The first-ever $900,000 FLW Series event is to be held March 8-11 in Gainesville...
The new $6.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Series will open its season on Lake Lanier near Gainesville, Ga., March 8-11. The winning pro will earn $100,000, while co-anglers will cast for a top award of $20,000. Ultimately, all anglers in the FLW Series are competing for spots in the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will have a shot at bass fishing's first $1 million prize.
Lake Lanier is a lake renowned for the potential of yielding hefty limits of trophy-sized spotted bass. Buford, Ga., pro Tom Mann Jr. said with current weather patterns, anglers should expect to hit the bass bite just about right.
“It's a good place to start the Series, and I think everyone should have a lot of fun,” Mann said. “It's always iffy this time of year anywhere in the Southeast, but with the warm weather we've had, it's shaping up to be awesome. If it works out right, guys will be catching big, fat, prespawn fish.
“Speaking conservatively, you could see some 16- to 18-pound limits of spotted bass brought in. Guys will catch several largemouths, too, but there are enough big spotted bass that you can catch consistent 14- to 15-pound bags of them each day.”
Anglers will take off each morning at 7 from Little Hall Park in Gainesville. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's weigh-ins will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 400 Shallowford Road SW in Gainesville beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg's Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Lanier FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing April 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
The second FLW Series event will be held May 3-6 on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky., followed by an event on Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, Tenn., May 31-June 3, and an event on Lake of the Ozarks near Ozark, Mo., Oct. 11-14. The final event will be held on Lewis Smith Lake near Jasper, Ala., Nov. 15-18.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers 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. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse 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 an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.