$2.6 MILLION WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR TO VISIT GREEN BAY GREEN
BAY, Wis. (April 27, 2005) –
The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour returns in 2005 for its fifth
season, and Green Bay will host the tour’s third stop May 18-21.
With a $2.6 million total purse, including the no-entry-fee
$650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi
River near Moline, Ill., Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and television coverage
on Fox Sports Net, the FLW Walleye Tour is bigger and better
than ever. As many as 150 pros and 150 co-anglers will take
on Green Bay for their share of a $471,000 purse, including
as much as $90,000 for the winning pro and $17,000 for the winning
co-angler. “It’s going to be a great tournament,” said pro Carl
Grunwaldt of Green Bay. “Guys will catch a lot of walleyes relatively
shallow in 6- to 15-feet of water. It’s going to be a real good
spinner bite.” “I think it will take at least 35 pounds a day
to win the event,” Grunwaldt said. “As long as we don’t get
a severe cold front or a tremendous amount of rain before the
tournament, it will be a great event.” Metro Park Boat Launch
in Green Bay will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7 a.m.
Wednesday, 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 2440 West Mason Street
in Green Bay 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 200 points awarded
to the winner, 199 to second, 198 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 2005
Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship, where a pro can earn
as much as $125,000 cash for a win. 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 $75,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling
$50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner
for a total pro award of $125,000. 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.
The FLW Walleye Tour will make its final regular-season stop
at Devils Lake near Spirit Lake, N.D., June 15-18. Named after
the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW
Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour and seven
other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million
in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization
is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing
tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series,
Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail,
Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League and Wal-Mart
FLW Kingfish Tour. 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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