LAMPMAN LEADS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Category: Tournament
Sep 30th, 2005 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 30th, 2005 at 12:00 AM
MOLINE, Ill. (Sept. 30, 2005) – Pro Robert Lampman of DeSoto, Wis., and co-angler Matthew Hiller of Ada, Mich., caught two walleyes weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to give Hiller an $11,000 victory and send Lampman into the final day of competition with a 1-pound, 4-ounce lead in the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi River in Moline. A win is worth as much as $125,000 for the 10 remaining pros in the world’s most lucrative walleye-fishing tournament. “I fished this river last year and finished 18th,” said Lampman, who is making his sixth championship appearance in as many years on the FLW Walleye Tour. “With the warm summer we’ve had and the relatively low oxygen levels, the fishing has been tough, but with the current picking up and the water cooling down, the fish are just ready to bust. Water temps are getting down to the perfect zone. That’s a little scary because all these guys are great fishermen and they are going to be tough.” Lampman caught two walleyes weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces Wednesday while fishing with co-angler Jackie Perry of Milaca, Minn., to finish the opening day in 13th place. He then added two walleyes weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces to his total Thursday while fishing with co-angler Jerome Chwierut of Glenview, Ill., to advance to the finals as the No. 9 seed with a two-day total of four walleyes weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces. The original field of 50 pros and 50 co-anglers representing 18 states and Canada was cut to the top 10 Thursday evening and opening-round weights were cleared for the final round. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, however, and the winning pro will be determined by the heaviest two-day total catch. Lampman has 10 spots that produced in practice, but all of his fish came from just one, until today. “When I go to the spot I was fishing in the opening round, I was fighting 3-foot waves,” he said, “so I decided to go to calmer water.” Wing dams in Pool 14 have been Lampman’s targets of choice using Lindy Rigs and live bait. The pressure of competing against the best co-anglers in the world is now over for Hiller, and he is $11,000 richer for his efforts. Hiller, a tour rookie, landed one walleye weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces Wednesday while fishing with pro Joe Whitten of Toledo, Ohio, to secure 29th place heading into day two. He then added five walleyes weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces to his total Thursday while fishing with pro Carl Grunwaldt of Green Bay, Wis., to advance to the final day of co-angler competition as the No. 9 seed with a two-day total of six walleyes weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces. Pro Shannon Kehl of Menoken, N.D., secured second place heading into the final day and co-angler Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., won $6,500 plus $9,000 in boat and engine bonuses with a four-walleye catch weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Rounding out the top five pros are Kevin Goligowski of Maplewood, Minn. (three walleyes, 6 pounds, 13 ounces); Jarrad Fluekiger of Alma, Wis. (two walleyes, 3 pounds, 1 ounce) and Dan Stier of Pierre, S.D. (one walleye, 1 pound, 15 ounces). Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Hight of Pierre, S.D. (four walleyes, 7 pounds, $5,000 plus $2,500 bonus); Marty Barski of Crystal Lake, Ill. (three walleyes, 6 pounds, 13 ounces, $4,000 plus $2,500 bonus) and Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark., (two walleyes, 3 pounds, 1 ounce, $3,000 plus $3,500 bonus). 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. Sunset Park on 18th Ave. in Rock Island will host Saturday’s final takeoff at 7 a.m. followed by the final weigh-in at the Wal-Mart store located at 3930 44th Ave. in Moline beginning at 5 p.m. The FLW Walleye Tour Family Fun Zone featuring interactive games, product samples and activities for the entire family opens in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 1 p.m. All activities are absolutely free. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour and eight other national tournament circuits offering more than $32 million in purses through 230 events in 2006. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com. For more information about the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship hosted by the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about the Quad Cities, go to Visitquadcities.com.