One-hour show concludes with crowning of pro champion
For those not competing in the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup Aug. 2-5 on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark., “FLW Outdoors” on FSN will treat your bass fishing itch as 200 of the best professional anglers compete for a top prize of $125,000. The one-hour show is the second of a two-part series covering the fifth event of the $9.5 million FLW Tour season on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
The day-four takeoff at the Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs is scheduled for 7 a.m. Central time, leaving die-hard fans plenty of time to get home by the 10 a.m. show time.
After three days of competition on the bass-rich waters of the Potomac, Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner is looking like the man to beat. Each day the Gastonia, N.C., native has caught a hefty five-bass limit of largemouths on a ChatterBait. On day three, his limit weighed 16 pounds, 7 ounces, giving him exactly a 1-pound lead heading into the final day of competition. Baumgardner has never really altered his pattern despite the changing weather conditions. During the two-day opening round, he would slow-roll his ChatterBait around lily pads and then move to the milfoil flats around 1 p.m. Now that he’s in the final round, he has abandoned the pads and is working the grass exclusively. He is fishing a classic postspawn area located three miles south of Mattawoman Creek.
Behind Baumgardner is Castrol pro David Dudley. Dudley recently surpassed Denny Brauer to claim the fourth spot on bass fishing’s all-time leading money winners’ list with more than $2.3 million. The Lynchburg, Va., native is catching his fish on a green pumpkin Baby Brush Hog and on a Senko. Despite his impressive career earnings, Dudley has never won a regular-season FLW Tour event. Tune in Sunday to see if that changes.
In third place is Spiderwire pro Bobby Lane. This is Lane’s first top 10 of the season, a season he would mostly like to forget. But with a $125,000 first-place purse on the line, the Lakeland, Fla., native has a chance to expunge that bad feeling in his mouth. A renowned Florida grass angler, Lane is enjoying fishing in the northern waters near the nation’s capital. On day three, he caught roughly 25 bass, his best five weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces. Fishing in the nearby Mattawoman Creek, Lane is throwing a Pop-R and a Berkley Chigger Craw. In the Duracell Angler Spotlight, Lane takes viewers behind the scenes, showing how a professional angler prepares the night before a big tournament.
FSN also flashes back to the 2007 season-opening FLW Tour event on Lake Travis. In that tournament, second-year pro Aaron Hastings of Middletown, Md., fended off pretournament favorite Clark Wendlandt on his home waters to capture the $125,000 winner’s purse.
In addition, pro Chad Morgenthaler of Coulterville, Ill., participates in this edition of Fishing 101. Morgenthaler, who was in contention for his first Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title on the FLW Tour, gives viewers tips on pitching grass.
FSN is the industry leader in providing the most up-to-date technology in TV production. FSN puts viewers in the boats with the pros, shadowing them from sunrise until the final weigh-in using innovative camera work that gives fishing fans the most intimate viewing experience available.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area.
FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces more than 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory” documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family.
“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service men and women stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
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 FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.
By: Dave Washburn, vp comm, FLW Outdoors
