JOHNSON LEADS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON BULL SHOALS LAKE
BULL SHOALS, Ark. (April 6, 2005) –Reigning Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour
Championship winner Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis., and co-angler Jim
Schleicher of Maxwell, Neb., caught four walleyes weighing 12 pounds,
9 ounces on Bull Shoals Lake to lead day one of the first event of
the $2.6 million 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour. Pros are competing
for a potential top award of $80,000, while co-anglers are competing
for a potential top award of $16,000. The morning started with a few
light rain showers, but the rain subsided and left anglers with mostly
overcast conditions on Wednesday. The bite, however, was tough for
much of the field. In fact, no limits were weighed. Walleyes were
reported to be in all three stages of the spawn, and anglers were
using a variety of techniques to figure out the fickle fish. While
a significant storm blew through the area Tuesday night, and some
anglers blamed that for the limited bites, Johnson didn’t share those
feelings. “Normally a storm will mess up the fishing, but in this
case I think it really helped our bite,” Johnson said. “It really
seemed to turn on all the fish – not just the walleyes. We caught
trout, bass, and walleyes throughout the day.” Johnson caught his
walleyes working crankbaits around shallow fish near deep water. He
and Schleicher only caught four walleyes all day, but all measured
20 inches or better. Rounding out the top five teams are pro Robert
Crow of Paterson, Wash., and co-angler Kenneth Brenner of Moline,
Ill. (three walleyes, 7 pounds, 6 ounces); pro Tommy Skarlis of Walker,
Minn., and co-angler Dana Delp of Lansing, Mich. (two walleyes, 7
pounds, 2 ounces); pro Mark Courts of Harrison, Minn., and co-angler
Chad Kiefer of Henderson, Col. (two walleyes, 6 pounds, 2 ounces);
and pro Chris Gilman of Chisago City, Minn., and co-angler Jackie
Perry of Milaca, Minn. (two walleyes, 5 pounds, 14 ounces). A total
of 32 walleyes weighing 96 pounds, 8 ounces were caught Wednesday.
“We were working as a team on the same type of presentations,” Schleicher
said. “We had to fight through some trout before we got the walleyes,
but that seemed to be the key. If we found trout, then we usually
found walleyes with them.” Schleicher also agreed with Johnson that
the overcast conditions helped their bite on Wednesday. Pros and co-anglers
fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day.
The FLW Walleye Tour is the world’s most lucrative professional walleye-fishing
series. At the $650,000 million Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship
on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, pros
will fish for as much as $140,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as
much as $22,000. Daily takeoffs at Bull Shoals start at 7 a.m. at
Bull Shoals Boat Dock. Thursday’s and Friday’s weigh-ins starts at
3 p.m. at the marina, and Saturday’s weigh-in start at 4 p.m. at the
Wal-Mart store located at Highway 62/412 in Flippin. The community
is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free
and open to the public. Anglers from 18 states are fishing. 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 is determined by the heaviest four-day
weight. 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
