FLW Outdoors announced the 2011 FLW Tour schedule Tuesday. The 2011 FLW Tour will expand to 10 tournaments, plus the Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.
“We are excited to expand the FLW Tour,” said Charlie Evans, President and CEO of FLW Outdoors. “We have a long history of offering the best paybacks in the sport, and our new expanded schedule, with stops on some of the nation’s top fisheries, will bring even more opportunity and visibility to our anglers, corporate supporters and for our fans.”
The 2011 FLW Tour will consist of six FLW Tour Majors and four FLW Tour Opens. FLW Tour Majors, which will feature a 150-boat field, are open to professional anglers who enter all six tournaments. Pros fishing the FLW Tour Majors will receive priority when entering FLW Tour Opens and pros that enter all four FLW Tour Opens will receive priority over individual entrants. FLW Tour Opens will also feature a 150-boat field. Complete details regarding registration requirements will be available in the near future at the FLWOutdoors website or you can call (270) 252-1000.
The 2011 FLW Tour season is listed below and can be viewed at the FLWOutdoors website.
| Date | Fishery | Location | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 2-5 | Lake Okeechobee | Clewiston, Fla. | FLW Tour Open |
| March 2-5 | Falcon Lake | Zapata, Texas | FLW Tour Major |
| March 23-26 | Lake Hartwell | Greenville, S.C. | FLW Tour Major |
| April 13-16 | Lake Chickamauga | Chattanooga, Tenn. | FLW Tour Major |
| May 4-7 | Table Rock Lake | Branson, Mo. | FLW Tour Major |
| May 18-21 | Red River | Shreveport, La. | FLW Tour Major |
| June 1-4 | Potomac River | National Harbor, Md. | FLW Tour Open |
| June 15-18 | Kentucky Lake | Murray, Ky. | FLW Tour Major |
| Aug. 11-14 | Lake Ouachita | Hot Springs, Ark. | Forrest Wood Cup |
| Sept. 14-17 | Lake Champlain | Plattsburgh, N.Y. | FLW Tour Open |
| Oct. 19-22 | Lake Guntersville | Guntersville, Ala. | FLW Tour Open |
The prestigious Angler of the Year title for 2011 will be determined over the 10 events. The top 30 pros and co-anglers from the FLW Tour Majors will qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup, which will consist of 58 pros and co-anglers. In 2012, the top 35 pros and co-anglers from the FLW Tour Majors, along with the top five from the 2011 FLW Tour Opens, will qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.
The full field will compete the first two days of each FLW Tour event. On day three, the top 75 pros and co-anglers will compete with the co-angler winner being crowned based on cumulative weight from all three days. Day four will feature the top five pro anglers with the winner determined by cumulative weight from all four days.
Pro anglers will compete for up to $125,000 and co-anglers will be vying for up to $25,000 in each tournament. With a full field, the paybacks will be $10,000 through 50th place on the pro side and $1,000 on the co-angler side. Entry fees are unchanged for 2011 at $4,000 per tournament for pros and $700 per tournament for co-anglers. For additional details regarding paybacks, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.By: Jeff McCoy, PR dir / FLW Outdoors
