FLORENCE, Ala.(Feb. 25, 2009) The Bama Division of the $8 million Walmart Bass Fishing League® will visit Pickwick Lake in…
FLORENCE, Ala.(Feb. 25, 2009) The Bama Division of the $8 million Walmart Bass Fishing League® will visit Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., March 7 for the first of five regular-season events. As many as 200 boaters and 200 co-anglers are expected to compete in the tournament, which will award as much as $45,000 in cash, including a top award of $6,000 in the Boater Division.
If the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he or she will receive a $2,000 bonus from Ranger Boats. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,000 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Thats a potential top award of $8,000 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.
Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winners boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard.
The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash.
Big Bass awards of up to $1,000 and $500, respectively, will also be awarded in the Boater and Co-angler Divisions.
Anglers may register for the tournament online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000. Onsite registration will be held March 6 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Walmart store located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence, Ala. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers.
McFarland Park Marina in Florence, Ala., will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFLs 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.
The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee $2.5 million Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour®.
A two-day Super Tournament, the divisions fifth and final event, will be held on the Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Ala., Sept. 12-13.
Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in the Bama Division will advance to the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 22-24 and will compete against anglers from the Bulldog, Everglades and Dixie divisions for an All-American berth.
