WALMART FLW WALLEYE TOUR SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR 2009
FLWMINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 13, 2008 – FLW Outdoors announced its 2009 Walmart FLW Walleye Tour presented by Berkley schedule with a restructured payback that offers larger awards deeper into the field. The tour will still feature top pro awards of $100,000 in each qualifier and a top pro award of $150,000 in the lucrative FLW Walleye Tour Championship while 50th place awards in each qualifier jump to $3,000 in the pro division.
Anglers competing will fish a diverse schedule that opens April 15-18 in Port Clinton, Ohio, on legendary Lake Erie, home of the cumulative four-day weight record. The second tournament will be held on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn., May 6-9. Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., will host the third qualifying tournament June 10-13 with the final event July 15-18 in Oshkosh, Wis., on Lake Winnebago. The FLW Walleye Tour Championship will return to the Missouri River in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 30-Oct. 3.
In each qualifying event, the top pro award includes $50,000 plus a $25,000 Ranger Cup bonus and a $25,000 Evinrude or Yamaha bonus. In the Co-angler Division, the top award is $10,000 plus $10,000 in bonuses. In the championship, the top pro award includes $100,000 plus a $25,000 Ranger Cup bonus and a $25,000 Evinrude or Yamaha bonus. The top co-angler award in the championship includes $10,000 plus $10,000 in bonuses. The complete schedule and payouts for 2009 are included below or by visiting FLWOutdoors.com.
The top 50 pros and co-anglers in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points standings will advance to the no-entry-fee FLW Walleye Tour Championship. The pro and co-angler Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year winners will also receive free entries for the 2010 season, a value of $7,000 and $1,600, respectively. The top 100 pros and co-anglers will receive priority entry for the 2010 season. The boater and co-angler points champions from the Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Heartland divisions of the Walmart FLW Walleye League will also qualify for the FLW Walleye Tour Championship, making a total field of 54 pros and co-anglers.
At the conclusion of the FLW Walleye Tour qualifiers, Ranger will pay the top three Ranger Cup points places with first place earning $15,000, second place receiving $10,000 and third place garnering $5,000. If the winners meet “Powered by E-Tec” or “Powered by Yamaha” qualifications, they will also receive $7,500 for first, $5,000 for second and $2,500 for third, respectively from Evinrude or Yamaha.
Entry fees are $1,750 per tournament for pros and $400 per tournament for co-anglers. Entry dates will be released soon. Fields will consist of 150 boats for qualifying events.
FLW Walleye Tour qualifiers are four-day, cumulative weight events that begin on Wednesday and conclude on Saturday. Weigh-ins for the first three days are held lakeside and the top 10 pros and co-anglers weigh-in Saturday at a local Walmart. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits. FLW Outdoors also took fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, awarding a historic $1 million prize to Michael Thompson of St. Michael, Minn. Details on the enhancements to FLW Fantasy Fishing for 2009 will be announced soon.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit
www.FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit
www.FantasyFishing.com.
