DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – Operation Walleye has announced a change in venue for the Sept. 5-8 RCL Walleye tourney at Devils Lake due to significant road construction that would have forced anglers to take a grueling, 12-mile detour along gravel roads to reach the original launch site.
Although the tournament was originally scheduled to take place at Grahams Island State Park, officials have moved the competition to Spirit Lake Casino and Resort in Spirit Lake, N.D. The new venue will be the take-off and weigh-in site for the first three days of the $2.9 million RCL competition. The final weigh-in, where top awards of $85,000 cash and prizes in the Pro Division and $15,000 cash in the Co-angler Division are up for grabs, will remain at the Devils Lake Wal-Mart.
Spirit Lake Casino and Resort marina is a full-service facility located four miles south of Devils Lake on Highway 20. Take-offs start there each day at 7 a.m. followed by weigh-ins at 3 p.m. A meet-the-pros night will be held Sept. 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Devils Lake Wal-Mart. Fishing fans can meet the country’s top Walleye anglers, collect autographs and receive personal fishing tips. Admission to take-offs, weigh-ins and meet-the-pros is free.
Named after retail giant Wal-Mart and boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit is the world’s most lucrative walleye fishing series. Each of the circuit’s regular season tournaments features a cash purse of $390,750, and the year-end Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship features a cash purse of up to $1.4 million with top awards of up to $400,000 in the Pro Division and $150,000 in the Co-Angler Division.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers from the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit and other sanctioned tournament organizations and events will compete in the championship, which 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.
Up to 175 Ranger, Crestliner and Lund boat owners will fill the Pro Division in Devils Lake while 175 co-angler berths are open to the public. Anglers in both divisions will fish in three elimination rounds. After the two-day opening round, the field will be cut to the top 60 pros and top 60 co-anglers who will advance to the one-day semifinal round. The top 12 pros and top 12 co-anglers after the semifinal round will move on to the final day of competition. Catch weights carry over for the first two days, but anglers will start the semifinal and final rounds from zero.
Sponsors of the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit are Coleman, Conseco, Crestliner, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Garmin, Kellogg’s, Lund, Mercury, Minn Kota, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Wal-Mart, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards.