$2.6 MILLION WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR TO VISIT LAKE ERIE PORT CLINTON,
Ohio. (April 6, 2005) – The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour returns in 2005
for its fifth season, and Lake Erie near Port Clinton will host the
tour’s second stop, presented by Yamaha, April 27-30. With a $2.6
million total purse, including the no-entry-fee $650,000 Wal-Mart
FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi River near Moline,
Ill., Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and television coverage on FSN, the FLW Walleye
Tour is bigger and better than ever. As many as 150 pros and 150 co-anglers
will take on Lake Erie for their share of a $471,000 purse, including
as much as $90,000 for the winning pro and $17,000 for the winning
co-angler. Last year’s Lake Erie champion, Carl Grunwaldt, of Green
Bay, Wis., caught the majority of his walleyes on spinner rigs. He
caught his largest fish, however, on crankbaits. All his baits were
trolled on four rods with three-way rigs. He and his partner netted
more than 90 pounds of walleyes over three days. Some pros are hoping
the lake isn’t as warm this year as compared to last year, so the
crankbait bite will be even more of a factor. “When the water is cold,
pulling crankbaits over main-lake humps and other structure is the
best way to catch them,” said Ranger pro Joe Whitten of Toledo, Ohio.
Most pros agree that the largest walleyes will be caught on crankbaits,
and Whitten predicts more than 100 pounds will be needed to make the
day-three cut. Four-day weights over 120 pounds may be needed to win
the event. West Harbor Launch Ramp in Port Clinton will host daily
takeoffs each morning at 7. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins
will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in
will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4070 East Harbor Road
in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend
daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined
boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete
against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day
opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day
accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner
determined by the heaviest four-day weight. Every angler who receives
weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded
to the winner, 199 to second, 198 for third, and so on. These points
determine angler standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based
on year-end points standings will advance to the 2005 Wal-Mart FLW
Walleye Tour Championship, where a pro can earn as much as $125,000
cash for a win. The FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative
event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards
for the entire field. A guaranteed cash award of $75,000 plus potential
sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship
winner for a total pro award of $125,000. The champion co-angler will
win a guaranteed cash award of $11,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses
totaling $11,000 for a total co-angler award of $22,000. The FLW Walleye
Tour will next visit Green Bay near Green Bay, Wis., May 18-21, and
the regular season will come to a close June 15-18 on Devils Lake
near Spirit Lake, N.D. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger
Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW
Walleye Tour and seven other national tournament circuits offering
a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old
organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious
fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series,
Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart
FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish
Tour. For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs,
visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. Wal-Mart and many of
America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors
and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of
the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors
events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.
