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| Ryan Wins FLW Walleye Tour at Red Wing |
 |  |  | Jeff Ryan: On top of the world in Red Wing |
RED WING, Minn. (May 6, 2006) - Pro Jeff Ryan of Lake View, Iowa, caught a four-day total of 16 walleyes weighing 87 pounds, 4 ounces to win $100,000 at the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn. Ryan's catch shattered the previous four-day weight record for an FLW Outdoors walleye event on the Mississippi River, which was 55 pounds, 5 ounces.
Ryan, a G3 Boats and Yamaha pro, earned $60,000 plus a $25,000 boat bonus and a $15,000 engine bonus for a total of $100,000 out of a $503,300 purse.
At the end of day two, Ryan had a lead of more than 14 pounds, enough for an entire quality limit. On day three, he increased his lead to nearly 24 pounds after catching his largest limit of the event - five walleyes weighing 28 pounds, 2 ounces. On the final day, Ryan caught one more walleye weighing 6 pounds, sealing the deal for perhaps one of the most dominating performances in FLW Outdoors walleye-fishing history.
Ryan has been secretive about his pattern all week, but on Saturday, his secrets were revealed. He fished a small stretch in the Vermillion River, just downstream from a railroad track bridge. Big walleyes trickling down from spawning areas have been gathering in holes just below the bridge pilings. Ryan has been using three-way rigs and bottom bouncers to present night crawlers, leeches and willow cats to catch his walleyes.
Other anglers in the area have been anchoring and trolling with some success, but Ryan has been using his trolling motor to ease over one of the holes and slip with the current, presenting his live bait with more of a vertical presentation. Snags were frequent, and Ryan said he went through 80 to 100 live-bait rigs during the tournament.
"I credit staying patient and not giving up to my success," Ryan said. "I kept fishing in my area despite constant headaches.
"This is my second year as a pro on the FLW Walleye Tour. I actually had talked about giving it up a couple of years ago out of frustration, but I'm glad that I didn't."
Ryan has one other top-10 finish to his credit in his two years on tour. That finish also came on the Mississippi River during the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship out of Moline, Ill., in 2005. Saturday's win boosted his career earnings to $108,050.
Rounding out the top five pros are Scott Allar of Welch, Minn. (20 walleyes, 73 pounds, 6 ounces, $42,000); Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn. (18 walleyes, 66 pounds, 2 ounces, $25,000); Todd Riley of Amery, Wis. (19 walleyes, 62 pounds, 4 ounces, $18,000); and Castrol pro Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis. (14 walleyes, 60 pounds, 9 ounces, $13,000).
Kristine Szczech of St. Paul, Minn., won the Co-angler Division with a four-day total of 18 walleyes weighing 74 pounds, 12 ounces, becoming the first woman in FLW Outdoors history to win an FLW Walleye Tour event. Szczech earned $15,000 for her win. She fished in Pool 3 on the final day with second-place finisher Scott Allar, who is leading the Angler of the Year points race.
"It's been a roller coaster. Very exciting," Szczech said after her win. "I was so down when I lost first place on day three, but Scott just said 'don't worry about it.' My dad also told me not to worry about it, and my good friend, Karin Savik, who fishes the FLW Tour, was getting on to me for wanting to give up yesterday."
Szczech led the Co-angler Division on days one and two, but slipped to second place at the end of day three. Luckily, she and Allar were able to put together a quality limit weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces for Szczech to win by more than 6 pounds.
"My check will probably go to my fishing funds for the next tournament," Szczech said.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dave Dugall of Highland, Mich. (19 walleyes, 68 pounds, 6 ounces, $9,500); Gary Engberg of Mazomanie, Wis. (16 walleyes, 65 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,500); Jeff Sather of Montevideo, Minn. (20 walleyes, 62 pounds, 7 ounces, $2,500); and David Woyak of Hartland, Wis. (15 walleyes, 59 pounds, 3 ounces, $4,000).
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 event on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on June 11 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.
