NASCAK LEADS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON THE DETROIT
RIVER
TRENTON, Mich. (April 5, 2006) - Pro Rick Nascak of Winona,
Minn., along with his partner, Charles Dahl of Burlington, Wis.,
caught five walleyes weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces to lead day
one of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on the Detroit River
near Trenton, Mich., the first event of the 2006 FLW Walleye
Tour season. With a $2.69 million total purse, including the
no-entry-fee $675,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship
on Lake Oahe near Pierre, S.D., Oct. 4-7, and television coverage
on FSN (Fox Sports Net), the FLW Walleye Tour is bigger and
better than ever.
With a full field of 150 pros and 150 co-anglers, anglers are
competing for their share of a $503,300 purse, including as
much as $100,000 for the winning pro and $18,000 for the winning
co-angler.
Cold air and low water temperatures have made for a somewhat
tough bite during the practice days leading up to the event,
although dock talk has circulated each day about the occasional
11-pound, 12-pound and even bigger walleyes that have latched
on to anglers' jigs and handline presentations. There has also
been plenty of talk about a massive school of walleyes staging
just out of the river in both lakes Erie and St. Clair, waiting
to move into the river when the water warms just a little more.
Day one saw several of those big walleyes hauled to the scale,
including an 11-pound, 11-ounce giant caught by Kannon Kares
of Eaton Rapids, Mich., and Toby Wyatt of Clarkston, Wash.
Nascak and Dahl caught their walleyes while vertical jigging
and slipping with the current. However, unlike many of the anglers
fishing the event, Nascak was only tipping his jigs with a soft
plastic lure, rather than a minnow, to get his bites. Understandably,
he chose to keep the type of plastic lure to himself on day
one. Their walleyes came from deeper water in the 17 to 26 foot
range.
Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., along with co-angler Joe Bencze
of Bellriver, Ontario, caught three walleyes weighing 20 pounds,
2 ounces to finish day one in second place. "We were jigging
both minnows and plastics," Allar said. "We had one
other bite, and the bites were spread out throughout the day.
We caught the biggest fish first, which was about 8 pounds."
Allar fished downriver on day one, and said he plans to grind
it out in the same area on day two.
Rounding out the top five pros are Troy Morris of Bismarck,
N.D. (three walleyes, 16 pounds, 2 ounces); Mark Sak of Imlay
City, Mich. (three walleyes, 14 pounds, 14 ounces); and Darold
Swank of Pierre, S.D. (five walleyes, 14 pounds, 14 ounces).
Dahl leads the co-angler division. Pros and co-anglers fish
for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers
are Joe Bencze of Bellriver, Ontario; Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark.;
Richard Ness of Ruthton, Minn.; and Jason Romano of Wonder Lake,
Ill.
Elizabeth Park Marina in Trenton will host daily takeoffs each
morning at 7. 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 23800 Allen Road in Woodhaven,
Mich., 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 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second,
148 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 2006 FLW Walleye Tour Championship.
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 $100,000 plus
potential sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW
Walleye Tour Championship winner for a total pro award of $150,000.
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.
Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour opener on the Detroit River
will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers
in the United States on May 21 as part of the "FLW Outdoors"
television program. "FLW Outdoors" airs Sunday mornings
at 11 Eastern time. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast
internationally to more than 350 million households in such
countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia,
Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely
distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage
to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world
in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on
the American Forces Network.
Following the Detroit River tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour
will visit the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn., May 3-6
for an event presented by Yamaha. Devils Lake in Devils Lake,
N.D., will host the third regular-season event June 7-10, and
the regular season will come to a close with an event presented
by Evinrude July 12-15 on Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L.
Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart
FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart
Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners' 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. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding
$36.9 million through 241 events in 2006. FLW Outdoors also
recently announced the addition of a striped bass circuit, which
will debut in May.
For more information about 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 an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's
leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information
about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com |