For additional information, please contact:
Dave Washburn, communications director, (270) 252-1607
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
$3.07 MILLION WAL-MART RCL WALLEYE TOUR ANNOUNCES 2003 SCHEDULE
BENTON, Ky. (Nov. 27, 2002) – FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, announced Wednesday its 2003 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour schedule, complete with a $3.07 million purse and a new $181,000 Angler-of-the-Year program that offers cash awards to the top 30 points winners.
The tournament series, which features the nation’s best walleye pros and the sport’s most lucrative payouts, will make stops on two new fisheries and return to three others en route to the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship. Its first stop is April 2-5 on the Detroit River near Trenton, Mich., followed by an event April 30-May 3 on Lake Sharpe near Pierre, S.D., both of which were on the 2002 schedule. The third regular-season event will take place May 28-31 on Lake Erie near Port Clinton, Ohio, and the final regular-season event will be held June 18-21 on Devils Lake near Spirit Lake, N.D. Scheduled for Oct. 1-4, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship will be held on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., the site of the 2002 championship.
Each of the four qualifying tournaments features cash awards through 50th place and a $386,000 total purse with $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha, awarded to the winning pro and $15,000 cash awarded to the winning co-angler. One hundred and fifty pros and 150 co-anglers constitute a full field in each qualifying event. Entry fees remain unchanged for the third consecutive year at $1,250 per qualifier for pros and $500 per qualifier for co-anglers.
The $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship features guaranteed cash awards through 100th place. Including sponsor bonuses, cash awards are available through 200th place. The RCL champion will receive a guaranteed cash award of $150,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $250,000 for a total pro award of $400,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $75,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $75,000 for a co-angler award of $150,000. One hundred and forty pros and 140 co-anglers – the top 35 from each RCL qualifying event – qualify for the championship. The remaining 60 spots in either division will be filled by anglers who compete in RCL-sanctioned events for a total of 200 championship contenders in each division. Championship entry fees are $1,500 for pros and $750 for co-anglers.
Throughout the season, anglers will compete for the tour’s prestigious Angler-of-the-Year title, which carries with it $50,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha. The RCL Co-angler of the Year will earn $20,000 in cash and prizes, including a boat. Second-place anglers in the final points standings will earn $23,000 in cash and prizes in the Pro Division and $5,000 cash in the Co-angler Division. In each of the tour’s four qualifying events, 200 points are awarded for a win, 199 points are awarded for second, 198 points are awarded for third, and so on. The angler with the most points following the final regular-season tournament is crowned Angler of the Year.
“Competitive walleye fishing has enjoyed tremendous growth since the advent of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, and we expect much more phenomenal growth this coming season,” said Mark Dorn, director of walleye operations for FLW Outdoors. “The level of competition and impressive payouts, which now total an unprecedented 206 percent of entry fees, represent how strong the sport of walleye fishing has become.”
Ranger, Crestliner or Lund owners may begin submitting nontransferable, nonrefundable deposits beginning at 8 a.m. CST Jan. 6. For all other entries, deposits will be accepted beginning at 8 a.m. CST Jan. 13. While co-angler participation is open to the general public, pro participation is open only to Ranger, Crestliner or Lund owners. Anglers entering with a partner will be given priority, and anglers entering all four events with a partner will receive top priority. Entries are accepted online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000 no earlier than the dates listed above.
Featuring a boater and co-angler format, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour appeals to anglers of all skill levels. Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day. At the conclusion of a two-day opening round, the field is cut to the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers, who fish the one-day semifinal round. Only the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers advance to the one-day final round. Each boat is allowed a six-walleye limit on each day of competition.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its five tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.
For more information about the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270)252-1000.
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Editors Note: The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour was previously known as the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit.
Editors, click here for more information: http://pull.xmr3.com/p/2-946A/54471648/website.html
FLW Outdoors – 270-252-1000
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