FSN to broadcast third Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division qualifier
Tune in Sunday, Nov. 4 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division event on Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The third tournament of the Eastern Division season concludes with the winning pro claiming a cash prize of $125,000.
The full field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. 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.
A brutal front, carrying dangerously high winds, reared its ugly head on the third day of competition. Day three of the tournament was subsequently canceled due to unsafe waters. After two days of competition, smallmouth bass are leading the tournament and few are better at catching them than pro Danny Correia. Lake Champlain has built its reputation as one of the best fisheries in the country on the strength of its brown bass population. But lately, the majority of tournaments have been won by targeting largemouths. Correia, the Marlborough, Mass., native who cut his fishing teeth years ago by ripping large spinnerbaits on Lake Winnipesauke for giant smallies, is using that technique plus one of his other favorite tactics – drop-shotting – to bag a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 7 ounces. Coming off the worst FLW Tour season of his career, Correia is looking for redemption and a six-figure payday.
Just 3 ounces behind Correia, in second place, is Gain pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla. Though Kreiger had one largemouth in his bag on day two, he too has been relying heavily on smallmouths for a two-day total of 37 pounds, 4 ounces.
David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., is in third place with a total weight of 37 pounds, 1 ounce. Wolak’s day-two limit of 17 pounds, 1 ounce was anchored by a 6-pound, 2-ounce heavyweight largemouth, which also claimed the big bass of the day in the Pro Division. Each of the first two days of competition Wolak has weighed a mixed bag of both smallmouths and largemouths.
Hot on Wolak’s heels with an opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 5 ounces is Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt. Coming off a third-place finish at the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup, Wendlandt has a bitter taste in his mouth. He’s been fishing extremely well as of late, but has failed to land a tour-level victory since 2001. With his talents, especially on a smallmouth lake like Champlain, the veteran pro is long overdue for another win.
FSN also follows legendary angler Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo. Hibdon, known around bass fishing circles as Father Guido, is targeting largemouths in Mallet’s Bay. The BP pro is focusing on two types of cover – grass and docks. So far, it has worked to the tune of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 12 ounces. Hibdon starts each day fishing clean milfoil in 6 to 10 feet of water until he has a five-bass limit. Then he moves to the docks to do what he does best: stalk big largemouths in hard-to-reach places by skipping a jig.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern time. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLWOutdoors.com 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.
“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
