FLW Walleye Tour to visit Lake Erie

Season opener to take place April 15-18

PORT CLINTON, Ohio – The 2009 Walmart FLW Walleye Tour will hold its first qualifying tournament of the season on Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio, April 15-18. The tournament is hosted by the City of Port Clinton and the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau and will feature 300 anglers from 25 states and national television coverage on VERSUS.

Pros will compete for a top award of $100,000 and co-anglers will compete for as much as $20,000.

“I am hoping for warmer water and clear water conditions,” said pro John Swanstrom of Superior, Wis., who won the 2008 Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie with a four-day total of 143 pounds, 7 ounces. “I have a few new tricks up my sleeve and I don’t think anyone else will have their hands on yet.”

Swanstrom said that with the recent cooling trend the water might not be as warm and therefore thinks that this tournament will be a crankbait bite. “I think we can expect weights similar to last year if not bigger. The predominant weight class in Lake Erie is 2003 and those should be pushing 7 pounds. I believe those fish will make up the majority of the anglers bag. The only reason we wouldn’t have another record breaking year would be if we couldn’t get out due to weather.”

Water clarity and water temperature are the two main factors that Swanstrom will look at when he decides what areas to fish. “I am going to be targeting fish that are prespawn or postspawn females that are moving through transitional areas,” he said. “It’s not specific structure that I am looking for as much as the water clarity and temperature.”

Going into the tournament last year Swanstrom only caught three fish in practice and wasn’t feeling good about the tournament. “We caught three fish the last day of practice and I had been on the lake for six days,” he said. “My confidence level was very low but when it came tournament time the weather calmed down and the water warmed up and the fish went nuts. With this lake anything can happen.”

Nor’ Easter Club, located at 2801 Nor’ Easter Cove Rd. in Port Clinton, will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at Waterworks Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 2826 E. Harbor Rd. in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.

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 three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winners determined by the heaviest four-day weight.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers in the standings will advance to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 30-Oct. 3 for a shot at top awards of $150,000 and $20,000, respectively. The prestigious championship, hosted by the Bismarck-Mandan Convention and Visitors Bureau, will also feature boater and co-angler points champions from each of four Walmart FLW Walleye League divisions. The no-entry-fee FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with cash awards for the entire field.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour, hosted by the City of Port Clinton and the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air May 24 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.