The five anglers making the final cut include: (1) Guido Hibdon, Gravois Mills, MO, 12 pounds, 15 ounces; (2) Carl Svebek III, Sam Rayburn, TX, 11 pounds, 10 ounces; (3) Rob Kilby, Hot Springs, AR, 10 pounds, 9 ounces; (4) Bernie Schultz, Gainesville, FL, 9 pounds, 6 ounces; and Clark Wendlandt, Cedar Park, TX, 9 pounds, 2 ounces.
In Saturday’s final round, the five professional anglers will fish from the new Ranger Comanche fishing machines, and each competitor will be paired with a camera crew from ESPN. The angler/boat designations are as follows: Guido Hibdon/Coleman, Carl Svebek/Land O’Lakes, Rob Kilby/CITGO, Bernie Schultz/US Bank-VISA, and Clark Wendlandt/EverStart. The angler catching the heaviest limit of bass for the day will be the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Pro Division winner and receive $150,000. Second place will pay $50,000; third place $30,000; fourth place $25,000; and fifth place $20,000.
Rounding out the professional field were: (6) Curt Lytle, Suffolk, VA, 8-15/ Coleman boat; (7) Randy Howell, Trussville, AL, 8-9/ Timex; (8) Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, NC, 8-0/ EverStart; (9) Johnny Mccombs, Morris, AL,7-11/ US Bank-VISA; (10) Cody Bird, Granbury, TX, 4-13/ Black & Decker.
In other fishing action, the co-angler competition has ended with Chris Rand of Davie, Florida, repeating as champion, winning first place with a catch of 8 pounds, 1 ounce. He received $20,000 for the win.. Rand caught his fish on a Carolina Rig.
The winning pro and co-angler in the tournament receive automatic berths in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship, presented by CITGO, to be held September 22-25, 1999, on Ft. Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma, where the first prize in the pro division is $250,000, the largest first place cash prize in competitive fishing.
The highest-finishing Ranger boat owner, from each division, in the tournament qualify to enter the $3.5 million Ranger M1 Millennium tournament, the richest bass event in history, with a $1 million first-place cash prize at stake. The Ranger owner who catches the largest bass in each division over the course of the season will also qualify for the Ranger Millennium tournament. Carl Maxfield of Summerville, South Carolina, had big bass honors for the event. He landed a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces. Maxfield received $1,000 from Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola will award $5,000 to the angler landing the biggest bass during the 1999 tour. Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minnesota, is currently leading the year-long big bass contest with a 10 pound, 4 ounce bass.
ESPN is filming the event as part of a television series covering the tour on ESPN and ESPN 2. The Wal-Mart Open tournament is scheduled to air on ESPN, May 8, 1999, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Sponsors of the 1999 Wal-Mart FLW Tour include: Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, Land O’Lakes, CITGO Petroleum Products, Chevy Trucks, Uniroyal Tires, Fujifilm, EverStart Batteries, Eveready Flashlights, Black and Decker, Coleman Company, Ranger Boats, Mitchell Rods and Reels, Spiderwire, Evinrude Outboard Motors, Evinrude Electric Trolling Motors, Eagle Electronics, Timex Expedition, Wrangler, Chex Mix, Hamburger Helper, and Wheaties. The Beaver Lake event of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is hosted by the Bentonville Advertising and Promotion Commission.