FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WAL-MART RCL WALLEYE LEAGUE TO VISIT BIG STONE LAKE
ORTONVILLE, Minn. (May 5, 2004) – The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Minnesota Division will stage its first event of the 2004 season May 15 on Big Stone Lake near Ortonville. The tournament is expected to draw as many as 200 weekend walleye anglers to the Ortonville area, with as many as 100 Boater Division competitors casting for a top award of as much as $4,000 and as many as 100 co-anglers in the hunt for as much as $2,000.
Anglers will take off from Ortonville City Park at 7 a.m. Weigh-in will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend the takeoff and weigh-in.
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 $3,500 cash for the win, and if he is a registered owner of a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat that he fished from during the event, he is eligible for a $500 RCL bonus for a top award of $4,000 cash. If the winning boater uses only Garmin electronics with at least one unit being a qualifying unit, he will receive a $1,000 bonus from Garmin. The winning co-angler will earn as much as $1,750 and if he is a registered Ranger, Crestliner or Lund owner, he will receive a $250 bonus for a top award of $2,000.
Four RCL Walleye League divisions – Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin –each feature two one-day events and one two-day Super Tournament during the regular season. Every angler who receives weight credit earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on, except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The top 25 boaters and 25 co-anglers from each RCL League division advance to the $100,000 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Finals, set for Sept. 2-4 on Bays de Noc in Escanaba, Mich. The top five boaters and five co-anglers from each division qualify for the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship if they are a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund owner.
The Minnesota Division’s second stop will be held on Mille Lacs June 26, followed by the Super Tournament presented by Evinrude July 24-25 on Leech Lake.
The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League was created to provide the grassroots walleye angler a chance to compete in professionally administered, close-to-home tournaments with lucrative cash awards. FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League as well as the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the world’s most lucrative walleye-fishing circuit. FLW Outdoors also administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail. To enter a tournament, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.
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