Meravy wins Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Detroit River
TRENTON, Mich. – Pro Mark Meravy of Shorewood, Ill., caught
a four-day total of 18 walleyes weighing 76 pounds, 6 ounces
to win the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha
on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., and earned a check for
$60,000.
“We were surprised to see the water clear up so much
overnight,” said Meravy, an eight-year FLW Walleye Tour
veteran who notched his first win today. “I went back
to my program I used for the first three days — jigging.”
Meravy, a fine-art photographer, jigged a 3 ½-inch Skinny
Bear Shad Eye in 12 to 16 feet of water to catch the majority
of his fish. Meravy said he caught a total of 10 keepers during
the final day of competition.
“I fished in the Trenton Channel of the river and caught
my smaller fish early and the larger fish later in the day,”
Meravy said. “I had two feet of visibility or so and I
knew the jig bite would be good.”
Meravy said the wait for a win on the FLW Walleye Tour was
a long one, but the feeling of winning made his journey worthwhile.
“It means a lot because I’ve worked so hard over
the years,” Meravy said. “It’s very rewarding.
Fishing is a tough game — all of the effort doesn’t
pay off all of the time.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Dustin Kjelden of Brookings,
S.D. (20 walleyes, 74 pounds, 11 ounces, $40,000); Scott Fairbairn
of Hager City, Wis. (17 walleyes, 68 pounds, 6 ounces, $18,000);
Chris Gilman of Chisago City, Minn. (20 walleyes, 59 pounds,
13 ounces, $13,000); and Gerrick McComsey of Fort Pierre, S.D.
(20 walleyes, 57 pounds, 2 ounces, $9,000).
Don Cozzie of Orland Park, Ill., won the co-angler division
with 20 walleyes weighing 69 pounds, 2 ounces and earned $10,000.
“All of my pros were phenomenal,” Cozzie said.
“They taught me a lot — and I’ve been fishing
for 40 years. All I can say to anyone who thinks they might
want to try fishing one of these events is you have got to fish
with these guys. They are absolutely phenomenal.”
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding
out the top five co-anglers are Paul Doute of Southgate, Mich.
(20 walleyes, 67 pounds, 12 ounces, $7,000); Michael Eichbrecht
of Washington, Mich. (14 walleyes, 66 pounds, 8 ounces, $3,500);
Brent Brophy of Milford Township, Mich. (20 walleyes, 57 pounds,
15 ounces, $2,500); and Shannon Larson of Rice Lake, Wis. (19
walleyes, 57 pounds, 6 ounces, $2,200).
The 2007 FLW Walleye Tour features a $2.71 million total purse,
including the no-entry-fee $675,850 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour
Championship on Lake Erie at Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 27-30, and
television coverage on FSN (Fox Sports Net).
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 2007 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 Detroit River
will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers
in the United States on May 13 as part of the “FLW Outdoors”
television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings
at 11 a.m. Eastern. “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.
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 Championship Series, 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 of nearly
$43 million through 241 events in 2007.
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 Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments,
browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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