Nation’s top weekend anglers invade Lake Wylie
Tune in Sunday, May 27, to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for complete coverage of the 2007 The Bass Federation National Championship held on Lake Wylie near Charlotte, N.C. At stake in this event are berths into two of the sport’s most coveted events – the $2 million Forest Wood Cup and the $1 million BFL All-American. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced.
Anglers from six nationwide TBF divisions competed during 2006 and qualified through a series of TBF club, TBF state and TBF divisional tournaments to compete in the no-entry-fee TBF National Championship. The entire field of 36 boaters and 36 co-anglers compete on days one and two for an accumulated two-day weight. The top boater and co-angler from each of the TBF’s six divisions advance to day three, where they continue fishing, carrying their weight from the first round into the final round. The winners are determined by the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
The winning boater and co-angler at the TBF National Championship will automatically be entered into the 2007 Forest Wood Cup where they have the potential to win the sport’s first $1 million award in the Pro Division and $50,000 in the Co-angler Division. The top boater and co-angler from each of the TBF’s six divisions will also be given a berth into the 2007 All-American. With top awards of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division, the All-American has served as a launching pad for many professional fishing careers.
In addition to incredibly lucrative championship berths, the TBF National Championship will also award $10,000 and a “Living the Dream” prize package to the first-place boater. The package includes use of a “Living the Dream” wrapped Chevy truck and Ranger boat powered either by Evinrude or Yamaha, sponsor merchandise and entry fees into the winner’s choice of either the 2008 FLW Tour or FLW Series to compete against the world’s top bass anglers.
After two days of competition, six national divisions are represented in the top six finalists, and in the weight contest, day-one leader Jamie Horton of the Southern Division continued his reign with a two-day total weight of 31 pounds, 9 ounces, leading the Central Division’s Greg Cooper by 2 pounds, 6 ounces.
The divisional representation makes this event unique in that the top six boaters and top six co-anglers who advanced to the final round did not necessarily catch the six heaviest weights. Rather, they caught the heaviest two-day total weight in their respective division.
Currently Horton is king of the hill in the total weight competition, and his day-one limit of 15-13 was almost exactly matched on day two, as he brought in another limit weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces. On day one, Horton caught his fish with topwater baits, but was forced to switch to jigs on day two as skies cleared. Tune in to see what his arsenal will include on the final day of competition.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLW Outdoors also provides an online guide listing upcoming episodes on “FLW Outdoors.”
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. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website.
“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
