FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WILSON, FISCHER LEAD WAL-MART RCL WALLEYE TOUR FINALISTS
PIERRE, S.D. (May 2, 2003) – Pro Joe Wilson of Rollingstone, Minn., and co-angler John Fischer of Princeton, Minn., led the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers into Saturday’s final round at the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour stop on Lake Sharpe after landing six walleyes weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces Friday.
Wilson and Fischer caught their limit, including one walleye weighing nearly 6 pounds, by pitching 1/4-ounce hair jigs tipped with minnows into shallow water not far from the launch site at Downs Marina in Pierre. Weights are cleared for the one-day final round, however, so both anglers have to duplicate their performance Saturday to win $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha in the Pro Division and $15,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.
“Every step is gratifying,” said Wilson, a Ranger pro who entered the semifinal round as the 10th seed after landing six walleyes weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Dewey Watson of Twin Falls, Idaho, and six walleyes weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces Thursday with his day-two teammate, Marly Kroona Jr. of Champlin, Minn. “This is my first time to fish this water and my first full season on the RCL Tour. I finished fourth at last year’s championship, and I’m dying to make it back there to improve on that finish.”
Fischer also entered the semifinal round as the 10th seed in the Co-angler Division after landing six walleyes weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Troy Morris of Bismarck, N.D., and six walleyes weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces Thursday with his day-two teammate, Robert Propst Jr. of Fort Pierre, S.D.
“We had no idea that we would be leading [Friday],” he said. “We were just hoping to make the cut.”
Pro Jeff Koester of Brookville, Ind., and co-angler Bruce Brugger of Casper, Wyo., advanced to the final round as the No. 2 seeds with six walleyes weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top five qualifiers are pro Gerrick McComsey of Fort Pierre, S.D., and co-angler Lawrence Hoff of Flasher, N.D. (six walleyes, 10 pounds, 14 ounces); pro Joe Whitten of Toledo, Ohio, and co-angler Chad Wiskow of Menasha, Wis. (six walleyes, 10 pounds, 13 ounces); and pro Carl Grunwaldt of Green Bay, Wis., and co-angler Mike Bentz of Brookville, Ind. (six walleyes, 10 pounds, 11 ounces). Grunwaldt is making his second top-10 appearance in as many tournaments.
Eighteen limits were caught by the 20 teams of semifinalists Friday, and 2 pounds, 11 ounces separated the top 10.
Takeoff starts at 7 a.m. Saturday at Downs Marina, and the final weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 1600 N. Harrison Ave. in Pierre. A record field of 195 pros and 195 co-anglers representing 22 states and Canada kicked off the tournament Wednesday. A total of $432,085 in cash and prizes will be awarded to the top 68 anglers in each division. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day. Culling is prohibited, and only two of six walleyes in a limit may measure over 18 inches in accordance with state regulations.
Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour anglers compete in four regular-season tournaments in their quest to qualify for the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship Oct. 1-4 at Treasure Island Casino and Resort on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn. With a total purse of $3.07 million for the season, the RCL Tour is the world’s most lucrative walleye-tournament series.
The tour is administered by FLW Outdoors and named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League for weekend anglers; the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative bass-tournament series; the EverStart Series, designed as a pathway to the FLW Tour; the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League for weekend anglers; and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six 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.
###
Editors: click here for tournament photos, and click on the attached documents for complete results: http://pull.xmr3.com/p/1900-B163/85438981/website.html
###