OHIO RIVER TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE HOOSIER DIVISION
TOURNAMENT CANNELTON, Ind. (July 12, 2005) -
The Hoosier Division of the $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing
League will visit the Ohio River near Cannelton July 23 for
the 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 $39,000 in cash, including as much
as $5,500 to the Boater Division winner. Rocky Point Marina
in Cannelton will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 5:30 a.m.
and 2:30 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.) If the winning boater
uses only Garmin electronics during the event and at least one
product is a qualifying unit, Garmin will also award a $1,000
bonus. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if
the winner's boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude Direct
Injection outboard. That's a potential top award of $8,500 for
anglers who meet contingency guidelines. The winning co-angler
will earn as much as $2,750 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 2006 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 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 top 40 Hoosier Division boaters and co-anglers
will advance to the Ohio River Regional near Paducah, Ky., Oct.
11-15 and will compete against anglers from the Great Lakes,
Arkie and Michigan divisions for an All-American slot. The top
40 anglers from each division may also advance to the EverStart
Series in 2006. A two-day Super Tournament, the Hoosier Division's
fifth and final event, will be held on the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg
Sept. 17-18. For more information or to enter a tournament,
call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com. If the July 23
tournament is not yet full, entries will be accepted at tournament
registration, which will be held July 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at
the Wal-Mart located at 730 E. Hwy. 66 in Tell City. 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 EverStart 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 Bass Fishing League and seven
other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million
in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization
is the purveyor of America's largest and most prestigious fishing
tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series,
Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail,
Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart
FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. Wal-Mart
and many of America's largest and most respected companies support
FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as
title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title
sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on
Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com
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