The FLW Walleye Tour will next visit Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., for 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. |
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| Ryan Shatters Records, Holds Lead at FLW |
RED WING, Minn. (May 5, 2006) - Pro Jeff Ryan of Lake View, Iowa, caught a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 81 pounds, 2 ounces to carry his lead on day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn. Ryan's catch already shatters the previous four-day weight record for an FLW Outdoors walleye event on the Mississippi River. The previous record weighed 55 pounds, 5 ounces, and was caught by Bruce Samson of Minnetrista, Minn., in the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship, which also launched out of Red Wing.
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.
At the end of day two, Ryan had a lead of more than 14 pounds, enough for an entire quality limit. On day three, he increased his lead to nearly 24 pounds after catching his largest limit thus far - five walleyes weighing 28 pounds, 2 ounces.
It will definitely be a stretch for second-place pro Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., who has a three-day total of 15 walleyes for 57 pounds, 8 ounces, to catch Ryan.
Allar himself has more than an 8-pound lead over third-place pro Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn. McQuoid caught four walleyes on day three weighing 10 pounds, giving him a three-day total of 49 pounds, 1 ounce.
All week, Ryan has been catching his walleyes out of one sweet honeyhole. He's been slowly presenting live bait to his fish and hasn't been catching them on every cast. The walleyes he's hooked, however, have been big, and near flawless execution of each bite throughout the week has led to his success.
"I made a switch to a different bait yesterday, and it really paid off today," Ryan said. "Our smallest walleye today was 23 inches long. It just feels unreal to put three days like this together."
Regarding his area, Ryan said tons of fish gather just upstream of it to spawn, and he's found a place where they rest after as they trickle down. Ryan caught three of his walleyes on day three, while his co-angler partner, John Herrmann of Birnamwood, Wis., caught the other two. Herrmann just missed the cut in the Co-angler Division, finishing in 13th place. He took home a check for $800.
Many big bags of walleyes breaking the 20-pound mark were carried to the scale on day three. Land O'Lakes pro Eric Olson of Red Wing caught a fine limit weighing 22 pounds, 10 ounces to jump from 64th place into ninth place with a three-day total weight of 40 pounds, 1 ounce. Olson fished with co-angler Cary Lodl of Scribner, Neb., on day three, and their largest walleye, one pushing the 9-pound mark, managed to bite in half a No. 9 Rapala Floating Minnow. Lodl made the cut in the Co-angler Division in ninth place as well.
Also in the top-10 was 2005 Angler of the Year and Castrol pro Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis. Johnson has a three-day total of nine walleyes weighing 40 pounds.
All told, pros in the top 10 have a total of 26 FLW Walleye Tour top-10 finishes and five wins between them.
Rounding out the top five pros are Chuck Dube of Brooklyn Park, Minn. (13 walleyes, 44 pounds, 3 ounces); and Jason Kerr of Holly, Mich. (12 walleyes, 43 pounds, 10 ounces).
Gary Engberg of Mazomanie, Wis., leads the Co-angler Division. Engberg fished with Kerr on day three, and together they brought in a limit of five walleyes weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces. Engberg has a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 59 pounds, 7 ounces.
Engberg and Kerr were handlining for their walleyes in deep water. "I've had great partners each day," Engberg said. "I haven't done the same thing on any day I've been out."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kristine Szczech of St. Paul, Minn. (13 walleyes, 58 pounds, 14 ounces); Dave Dugall of Highland, Mich. (15 walleyes, 51 pounds, 5 ounces); Jerry Cassell of Lawton, Mich. (15 walleyes, 47 pounds, 2 ounces); and Randy Mumm of Clear Lake, Iowa (15 walleyes, 44 pounds, 14 ounces).
The Red Wing Visitors and Convention Bureau is hosting the event. Colvill Park in Red Wing has hosted daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 295 Tyler Road in Red Wing 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 event on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on June 11 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 Mississippi River tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour will visit Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., for 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. |
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| Ryan Dominates on Day Two at FLW Red Wing |
|  | | Jeff Ryan (L) and Jerry Cassell with their big limit on Day Two at Red Wing |
RED WING, Minn. (May 4, 2006) - Pro Jeff Ryan of Lake View, Iowa, caught a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 53 pounds, 2 ounces to extend a massive lead on day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., the second 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.
