FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
$3.19 MILLION WAL-MART RCL WALLEYE TOUR TO WRAP UP SEASON ON LAKE OAHE
PIERRE, S.D. (June 2, 2004) – The fourth and final regular-season event of the 2004 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour will take place June 16-19 on Lake Oahe near Pierre. The $401,750 event features as many as 160 of the world’s best walleye pros competing for a top award worth as much as $90,000, including a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat. As many as 160 co-anglers will also compete for a top award of $15,000 cash.
The event marks the first time the RCL Tour has visited Lake Oahe since the tour’s inception in 2000, and anglers familiar with the massive water body will find a different playing field when the RCL Tour rolls into town, as the lake is well below normal pool. “All the places where I’ve won tournaments are sitting high and dry right now,” said pro Dave Spaid of Pierre. “This one is wide open – anyone could win it just about any place on the lake. The whole reservoir is good.”
Spaid said Oahe walleyes will be locked into their summer patterns by tournament time, which means the fish will be keeping close tabs on roving packs of smelt and shad holding in the mouths of feeder creeks and around main-lake structure. “Finding food will be the key,” Spaid said. “The fish are going to be on a pretty aggressive feed too, so there should be a lot of action and plenty of limits caught.” He expects the winning weight to reach as high as 32 pounds.
Spring Creek Resort, which is located 10 miles north of Oahe Dam on Highway 1804, will host daily takeoffs at 7 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Spring Creek beginning at 3 p.m., and Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1600 N. Harrison Ave. in Pierre beginning at 3 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
The winning pro will earn $50,000 cash plus a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha for a top award worth $90,000. The winning co-angler will receive $15,000 cash. One hundred and sixty boaters and 160 co-anglers comprise a full field. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers.
The full field competes during the two-day opening round for one of 20 semifinal-round slots based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and the top 10 pros and co-anglers following Friday’s competition advance to the final round. Final-round anglers continue Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 to second, 198 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 120 pros and 120 co-anglers based on year-end points standings qualify for the 2004 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 29-Oct. 2, where a pro can earn as much as $400,000 cash for a win. Another 20 boaters and 20 co-anglers from the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and 60 pros and 60 co-anglers who compete in RCL-sanctioned events will comprise a championship field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers.
The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards through 100th place. Including sponsor bonuses, cash awards are available through 200th place. A guaranteed cash award of $150,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $250,000 will go to the RCL Championship winner 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.
The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors. 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 more information about the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League are named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.
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