Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship to air Nov. 5 on FSN

Top 51 pros and top 51 co-anglers invade South Dakota’s Lake Oahe

MINNEAPOLIS – Tune in Sunday, Nov. 5 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN as the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour wraps up its 2006 season with a visit to Pierre, S.D. Only the top 51 pros and top 51 co-anglers based on year-end points standings were invited to this no-entry-fee championship. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced and the winning pro claims a $150,000 cash prize.

The howling prairie winds of central South Dakota have wreaked havoc all week on the world’s best walleye anglers. Many pros are making one-way trips up the Missouri River impoundment in excess of 100 miles to reach their best fishing areas. These trips can best be described as torturous, as 3- and 4-foot waves blast their boats for hours at a time. Nonetheless, the stakes are high and these competitors will do whatever it takes to win walleye fishing’s top honor.

After two days on Lake Oahe, the pro leaderboard reads Scott Allar from Welch, Minn., in first and Richard Nascak from Winona, Minn., in second. Both Nascak and Allar are trolling crankbaits along a giant flat located about five miles south of the Highway 212 bridge. After day three, those names were flip-flopped as Nascak got two big bites and took a commanding 5-pound, 12-ounce lead with one day remaining.

Why is a 5-pound lead so critical on a fishery that produced a 10-pound, 10-ounce walleye earlier in the week? Because, unlike the preliminary rounds of competition, which featured pros and co-anglers fishing together for a combined five-walleye limit, only the pros compete on day four. That means instead of weighing in two walleyes over 20 inches and three between 14 and 20 inches, the pros will only be allowed to weigh in four walleyes, including just one over 20 inches. Simply put, Allar will have his work cut out for him on day four.

FSN also follows pro Tom Brunz, who rallied on day three of the tour’s final regular-season tournament, in Green Bay, to qualify for the championship in 44th place. Brunz, perhaps best known for the 47-pound, 5-ounce stringer he caught in 2003 on Lake Erie, sits in fourth place with one day of competition left. The Madison Lake, Minn., pro, like Nascak and Allar, is contour trolling 60 miles north of Spring Creek Resort, just south of the Highway 212 bridge. During his practice period, Brunz discovered that the bigger walleyes were favoring Reef Runners, while the slot fish preferred Shad Raps. This discovery has enabled Brunz to boat a limit each day of the tournament.

One angler fishing away from the crowd is Mina, S.D., native Rick Olson. On the first two days of the tournament, Olson braved 100-mile trips to the Moreau River near Mobridge, S.D. Those long runs left the veteran pro with only two hours of fishing time. When the winds increased in excess of 30 mph on day three, Olson switched to an area near the Cheyenne River. There he is targeting walleyes in 12 feet of water. Tune in to see if his change in strategy pays dividends on day four.

FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLWOutdoors.com also provides an online show guide listing upcoming events on “FLW Outdoors.”

FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces over 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory” documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at www.FoxSports.com.

“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service men and women 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, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

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 Wal-Mart.com.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com.