Lucrative circuit offers walleye anglers international television exposure

BENTON, Ky. (Oct. 3, 2006) - FLW Outdoors announced its 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour schedule Tuesday complete with a cash purse of $2.71 million over five events and international television coverage.
In 2007, the nation's best walleye-fishing pros and co-anglers will compete for top awards of $100,000 and $18,000, respectively, in every $509,300 qualifier and $150,000 and $22,000, respectively, in the $675,850 no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship. With five stops on some of the nation's best walleye fisheries and one-hour episodes of "FLW Outdoors" broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and 350 million households in Europe, Asia and Africa, the FLW Walleye Tour represents the pinnacle of professional walleye fishing
Even pros finishing as low as 50th place will receive as much as $3,000 in every qualifier and $3,200 in the championship. Co-anglers will also share the rewards, with 50th place receiving as much as $700 in every qualifier and $1,000 in the championship.
The top pro award in each qualifier includes $60,000 plus $40,000 in Ranger, Polar Kraft, G3, Evinrude and Yamaha contingency bonuses. In the Co-angler Division, the top award includes $10,000 plus $8,000 in contingency bonuses. At the end of the season, the top 10 Ranger Cup participants will also receive bonuses ranging from a new Ranger 620VS to $1,500 cash. Yamaha will award an additional 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings to these anglers if "Powered by Yamaha" guidelines are met. Complete contingency bonus guidelines are posted at FLWOutdoors.com and Ranger Cup guidelines are posted at Rangerboats.com.
FLW Walleye Tour qualifiers are four-day, cumulative weight events that begin on Wednesday and conclude on Saturday. Weigh-ins the first three days are held lakeside and the top 10 pros and co-anglers weigh in Saturday at a local Wal-Mart. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight.
Competition begins April 11-14 on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., followed by a tournament on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn., May 2-5. Devils Lake in Spirit Lake, N.D., will host the third event June 6-9, and Bays de Noc in Escanaba, Mich., will host the final qualifier July 11-14. The FLW Walleye Tour Championship will be held Sept. 27-30 on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The top 50 pros and co-anglers in the year-end standings advance to the championship along with the boater and co-angler points champions from the Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin divisions of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League for a total field of 53 pros and 53 co-anglers.
Entry fees for 2007 are $1,500 per event for pros and $400 per event for co-anglers, including a $10 conservation fee per entry. The top 50 pros and co-anglers from the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour season and the top 10 boaters and co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division in 2006 have priority entry into the 2007 FLW Walleye Tour along with Ranger, G3, Polar Kraft, Champion and Stratos boat owners and TBF members. Entry dates will be released soon.
Total FLW Walleye Tour payouts of $2.71 million for the 2007 season are based on 150-boat fields in all qualifiers.
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, Ranger Owners' 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, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits will offer combined purses exceeding $43 million through 247 events in 2007.
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.

2007 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Schedule

Qualifying Events

April 11-14 The Detroit River Trenton, Mich.
May 2-5 The Mississippi River Red Wing, Minn.
June 6-9 Devils Lake Spirit Lake, N.D.
July 11-14 Bays de Noc Escanaba, Mich.
Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship

Sept. 27-30 Lake Erie Cleveland, Ohio

2007 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Payouts

$500,000 Qualifiers

Ranger Evinrude
G3 & Polar Kraft Yamaha
Place Pro Bonus Bonus Total
1 $60,000 $25,000 $15,000 $100,000
2 20,000 11,000 9,000 40,000
3 12,000 7,000 6,000 25,000
4 9,000 5,000 4,000 18,000
5 7,000 4,000 2,000 13,000
6 7,000 3,100 1,900 12,000
7 6,000 3,100 1,900 11,000
8 5,000 3,100 1,900 10,000
9 4,500 3,100 1,900 9,500
10 4,000 3,100 1,900 9,000
11-15 3,000 2,000 1,000 6,000
16-20 2,500 2,000 1,000 5,500
21-30 2,000 1,200 800 4,000
31-40 1,700 800 700 3,200
41-50 1,500 800 700 3,000

Ranger Evinrude
G3 & Polar Kraft Yamaha
Place Co-angler Bonus Bonus Total
1 $10,000 $5,000 $3,000 $18,000
2 5,000 2,500 2,000 9,500
3 3,500 2,000 1,500 7,000
4 2,500 1,500 1,000 5,000
5 2,200 1,000 800 4,000
6 2,000 700 500 3,200
7 1,700 700 500 2,900
8 1,400 700 500 2,600
9 1,200 700 500 2,400
10 1,000 700 500 2,200
11-15 800 600 450 1,850
16-20 600 600 450 1,650
21-30 500 400 300 1,200
31-40 400 300 200 900
41-50 300 250 150 700

$675,000 Championship

Ranger Evinrude
G3 & Polar Kraft Yamaha
Place Pro Bonus Bonus Total
1 $100,000 $25,000 $25,000 $150,000
2 35,000 20,000 20,000 75,000
3 20,000 10,000 10,000 40,000
4 10,000 7,500 7,500 25,000
5 9,000 5,500 5,500 20,000
6 8,000 3,500 3,200 14,700
7 7,000 3,500 3,200 13,700
8 6,000 3,500 3,200 12,700
9 5,000 3,500 3,200 11,700
10 4,000 3,500 3,200 10,700
11-15 2,900 1,400 1,300 5,600
16-20 2,400 1,200 1,100 4,700
21-30 1,900 1,100 1,000 4,000
31-40 1,400 1,000 900 3,300
41-53 1,300 1,000 900 3,200

Ranger Evinrude
G3 & Polar Kraft Yamaha
Place Co-angler Bonus Bonus Total
1 $11,000 $6,000 $5,000 $22,000
2 6,500 4,500 4,000 15,000
3 5,000 2,500 2,500 10,000
4 4,000 2,500 1,500 8,000
5 3,000 2,000 1,500 6,500
6 2,000 1,000 700 3,700
7 1,800 1,000 700 3,500
8 1,600 1,000 700 3,300
9 1,400 1,000 700 3,100
10 1,200 1,000 700 2,900
11-15 1,000 550 450 2,000
16-20 800 450 400 1,650
21-30 650 400 350 1,400
31-40 550 350 300 1,200
41-53 450 300 250 1,000