NASCAK WINS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
PIERRE, S.D. (Oct. 7, 2006) - South Dakota's 14- to 20-inch
slot limit turned out to be an unlikely ally for pro Richard
Nascak of Winona, Minn., as he claimed his first tour title
and $150,000 Saturday in the $675,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour
Championship on Lake Oahe.
The slot limit, which restricts anglers to three fish measuring
14 to 20 inches and just one fish over 20 inches, gave Nascak
a distinct edge as he carried a 5-pound, 12-ounce lead into
the final day of competition. With an advantage like that, a
come-from-behind victory would have been extremely difficult.
The only angler in the finals with a realistic shot at upsetting
Nascak was No. 2 seed Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., who led the
two-day opening round of competition. As the final fish was
weighed, however, the scale tipped even further in Nascak's
favor with a two-day total of nine walleyes weighing 28 pounds
compared to Allar's catch of nine walleyes weighing 20-6. Allar
earned $75,000 for finishing second.
"I went out with the plan to keep the first four fish I
caught," Nascak said. "My first fish was a 15-incher
at about 10:30 then, about 15 minutes later, I caught a 7-pounder.
By 11:30 I had my four fish and was headed in early."
Nascak caught five walleyes weighing 12-15 Wednesday while fishing
with co-angler Mike Taylor of Midland, Mich., to finish opening
day in ninth place. He then added five walleyes weighing 13-12
to his total Thursday while fishing with co-angler Dewey Watson
of Twin Falls, Idaho, to advance to the finals as the No. 2
seed with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 11 ounces. On Friday,
he caught five walleyes weighing 17-6 while fishing with co-angler
Jerome Chwierut of Lake Villa, Ill. The catch was the second
heaviest of the tournament behind a 19-3 limit on opening day
and gave Chwierut a $19,100 victory while catapulting Nascak
into the lead.
All week Nascak and Allar fished within sight of each other
just south of the Highway 212 bridge. Two other finalists -
Tom Brunz of Madison Lake, Minn., (third place, nine walleyes,
17-14, $40,000) and Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn. (sixth place,
seven walleyes, 12-15, $14,700) - also fished the same area.
All four men were trolling, and Nascak's baits of choice on
the final day were Rapala Glass Shad Raps pulled on leadcore
with new FireLine Crystal leader.
"I think I was fishing a little deeper than the other guys,"
said Nascak, who has now earned three top-10 finishes in his
FLW Walleye Tour career. "I had nearly all my line out
so I could skim the bottom at about 40 to 42 feet."
In contrast, Allar was trolling along breaklines in about 30
feet of water using new Berkley Frenzy Flicker Shads on leadcore.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn.
(fourth place, nine walleyes, 17-3, $25,000); Rick Olson of
Mina, S.D. (fifth place, six walleyes, 16-12, $14,500); BFGoodrich
Tires pro Dustin Kjelden of Brookings, S.D. (seventh place,
four walleyes, 10-8, $13,700); Richard Franklin of Bemidji,
Minn. (eighth place, four walleyes, 8-2, $6,000); Gerrick McComsey
of Fort Pierre, S.D. (ninth place, three walleyes, 8-2, $11,700);
and Troy Morris of Bismarck, N.D. (10th place, two walleyes,
5-15, $10,700).
The original field of 51 pros and 51 co-anglers representing
18 states and Canada was cut to the top 10 Thursday evening,
and opening-round weights were cleared for the final round.
Friday's weights carried over to Saturday to determine final
standings in the Pro Division.
An overall catch of 29 walleyes weighing 68 pounds, 12 ounces
crossed the stage Saturday, including five four-fish limits.
National television coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour Championship
will be provided by FSN (Fox Sports Net) on November 5. "FLW
Outdoors" airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time on FSN,
which is broadcast to 81 million U.S. households. "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.
The Pierre Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour
Championship on Lake Oahe. For more information, call 1.800.962.2034.
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 presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners'
Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye
League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series,
Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series.
These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million
through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments,
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.
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