FLW Outdoors announces 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule

DETROIT – FLW Outdoors announced its 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule today at the Chevy Open. The schedule includes some familiar destinations for the world’s top bass anglers plus the introduction of a new 12-day off-limits at every tour stop. FLW Outdoors announces 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule

DETROIT — FLW Outdoors announced its 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule today at the Chevy Open. The schedule includes some familiar destinations for the world’s top bass anglers plus the introduction of a new 12-day off-limits at every tour stop.

The new off-limits, adopted at the request of FLW Tour anglers, will precede an official practice period that starts the Saturday prior to each tournament and extends through Tuesday of the tournament week. Registration for each event will be held on a Wednesday and no competitors will be allowed on tournament waters that day. Competition will run Thursday through Sunday, with the FLW Tour’s traditional top-10 cut taking place following Friday’s weigh-in. The heaviest cumulative weight from Saturday and Sunday will determine the winning pro as in 2007.

In addition to the off-limits period, FLW Tour anglers may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except for confirmed tournament anglers in 2008. Anglers who make the top-10 cut may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except for other top-10 anglers. During practice, pro anglers may fish only with other confirmed tournament anglers, immediate family members, approved sponsor representatives or approved media representatives.

Also new for 2008 is an adjustment to the payouts in the $1.5 million Wal-Mart, Chevy and National Guard opens that will see a greater percentage of the field receiving at least $10,000. Payouts of $10,000 cash will now extend through 75th place in the Pro Division. Cash awards of $5,000 will extend through 100th place in each of the opens. Payouts in each of the tour’s three $1 million qualifiers remains unchanged with $10,000 cash awards extending through 50th place and $2,000 cash through 75th place. Additionally, pros finishing 76th through 100th will receive a $100 gas card from BP at each $1 million qualifier in 2008.

“All of our program enhancements for 2008 were adopted to continue to grow the sport,” said FLW Outdoors President and CEO Charlie Evans. “Our mission is to provide the absolute best tournaments possible for our anglers, our sponsors and our fans. We are having a terrific 2007 season, and 2008 promises to be even better.”

Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition kicks off Feb. 28-March 2 on Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Fla., and then continues on Lewis Smith Lake in Jasper, Ala., April 3-6. Lake Norman in Charlotte, N.C., will host the $1.5 million National Guard Open April 24-27 followed by the $1.5 million Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark., May 15-18. Knoxville, Tenn., will host the fifth tour stop June 19-22 with anglers fishing Fort Loudoun-Tellico, and the Detroit River in Detroit will host the $1.5 million Chevy Open July 10-13. The $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol will be held on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17.

Entry fees for 2008 are unchanged at $3,500 per qualifier and $4,000 per open for pros and $700 per qualifier and $800 per open for co-anglers. The top 100 anglers from the 2007 FLW Tour and the top 30 anglers from the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Series will have priority entry into the 2008 FLW Tour. Entry dates will be released soon.

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 presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.

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.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.