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Vanderweide Leads FLW Top Ten into Finals

Category: Tournament

 Jul 25th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jul 25th, 2008 at 12:00 AM

	Vanderweide with part of his tournament-best limit

ESCANABA, Mich. (July 25, 2008) -Joshua Vanderweide of Jenison, Mich., along with his partner, Timothy Tice of Barryton, Mich., caught five walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce to lead day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour presented by Berkley event on Bays de Noc in Escanaba, Mich. Vanderweide now has a three-day catch of 11 walleyes weighing 63-02. He now holds a 5 pound, 3 ounce lead over the second place finisher going into the final day of competition.

The Bays de Noc event is a nationally televised tournament that features 248 competitors fishing for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division

"It was the perfect fishing day on Bays de Noc," said Vanderweide, who is fishing in only his second season on the Walleye Tour. "We had four fish on at one time and we were done fishing at 10 this morning. I knew that it wasn't going to get any better than what we had. I knew that once we got the first four fish and they were all slots that we were going to have close to a perfect day in Escanaba."
Vanderweide is fishing Big Bay de Noc trolling spinners. He said that his key area is miles away from other anglers.

"I had the area all to myself which is always nice," Vanderweide said. "As far as tomorrow goes- Fish are always moving so I am not overly confident. I know that I will be able to locate fish somewhere in our area but whether or not they are in the same place as today- I don't know."
"I hope that I can win one tomorrow. I am getting a better bite each day and the wind has played in my favor."

Rounding out the top five pros are Chad Schilling of Akaska, S.D. (14 walleyes, 58 pounds, 1 ounce); Kim Papineau of Escanaba (nine walleyes, 53 pounds, 14 ounces); Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis. (14 walleyes, 50 pounds, 14 ounces); and Pay Byle of Colgate, Wis. (11 walleyes, 44 pounds, 8 ounces).

Jerry Miller of Lowell, Ind., leads the co-angler division with a three day weight weighing 59-00.
"It's all about being a team on the water," Miller said. "I had the opportunity this week to fish with three great guys and we worked hard each day.

"Words don't even describe how I feel right now. To make the cut is a dream come true," Miller added.

Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark. (11 walleyes, 50-05), Chuck Jones of Michigan City, Ind. (eight walleyes, 44-04), Heath Fremstad of Mondovi, Wis. (11 walleyes, 43-04) and Scott Peterson of Escanaba (10 walleyes, 42-10).

Saturday's takeoff will be at Escanaba Harbor at 6:30 a.m. Saturday's final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 601 N. Lincoln Road beginning at 4:30 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.

In addition to cash awards, anglers are competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship – the sport's richest event – in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 24-27. The top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers in the Land O'Lakes Angler of the Year points standings will advance to the Championship, where they will compete for top awards of $150,000 and $20,000, respectively.

Tournament pros aren't the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player's Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player's Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player's Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour event on Bays de Noc will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Oct. 10 as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

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.

Awards are based on a full field of 150 boats in every tournament.