MEMPHIS, Tenn., After three days of competition, five professional anglers have advanced to the final round of professional fishing action in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour bass tournament being held on the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee. The event features a $471,500 purse and one of sport fishing’s largest first place cash prizes – $100,000. The tournament will culminate Saturday at the Mud Island amphitheater, with weigh-in activities beginning at 3:30 p.m.
The five anglers making the final cut include: (1) Chuck Economou of Palm Bay, Florida; (2) Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas; (3) Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tennessee; (4) Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas; (5) Ken Cook of Meers, Oklahoma.
In Saturday’s final round, the five professional anglers will fish from identical Ranger Comanche fishing machines, and each competitor will be paired with a camera crew from ESPN. The angler/boat designation is as follows: Chuck Economou/Timex, Gary Klein/Wrangler, Craig Powers/Fujifilm, Mark Rose/Coleman, and Ken Cook/Uniroyal.
The angler catching the heaviest limit of bass for the day will be the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Pro Division winner and receive $100,000. Second place will pay $35,000; third place $20,000; fourth place $16,000; and fifth place $14,000.
In other fishing action, the co-angler competition has ended with Robert Vogelsang of Jessup, Maryland, winning first place with a catch of 16 pounds, 13 ounces. He received $15,000 for the win..
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 in the tournament will 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 scheduled for November.
The $4 million, 1999 Wal-Mart FLW Tour is the most lucrative fishing series in history. The sixth stop on the tour is the Forrest Wood Open, Juneb 23-26, in Detroit, Michigan. The event has a $1 million cash purse and a first place prize of $200,000.
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, US Bank-VISA, and Wheaties. The Memphis stop of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is presented by Evinrude Outboards.