ALLAR, COX LEAD WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
PIERRE, S.D. (Oct. 5, 2006) - All eyes are on professional
walleye angler Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., who caught 10 fish
weighing 28 pounds on Lake Oahe during the two-day opening round
of the $675,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship. After
catching five walleyes weighing 15-7 Wednesday with co-angler
Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., and five walleyes weighing
12-9 Thursday with co-angler Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark., Allar
will lead 10 pros into the final round, where one of them will
win the sport's most prestigious title and as much as $150,000
cash Saturday.
"The fish were pretty steady all day," said Allar,
who has earned seven top-10 finishes in his FLW Walleye Tour
career, including a second-place showing on the Mississippi
River earlier this season. "We lost a big one this morning,
but we had five in the boat by 11 a.m. Right now, I feel pretty
good about my chances."
Allar topped his closest competitor, Richard Nascak of Winona,
Minn., by 1 pound, 5 ounces in the opening round, but weights
are zeroed for the start of the finals, so he will have to continue
catching quality fish in order to secure his first FLW Walleye
Tour victory.
During the opening round, Allar caught his fish by trolling
crankbaits just south of the Highway 212 bridge. He's not alone,
however, as Nascak, Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn., and Tom
Brunz of Madison Lake, Minn., are all fishing the same area.
Steil and Brunz, Allar's teammate on tour, both made the cut
in fifth and sixth, respectively. That's four of the top six
anglers fishing the same area.
"There are some subtle points up there that the fish are
relating to," said Nascak, who caught a two-day total of
10 walleyes weighing 26-11. "There are some baitfish, too,
but no huge schools like you see down south."
Like Allar, Nascak is trolling crankbaits. Specifically, he
is pulling Reef Runners and Shad Raps on Fireline and leadcore.
Nascak's biggest asset on the water Thursday, however, turned
out to be fellow competitor Bill Ortiz of Richland Center, Wis.,
who towed him in after Nascak's lower unit went out.
Rounding out the top 10 pros are opening-day leader and BFGoodrich
Tires pro Dustin Kjelden of Brookings, S.D. (seven walleyes,
26-6); Richard Franklin of Bemidji, Minn. (eight walleyes, 26-5);
Steil (10 walleyes, 26-3); Brunz (10 walleyes, 24-7); Troy Morris
of Bismarck, N.D. (10 walleyes, 22-8); Gerrick McComsey of Fort
Pierre, S.D. (eight walleyes, 22-8); Kevin McQuoid of Isle,
Minn. (eight walleyes, 22-5) and Rick Olson of Mina, S.D. (nine
walleyes, 21-2).
Franklin and his co-angler partner Bruce Wingen of Thornton,
Colo., made the biggest comebacks of the tournament Thursday
thanks to an impressive catch of just three walleyes weighing
15-11 that boosted Franklin from 18th to fourth and Wingen from
last place to 20th.The pair's catch included a huge 10-pound,
10-ounce walleye that earned them each the Snickers Big Walleye
Award of $500.
"This reservoir has so much bait, it is just incredible,"
Franklin said. "That fish was the biggest, fattest walleye
that I've ever seen that wasn't spawning."
Cox is leading the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of
10 walleyes weighing 26-4. He landed five walleyes weighing
13-11 Wednesday while fishing with pro Ted Takasaki of East
Gull Lake, Minn., then added another five walleyes weighing
12-9 to his total Thursday while fishing with Allar. Like the
pros, co-angler weights are zeroed for the final round. Co-angler
competition, however, ends Friday afternoon with the winner
of as much as $22,000 determined by the day's heaviest catch.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are Jerome Chwierut of Lake
Villa, Ill. (10 walleyes, 24-0); opening-day leader Flow Swank
of Pierre, S.D. (eight walleyes, 23-6); Adam Adler of Oconto
Falls, Wis. (eight walleyes, 22-12); Jason Wrosch of Melrose
Park, Ill. (seven walleyes, 21-9); Keith Strauss of Syracuse,
Ind. (six walleyes, 20-14); Mark Fling of Hudson, Colo. (10
walleyes, 20-12); Darrell Martin of Forest Lake, Minn. (seven
walleyes, 19-6); Dana Delp of Lansing, Mich. (eight walleyes,
19-0) and Dewey Watson of Twin Falls, Idaho (six walleyes, 18-11).
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, and each pair
of anglers is allowed to weigh five walleyes. All but two of
the fish must be between 14 and 20 inches in length. Two fish
over 20 inches may be weighed, and culling is not allowed. This
dynamic changes Saturday, however, as only the pros will be
fishing. On Saturday, each pro will be allowed to weigh four
walleyes, with only one of the fish measuring over 20 inches.
An overall catch of 121 walleyes weighing 303 pounds, 12 ounces
crossed the weigh-in stage Thursday, including 11 five-fish
limits.
Spring Creek Resort, located on Highway 1804 in Pierre, will
host Friday and Saturday's takeoff at 7:30 a.m. Daily weigh-ins
starting at 4:30 p.m. will be held at the Wal-Mart store located
at 1730 North Garfield Road in Pierre. The community is invited
to attend takeoffs and weigh-ins as well as the Family Fun Zone,
which opens at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday outside the
weigh-in tent at Wal-Mart. The Family Fun Zone features interactive
displays, product samples and games for the entire family.
During each day's weigh-in, fans can register for the chance
to win an 1850 Ranger Reata powered by a 175 horsepower Evinrude
E-Tec outboard. One lucky fan will be drawn during the final
weigh-in Saturday and given the chance to cast a lure at an
8-inch target. If the lure lands in the target, the fan wins.
Participants must be present during Saturday's weigh-in to qualify.
Additionally, Ranger and Evinrude will offer test rides in the
latest models from Ranger Boats on Saturday from 10 a.m. to
1 p.m. at Oahe Marina located at 20439 Marina Loop Road in Ft.
Pierre. All activities throughout the week are free.
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 is hosting 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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