowed only two rods in the water at a time, and are allowed to weigh only four fish per day. Michigan law states that a walleye fisherman must stop fishing once he has kept five walleyes. By making our limit four fish per day, the pros may cull and upgrade their walleyes all day."

The same 50 anglers will fish again on day two (Saturday), then the field will be cut to the top 25 for the final on Sunday. The 50 fishermen represent 12 states, as well as Canada. Not surprisingly, the walleye states of Wisconsin and Minnesota have the most anglers represented, a total of 27.

The winner of the three-day PWT Mercury Championship will walk away with cash and a new Lund/Mercury walleye boat worth $100,000. Second place wins cash and a Starcraft/Mercury walleye boat worth $41,000.

To see the full leaderboard, go to the PWT Web site, www.professionalwalleyetrail.com. The PWT is part of the In-Fisherman Communications Network, headquartered in Baxter, Minn.

W. H. "Chip" Gross is a veteran outdoors writer and walleye enthusiast from Fredericktown, Ohio (www.chipgross.com).