GRAND RIVER TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE MICHIGAN DIVISION TOURNAMENT
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (July 18, 2006) – The Michigan Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit the Grand River near Grand Haven, Mich., July 29 for the third 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 as much as $6,000 to the Boater Division winner. Riverside Park in Grand Haven will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Anglers will compete for prize money as well as points that count toward postseason competition. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for the season-ending Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 points for second, 298 for third, and so on.
If the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he will receive a $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats and $500 from Yamaha if his boat is powered by Yamaha. Ranger will award $500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner, and Yamaha will kick in $250 if the boat is powered by Yamaha. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner's boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard. That's a potential top award of $8,000 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.
The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash. The angler who catches the biggest bass of the day in the Boater Division will earn as much as $1,000, and the co-angler big-bass winner will earn as much as $500.
The top 40 boaters and co-anglers in each of the BFL's 28 divisions at the end of the season are eligible to advance to regional competition. Seven $110,000 Regional Championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the 2007 Wal-Mart BFL All-American championship, which will feature a $1 million purse and a top award as high as $140,000. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to regional competition 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 championship field of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers.
The winning boater and the winning co-angler at the All-American will have the opportunity to advance to the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup, the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing, where the winner could earn up to $1 million.
The top 40 Michigan Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Fort Madison Regional Championship near Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 5-7 and will compete against anglers from the Great Lakes, Illini and Ozark divisions for an All-American slot. The top 40 anglers from each division may also advance to the Stren Series in 2007.
The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., Aug 26. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held again on the Detroit River in Trenton, Sept. 9-10. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.
If the July 29 tournament is not yet full, entries will be accepted at tournament registration, which will be held July 28 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the area Wal-Mart store located at 1879 East Sherman Blvd. in Muskegon, Mich. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers.
In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.
As the nation's leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the Wal-Mart FLW Tour – bass fishing's most lucrative tournament series. Former BFL anglers who have become fishing superstars on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour include Kellogg's pro Clark Wendlandt, Ranger pro Tommy Biffle and four-time FLW Tour champion David Fritts.
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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about 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 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.
