ESCANABA, Mich. – The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, now in its seventh season, will hold its fourth and final qualifying event of the season on Bays de Noc near Escanaba, Mich., July 11-14. With a $2.71 million total purse, including the no-entry-fee $675,850 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Erie near Cleveland, Sept. 27-30, and national television coverage on FSN (Fox Sports Net), the FLW Walleye Tour is bigger and better than ever.
A full field of 150 pros and 150 co-anglers will compete for their share of a $509,300 purse, including as much as $100,000 for the winning pro and $18,000 for the winning co-angler.
“The fishing on Bays de Noc is always very good,” said pro Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., who has won more than $479,000 on the FLW Walleye Tour. “Come tournament time, the bite may be a bit slower than usual, but the anglers that figure out what the fish are doing are going to do very well when it’s all said and done.”
Keenan said there are two factors that may contribute to a tough bite for anglers. A major mayfly hatch could provide the walleyes ample opportunities to gorge themselves early in the day. Also, an alewife spawn could produce millions of baitfish in the bay, giving the fish yet another opportunity to feast. In any case, Keenan said the majority of the field should be trolling spinners to try to coax a bite.
“That being said, the fishing’s still going to be very good and there’s still going to be very many nice fish caught,” Keenan said.
A slot limit for walleyes will allow each angler to keep only one walleye over 23 inches. Anglers may keep any number of walleyes over 15 inches up to the five-fish limit, but only one over 23 inches.
“I think most teams will catch their two big fish over 23 inches,” Keenan said. “The slot fish are going to be the tough ones. The 21- and 22-inch fish are going to be the premium fish to catch. I’d rather start out with three 22-inchers than I would two 26-inchers.”
Keenan said anglers may need 18 pounds a day to make the cut in the tournament, and the winner will need close to 85 pounds to take home the winning paycheck.
Escanaba Harbor will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 601 N. Lincoln Rd. in Escanaba, 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 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on these 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 Bays de Noc will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Oct. 7 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed fishing program 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.