Plant Wins FLW League on Detroit River
Category: Tournament
Apr 4th, 2006 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Apr 4th, 2006 at 12:00 AM
TRENTON, Mich. (April 2, 2006) – Boater Ernest Plant of Pinconning, Mich., earned $2,555 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Michigan Division event on the Detroit River. Plant, along with co-angler Mike Burley of Johannesburg, Mich., caught a five-walleye limit weighing 25 pounds, 1 ounce to win by nearly 10 pounds. Despite heavy fishing pressure and typical early spring conditions that left the water in the mid-40 degree range, Plant and Burley were able to land several trophy-sized fish. Rather than making numerous drifts in different areas, the anglers worked a smaller area more thoroughly, fishing a breakline with 1/2-ounce glowing orange jigheads tipped with Berkley Gulp! and Lindy Fuzz-E-Grubs. Plant said their fish came from shallower water, in the 18-foot range, early in the morning, but by the afternoon, their walleyes were coming from the 26 to 28 foot range. Rounding out the top five boaters are Dennis Lantzy of Warren, Mich. (four walleyes, 15 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,314 plus $400 contingency bonus); Paul Curmi of Belleville, Mich. (five walleyes, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,095); Will Kneer of Washington Township, Mich. (two walleyes, 13 pounds, 5 ounces, $949 plus $250 contingency bonus) and Nathan Seiferlein of Marine City, Mich. (four walleyes, 13 pounds, 3 ounces, $602). Burley earned $1,278 as winner of the Co-angler Division. Co-angler competitors share weight with their boater partner. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are David Leach of Linwood, Mich., $657; Roger Hoffman of Jefferson, Iowa ($548); Jim Nightengale of Brook Park, Ohio ($474 plus $125 contingency bonus) and Dan Huff of Kalamazoo, Mich. ($301). Three FLW Walleye League divisions – Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin – each feature three 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 35 boaters and 35 co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division advance to the $141,950 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals, set for Sept. 7-9 on Lake Michigan in Escanaba, Mich. Anglers finishing in the top 10 in each division also receive priority entry into the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour for 2007. The Michigan Division’s second stop will be held on the Saginaw River May 13, followed by an event on Lake Erie June 17 and the Super Tournament presented by Evinrude Aug. 12-13 in Saginaw Bay. The Wal-Mart FLW 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. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League and nine other national tournament circuits offering a combined $36.9 million in awards through 241 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, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ 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. For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. 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.