Competition to resume Friday
PORT CLINTON, Ohio – Sustained winds of 25 mph blowing across Lake Erie near Port Clinton early Thursday morning forced Operation Walleye officials to cancel day two of the first $390,750 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit tournament.
Competition will resume Friday with the top 60 pros and co-anglers from day one taking off from Catawba Island State Park. These anglers will start from zero and compete for a spot in Saturday’s all-important final round. Only the top 12 pros and co-anglers will advance. The final weigh-in will start at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart on East Harbor Road. Friday’s weigh-in will start at 3 p.m. at Water Works Park.
The winning pro will collect $50,000 plus a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat. The top co-angler will receive $15,000.
Pro Rod Hill of Hillsdale, Mich., and his opening-day partner, Tom Sibert of Sandusky, Ohio, landed a five-walleye limit weighing an impressive 47 pounds, 2 ounces Wednesday to take the early lead.
Run by Operation Walleye and named after retail giant Wal-Mart and boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund, the $2.9 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit is the world’s most lucrative walleye fishing series. It features four regular season tournaments each with a $390,750 purse and a championship with a $1.4 million purse. The second tournament will be May 9-12 on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., followed by events on Saginaw Bay in Bay City, Mich., June 13-16 and Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., Sept. 5-8.
After the four regular season tournaments, 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will compete in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship for a top award of up to $400,000 in the Pro Division and $150,000 in the Co-Angler Division. The championship will be held on the Fox River and Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis., Oct. 2-6. Green Bay hosted the inaugural Wal-Mart RCL Championship last year when Scott Glorvigen of Grand Rapids, Minn., won $300,000 and instantly joined the sport’s top all-time money winners.
Entry fees for each regular season tournament are $1,250 for pros and $500 for co-anglers.