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.