JAMES RIVER TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE SHENANDOAH DIVISION TOURNAMENT
RICHMOND, Va. (July 18, 2006) – The Shenandoah Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit the James River near Richmond, Va., July 29 for their fourth 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. Osborne Landing in Richmond 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 Shenandoah Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Kerr Lake Regional Championship near Henderson, N.C., Oct. 12-14 and will compete against anglers from the Gator, Savannah River and South Carolina divisions for an All-American slot. The top 40 anglers from each division may also advance to the Stren Series in 2007.
A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on the Potomac River in Woodbridge, Va., Sept. 30-Oct.1. 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 7430 Bell Creek Road in Mechanicsville. 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.