With a lead of more than 14 pounds, Ryan is definitely sitting in the hot seat to come through with a big win, considering that a 12-pound limit has been seen as a quality catch during the first two days of the tournament. Ryan has been fishing an area with minimal current flow, something that seems to have been key to many of the largest catches during this event. He's been fishing a slow live-bait presentation, and he credits both a good area and near flawless execution to his success.
"We had six bites, and one was a short fish," Ryan said. "So far, we've landed every fish we've hooked except for one on yesterday." Ryan revealed that his prefishing time didn't yield the size of walleyes he's been catching during the tournament, but daily tweaks to his presentation and strategy have proven successful.
"Little changes are making a difference," Ryan said. "I caught two or three fish on a different bait today. We're losing a lot of tackle. The area has lots of stumps and trees, but they're keying on that stuff.
"I just hope I can continue what I'm doing," Ryan said. "It would definitely help to have another 25 pounds tomorrow."
Rounding out the top five pros are Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn. (10 walleyes, 39 pounds, 1 ounce); Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis. (eight walleyes, 36 pounds, 7 ounces); Scott Allar of Welch, Minn. (10 walleyes, 36 pounds); and Todd Riley of Amery, Wis. (10 walleyes, 35 pounds, 2 ounces).
Day one leader Kristine Szczech of St. Paul, Minn., also retained her lead in the co-angler division with a two-day total of eight walleyes weighing 34 pounds, 10 ounces. Szczech fished with Ryan on day one, and was paired with Rod Putnam of Billings, Mont., on day two.
Szczech and Putnam fished in Pool 4 on day two and caught three walleyes weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces. They fished with crankbaits and live bait to catch their fish, the largest of which was a 5-pounder landed by Szczech at around 10 a.m.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerry Cassell of Lawton, Mich. (10 walleyes, 34 pounds, 2 ounces); Gary Engberg of Mazomanie, Wis. (10 walleyes, 34 pounds, 2 ounces); Kevin Bruer of Robbinsdale, Minn. (10 walleyes, 33 pounds, 5 ounces); and Dean Kaminski of Columbia Heights, Minn. (10 walleyes, 33 pounds, 2 ounces).
The Red Wing Visitors and Convention Bureau is hosting the event. Covill Park in Red Wing will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Friday's weigh-in 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 295 Tyler Road in Red Wing 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 event on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on June 11 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 Mississippi River tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour will visit Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., for 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.
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| Ryan Leads FLW Walleye Tour at Red Wing |
RED WING, Minn. (May 3, 2006) - Pro Jeff Ryan of Lake View, Iowa, along with his partner, Kristine Szczech of St. Paul, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 5 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., the second 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.
Anglers launched in blue-bird skies on day one, with air temperatures around 50 degrees and climbing into the high 60s later in the day. Water temperatures have been ranging from 56 to 60 degrees in areas, and fish are being caught from Pools 3, 4 and 5. A variety of patterns have proven effective for pros in practice, including trolling, three-way rigging with live bait and crankbaits, casting crankbaits, jigging and even handlining. Rising water and debris have threatened many fishing patterns, and some pros are reporting that the fishing could've been much better had the water not been on the rise.
That's not to say plenty of fish weren't caught. Anglers weighed in 506 walleyes on day one, most of which were solid keeper-sized fish, but several trophies were weighed in as well, such as a 9-pound, 10-ounce giant caught by pro Victor Stolcers of Round Lake Beach, Ill., and co-angler Dana Delp of Lansing, Mich. Stolcers and Delp had a total of three walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces, putting them in third place.
Ryan and Szczech landed some big walleyes as well, their largest pushing the 9-pound mark. "I hadn't caught anything that size prefishing," Ryan said. "But I made a few adjustments from my practice and that made the difference. We were locating postspawn fish around structure, and we just had to be patient. We caught five keepers and lost one other one, so I think there will be more fish left in my area for tomorrow."
