Ryan Thornton of Harwood, Ontario, Canada, accumulated the most points of any player in FLW Fantasy Fishing after last week’s Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Okeechobee. Thornton selected a team of 10 anglers who competed in the actual tournament and earned his points based on their performance. For his win, Harwood earned $5,000 and became an early frontrunner to win the season-ending $10,000 grand prize.
“It feels great to win this kind of money playing Fantasy Fishing,” said Thornton. “I never really thought I’d be able to do it.”
Thornton said he primarily used the FLW website to conduct research for his team.
“I looked through a lot of angler profiles and searched for pros that had good streaks on Lake Okeechobee,” said Thornton. “It didn’t take me long to gather the information I needed.”
Thornton went on to say that a couple of his picks were based on real-world experiences he’s had with some of the Canadian anglers on the FLW Tour.
“I picked brothers Chris and Cory Johnston because I fish against them all the time up here in Canada,” said Thornton. “They’re the guys to beat up here. They catch them anywhere they go.”
Thornton’s team was tied for the win with second-place finisher John Deak of Phillipsburg, Ohio. Thornton broke the tie by guessing a weight closest to the actual tournament winning weight from the Lake Okeechobee event. Deak earned $1,000 for his efforts.
Several other winners from across the globe took home prizes including cash, ShopFLW gift cards, hats and baits.
The 2016 Fantasy Fishing season consists of seven tournaments surrounding the Walmart FLW Tour regular season as well as the season-ending Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. Fans compete for more than $7,000 in cash and prizes from each of the six tournaments and a top prize of $5,000. The cumulative grand prize for the highest ranked player at the end of the season is $10,000.
To begin playing, visit FantasyFishing.com and sign up. Select a team of 10 anglers against an allocated $200 salary cap and select your guess for the tournament winning weight as a tiebreaker. Create a league to play against your friends and compete for bragging rights. Player’s modifications to their teams must be finalized by 11:59 p.m. EST the night prior to the tournament.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
