Championship qualifiers compete for $100,000 first-place purse
Tune in Sunday, Dec. 23 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship held in Orange Beach, Ala. The final Redfish Series event of the $1.9 million season will highlight the best anglers in the world as they compete for a cash prize of $100,000.
The “FLW Outdoors” saltwater series is a reality-format show told from the anglers’ perspective. Each week the top-five finalists are followed from takeoff to weigh-in, allowing the audience to feel the anglers’ nerves, listen to their strategy and learn from their mistakes. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced.
Leading the event at the conclusion of the two-day opening round is the Texas team of Bennie Hatten and Randy Macik. After experiencing wicked weather on day one, the wind and rain finally subsided on day two – opening the window for long runs. Hatten and Macik took full advantage of the change in conditions and drove their Ranger bay boat full throttle across Mobile Bay and into Mississippi Sound. Their journey, which takes an hour and 45 minutes each way, ended at a secluded 20-acre pond teaming with redfish. On day two, Hatten and Macik caught eight fish in an hour on white Skitterwalks, the best two weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces. Their two-day total now stands at 24 pounds, 13 ounces and gives them a 1-pound, 9-ounce lead with one day of competition remaining. While wind hampered some and the massive amounts of rain flushed out other competitors’ water, the Texas team’s perfect little pond has held up thus far. Tune in to see to see if it produces with $100,000 on the line.
The father-son duo of Steve White of Petal, Miss., and Barnie White of Brewton, Ala., jumped from 10th place to second place thanks to a 12-pound, 11-ounce day-two catch which pushed their two-day total to 23 pounds, 4 ounces. White and White, local anglers who know these waters well, are playing a carefully crafted plan of fishing close to the launch site in Orange Beach. They have located a shallow-water area in the Heron Bayou near the Alabama-Mississippi line that is loaded with keeper-sized redfish. Their other area is deeper and is located in Mobile Bay. While there are fewer fish in the deep-water spot, they are of better quality. On day one, White and White never made it to their deep-water spot because the conditions were too rough. But on day two it coughed up two 6-pounders via spinnerbaits and spoons and enabled the local fishermen to vault up the leaderboard.
The Dec. 23 show also features Kris Walter of Hudson, Fla., and Danny Winters of Tampa, Fla. The two are in third place at the conclusion of the opening round with a two-day total of 22 pounds, 12 ounces. Walter and Winters are also sticking with a close-range game plan, traveling just 17 miles from the launch. The Florida team is using 3/8-ounce spinnerbaits and Berkley Gulp jerk shads in a tidal creek that runs through a nearby marsh. The two finished second at last year’s championship by fishing close and chose that strategy again; hoping inclement weather would derail the other teams.
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: Dave Washburn, vp comm, FLW Outdoors
