LAMPMAN WINS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP MOLINE,
Ill.
Oct. 1, 2005)- Pro Robert Lampman of DeSoto, Wis., caught five
walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces in the two-day final round
of the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the
Mississippi River in Moline to win $125,000 - the largest award
in professional walleye fishing. "I went to one spot this morning
and worked it, worked it and worked it, but only caught one
small fish by 10:30," said Lampman, who has fished six championships
in as many years on the FLW Walleye Tour. "I thought man, this
isn't going to work, so I decided to go to a trolling bite.
When I got there, the weeds were so bad I knew it wouldn't work.
I decided to go back to what got me here, and in 15 minutes,
I put two nice fish in the boat." Lampman caught two walleyes
weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces Wednesday while fishing with co-angler
Jackie Perry of Milaca, Minn., to finish opening day in 13th
place. He then added two walleyes weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces
to his total Thursday while fishing with co-angler Jerome Chwierut
of Glenview, Ill., to advance to the final round of 10 pros
as the No. 9 seed with a two-day total of four walleyes weighing
10 pounds, 10 ounces. On Friday, Lampman and co-angler Matthew
Hiller of Ada, Mich., caught two walleyes weighing 10 pounds,
8 ounces to give Hiller an $11,000 victory and send Lampman
into the final day of competition with a 1-pound, 4-ounce lead
over Shannon Kehl of Menoken, N.D., who caught four walleyes
weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces while fishing with co-angler Keith
Strauss of Syracuse, Ind. Lampman, who finished 18th at last
year's championship in Moline, added three walleyes weighing
10 pounds, 14 ounces to his total Saturday to secure his first
FLW Walleye Tour victory by 3 pounds, 10 ounces over Kehl who
added two walleyes weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces to his catch
to finish second and earn $55,000 with a two-day total of six
walleyes weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Both Lampman and Kehl
were fishing Pool 14 all week, but that is where the similarities
in their techniques ended. While Lampman targeted wing dams
with Lindy Rigs and willow cats, Kehl trolled with No. 5 Rapala
Shad Raps in a new color called Hot Steel. "I really thought
I had the spot to win the tournament," said Kehl, who has earned
five FLW Walleye Tour top 10s in four years on the tour. "Robert
is a river rat though, and he really knows how to fish wing
dams. And generally those are the fish that win on the Mississippi
River. They did it again, here." Rounding out the top five pros
were Kevin Goligowski of Maplewood, Minn. (three walleyes, 6
pounds, 13 ounces, $20,000); Jarrad Fluekiger of Alma, Wis.
(four walleyes, 6 pounds, 1 ounce, $17,500) and Carl Grunwaldt
of Green Bay, Wis. (three walleyes, 4 pounds, 11 ounces, $20,000).
The original field of 50 pros and 50 co-anglers representing
18 states and Canada advanced to the championship following
four FLW Walleye Tour qualifying tournaments. Weights were cleared
for the final round, and final pro standings were determined
by the heaviest two-day total catch. Coverage of the Wal-Mart
FLW Walleye Tour championship will air on FSN (Fox Sports Net)
Midwest Dec. 3 at 11 a.m. Central time. Check local listings
for air times. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats,
Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye
Tour and eight other national tournament circuits offering more
than $32 million in purses through 230 events in 2006. The 27-year-old
organization is the purveyor of America's largest and most prestigious
fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Stren
Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament
Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League,
Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and
Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. 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.
For more information about the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship
hosted by the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, visit
FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information
about the Quad Cities, go to Visitquadcities.com
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