MONROE, Mich. – The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Michigan Division will stage its second tournament of 2007 May 19 on Lake Erie in Monroe, Mich. The tournament, presented by Yamaha, is expected to draw as many as 200 weekend walleye anglers to the area, with Boater Division competitors casting for a top award of as much as $7,500 and co-anglers in the hunt for a top award of as much as $3,750.
Anglers will take off from William C. Sterling State Park located at 2800 State Park Road in Monroe at 7 a.m. EDT, and the weigh-in will be held there beginning at 3 p.m. The community is invited to attend both the takeoff and weigh-in, which are free and open to the public.
Boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired for the event and fish for a combined boat weight. Cash payouts are based on a full field of 100 boaters and 100 co-anglers. Boaters compete against other boaters, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers.
The winning boater will earn as much as $7,000 cash for the win, and if the winner is a registered owner of a Ranger or G3 boat used during the event, the winner receives a $500 boat bonus for a top award of $7,500 cash. The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,500, and if the winner is a registered Ranger or G3 owner, the winner will receive a $250 bonus for a top award of $3,750.
Three FLW Walleye League divisions – Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin – each feature three one-day events. Every angler who receives weight credit earns points, with 100 points awarded to the winner, 99 for second, 98 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The top 35 boaters and 35 co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division advance to the $116,900 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals, set for Sept.13-15 on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill. The boater and co-angler points champions from each division also advance to the $675,850 no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 27-30 for a chance to compete for as much as $150,000 in the Pro Division and $22,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers finishing the season in the top 10 in each division also receive priority entry into the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour for 2008.
The Michigan Division’s third and final stop will be held on Saginaw Bay June 30.
If the May 19 tournament on Lake Erie is not yet full, entries will be accepted at tournament registration, which will be held May 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express located at 1225 North Dixie Highway in Monroe, Mich. Entry fees are $300 for boaters and $150 for co-anglers.
The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League was created to provide the grass-roots walleye angler a chance to compete in professionally administered, close-to-home tournaments with lucrative cash awards.
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.