Winning pro to claim $125,000 first-place purse
Tune in Sunday, Dec. 30 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN to witness one of the greatest comebacks in professional bass fishing history. The one-hour program covers the fourth Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division event on Clear Lake in Kelseyville, Calif. The show, which concludes with the winning pro claiming a cash prize of $125,000, will highlight one of the best bass fisheries in the United States. The total purse for the event is $1 million, the largest ever for a bass tournament held on Clear Lake.
In FLW Series competition, a full field of pros and co-anglers competes for the first three days. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced.
In addition to the top award of $125,000, anglers are competing valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the FLW Series East-West Fish-Off and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award. The top 30 pros from both FLW Series divisions will advance to the Fish-Off, which will be held Feb. 7-9, 2008 on Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas.
Despite the event being held in the midst of fall transition, Northern California’s Clear Lake is kicking out hundreds of giant largemouth bass. In fact, co-angler Andrew Sanchez caught a monster bass on day two that weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces – officially the fourth-heaviest bass in the history of FLW Outdoors.
Although Sanchez caught the single biggest fish of the tournament, pro Chris Zaldain has been the most consistent angler throughout the week. The rookie pro out of San Jose, Calif., caught his third limit over 20 pounds on day three and took a commanding lead heading into the final round. On days one and two, Zaldain caught 22 pounds even and 25-11, respectively, to take over the lead by approximately 4 pounds. On day three he stretched that lead to 7 1/2 pounds over second-place Andre Moore by catching five bass that weighed 21-5. His opening-round total now stands at 69 pounds even with one day of competition remaining. In a big-fish tournament with lots of limits, Zaldain has been the only angler to catch more than 20 pounds each day. His pattern consists of running and gunning points around the main lake with a big white swimbait.
In second place is Moore, the two-time Wal-Mart Open champion. Unlike Zaldain, Moore is burning a crankbait around huge lava rocks. He’s catching a ton of fish, upwards of 40 keepers a day, but the overall quality isn’t quite there. Still, the Alabaster, Ala., resident weighed five on day three that went 22 pounds, 3 ounces as he climbed into the runner-up seat with a three-day total of 61-6. Tune in to see if Moore can earn the third six-figure payday of his FLW Outdoors career.
Lying in the weeds in sixth place is National Guard pro Tim Klinger. Like Moore, Klinger is a former Wal-Mart Open champion. But the Boulder City, Nev., pro had to climb a steep mountain just to make the top-10 cutoff. Klinger started the tournament with a dismal showing of only four bass weighing 11 pounds. That put him in 164th place. On day two, he rebounded with a five-bass limit that weighed 19 pounds – finishing the day in 67th place. On day three he caught 27 pounds, 4 ounces, the second-heaviest limit of the tournament and amazingly qualified for the cut in sixth place.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sunday mornings. 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: Chad Gay, Director – Public Relations
