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AIM™ Announces Finalized Pro Walleye Series Tournament Format and Registrations

Category: press release

 Feb 17th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Feb 17th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Plymouth, WI – February 17, 2009. AIM™ announced today the final format for their AIM Pro Walleye Series™ tournaments and registration for the 2009 season.

	Anglers Insight Marketing LLC

AIM™ will conduct four Pro-Am walleye fishing tournaments in 2009. The first three AIM Pro Walleye Series™ tournaments will serve as qualifying events for the AIM International Walleye Championship™. Each of the AIM Pro Walleye Series™ qualifying tournaments will host fields limited to 100 Pro Walleye Anglers and 100 Co-anglers.

The AIM Pro Walleye Series™ tournaments will all be three day events. The Pro Angler provides the boat, all the fishing tackle and bait for the day. Each day the Co-angler will be paired with a different Pro Angler and have the opportunity to learn individual strategies and cutting edge presentations. The full field of 100 Pro Anglers and Co-anglers will fish the first two days. The top 50% of the Pro Angler field – based on cumulative weights over the first two days – will fish the third day of the tournament along with Co-anglers who were randomly drawn during the Rules Meeting prior to the event.

The AIM Pro Walleye Series™ tournaments include the following dates and locations:

May 22-24, 2009, Bay City, Michigan fishing Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron

July 2-4, 2009 Green Bay, Wisconsin fishing Green Bay on Lake Michigan

August 13-15, 2009, Akaska, South Dakota fishing Lake Oahe

Each AIM Pro Walleye Series™ qualifying tournament is scheduled to coincide with a regional festival that will provide large numbers of spectators. This guarantees the maximum exposure for professional fishing; the sponsor’s and host communities of AIM™ along with individual Pro Anglers themselves.  Pro Angler entry fees for the 2009 AIM Pro Walleye Series™ have been set at $1,500 per event.  For anglers who are not AIM™ owners or “Life Members” there will also be a $250 membership fee per event.  Co-angler entry fees have been held to just $250 per event which will help attract a broader base of new Co-anglers to the sport.  Co-anglers will not be competing for prizes based upon their placement in the event, but instead will be awarded prizes by drawings at the daily weigh-ins. AIM™ is also announcing guaranteed paybacks of not less than 100% of Pro Angler entry fees which will ensure a minimum of $150,000 in payouts, including a first place prize of $50,000 with a full 100 boat field in AIM Pro Walleye Series™ events.

The AIM International Walleye Championship™ will be held September 2-4, 2009 on Lake Winnibigoshish in northern Minnesota. Pro Anglers will qualify for the Championship by fishing at least one AIM Pro Walleye Series™ tournament. The top three Pro Anglers in the cumulative “Angler of the Year” rankings after the first three qualifying events will receive FREE entries to the Championship. In addition, the two Pro Anglers that post the largest improvements in Angler of the Year standings from the first event to the end of the third event will also receive FREE entries to the AIM International Walleye Championship™.

Scott Matheson, AIM™ President and CEO reports, “The AIM International Walleye Championship will truly be an “international” event. Entries to our Championship will include the top finishers from national, regional and local walleye tournament organizations from across the U.S. and Canada. Each of these organizations hosts talented anglers who have the skills and desire to compete in this true Championship event, and we welcome each of them.  Our initial commitment was to ‘raise the bar’ in tournament fishing and introduce a series of exciting innovations. The AIM format for 2009 accomplishes all this, and more!”
 
All AIM™ tournaments will incorporate the exclusive AIM™ Catch, Record, Release™ (CRR) format.  The process will include the Pro Angler and Co-angler measuring the length of each walleye, taking two digital photos, and immediately releasing the fish. At the daily “weigh-in” the lengths of the seven largest walleyes will be converted to weights and counted in the cumulative total weight for the Pro Angler.   The photos and weights of walleyes will be displayed both on stage and on the AIM™ website to give viewers an idea of the quantity and quality of fish caught by the competitors.  On the third day of each event weights will be tallied as the fish are caught by the tournament leaders, and will be streamed on the AIM™ website along with video taken that day providing excitement never before seen in walleye tournaments.

“CRR will bring us back to the head-to-head competition that this sport needs” emphasizes Pro Angler Gary Parsons, “It will eliminate the guesswork that slot limits and culling restrictions have brought to walleye competitions. We’ll be back to fishing on great bodies of water where the angler who catches the biggest fish – wins!” Catch, Record, Release™ will also eliminate the concerns by local anglers and fisheries managers of excessive fish harvest or mortality of released fish.

Registration for AIM Pro Walleye Series™ events is now available online at www.aimfishing.com, or by mail and telephone at 920-526-3399

Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC (AIM) is an angler owned organization dedicated to lead the fishing industry in competitive angling through the insight and knowledge of its owners who are predominantly participants in the sport.