Ryan was understandably secretive about his exact presentation, but he didn't mind revealing that he is fishing a live-bait presentation very slowly.
In second place were Mitch Jerowski of Winona, Minn., and co-angler Greg Engberg of Mazomanie, Wis. They caught a five-walleye limit weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces. "We were fishing leeches and crawlers on wing dams," Jerowski said. "We were anchoring near them and casting Lindy rigs to catch them. Some were right up in the rocks, and some were out above them a little ways."
Rounding out the top five pros are Steve Vande Mark of Linwood, Mich. (five walleyes, 17 pounds, 9 ounces); Greg Darsow of Billings, Mont. (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 12 ounces); and tied with Darsow is John Renschen of Red Wing (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 12 ounces).
Szczech leads the co-angler division. "Jeff was amazing," Szczech said of her pro partner. "He was very patient. Our fish were spread out throughout the day, but we just stuck around in our spot and hit it hard."
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dave Dugall of Highland, Mich.; Stephen Gaston of Montegut, La.; and Jason Treptau of Becker, Minn.
The Red Wing Visitors and Convention Bureau is hosting the event. Covill Park in Red Wing 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 295 Tyler Road in Red Wing 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 event on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on June 11 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 Mississippi River tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour will visit Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., for 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. |
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| Hanson Wins FLW League at Red Wing |
RED WING, Minn. (May 1, 2006) - Boater Don Hanson of Menomonie, Wis., earned $2,905 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Minnesota Division event on the Mississippi River. Hanson, along with co-angler Tim Bliss of Burnsville, Minn., caught a five-walleye limit weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounce to win by nearly 4 pounds.
Despite rough, windy conditions, Hanson and Bliss were able to land several trophy-sized fish within 10 minutes of the launch site. They caught the majority of their walleyes vertical jigging and pitching jigs along the shoreline in 8 to 11 feet of water, catching mainly postspawn fish. The team was using hair jigs tipped with fathead minnows in a wide array of colors. "There was hardly and fishing pressure, I had the spot all to myself," Hanson said.
Rounding out the top five boaters were Alan Sholts of Alexandria, Minn. (five walleyes, 20 pounds, 4 ounces, $1,494 plus $400 contingency bonus); Chris Pluntz of Maple, Wis. (three walleyes, 19 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,245 plus $300 contingency bonus); Brent Rothgarn of Lake City, Minn. (five walleyes, 18 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,079 plus $250 contingency bonus); and Leon Houle of Lino Lakes, Minn. (five walleyes, 18 pounds, $747).
Bliss earned $1,453 and a $250 Contingency award as winner of the Co-angler Division with five walleyes weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces. Co-angler competitors share weight with their boater partner. Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Alan Schultz of Apple Valley, Minn. (five walleyes, 20 pounds, 4 ounces, $747); Ricky Schultz of Farmington, Minn. (three walleyes, 19 pounds, 5 ounces, $623); Darrell Martin of Forest Lake, Minn. (five walleyes, 18 pounds, 14 ounces, $539) and Rodney Horgen of Deer River, Minn. (five walleyes, 18 pounds, $373).
Three FLW Walleye League divisions - Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin - each feature three one-day events and one two-day Super Tournament during the regular season. Every angler who receives weight credit earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on, except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The top 35 boaters and 35 co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division advance to the $141,950 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals, set for Sept. 7-9 on Lake Michigan in Escanaba, Mich. Anglers finishing in the top 10 in each division also receive priority entry into the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour for 2007.
The Minnesota Division's second stop will be held on Lake Mille Lacs May 20, followed by an event on Cass Lake June 24 and the Super Tournament presented by Evinrude July 22-23 on the Mississippi RIver.
The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League was created to provide the grassroots walleye angler a chance to compete in professionally administered, close-to-home tournaments with lucrative cash awards.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League and nine other national tournament circuits offering a combined $36.9 million in awards through 241 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, 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.
For more information on 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 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. |
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