Top 50 kingfish teams compete for $150,000 first-place award
Tune in Sunday to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the inaugural $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship held in Morehead City, N.C., Oct. 13-15. The final event of the most lucrative kingfish tournament trail in the country concludes with the winning team claiming a cash prize of $150,000.
The “FLW Outdoors” saltwater series is a reality-format show told from the anglers’ perspective. Each week the top-four teams 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.
The top 50 teams of the 2005 FLW Kingfish Tour season are fishing the no-entry-fee championship. The winner is determined based on the heaviest catch from day one or day two plus the heaviest catch from day three. Following the day two weigh-in, the field will be cut to the top 10 teams who advance to the final round.
Leading after day one was Team Rebecca Ann, which caught a 34-pound king and led all challengers during the first half of the opening round. The team, captained by Frank Strickland of Valdosta, Ga., caught their king mackerel on a ribbonfish in an area known as Dead Tree Hole.
Team My Turn, captained by Steve Venable of Rural Hall, N.C., weighed in a 31-pound, 10-ounce kingfish and finished day one in second place. My Turn, which caught its keeper on a bluefish, worked a line of temperature breaks in the offshore waters.
Watch as the field of 50 boats makes their last attempt at qualifying for the final round and claiming a $150,000 payday.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area.
FSN reaches more than 78 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. FSN, based in Los Angeles, serves as the cable-TV home to 60 of the 81 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States and produces over 4,500 live events each year. In addition to home-team games, FSN telecasts a wide variety of national sports events and programming, including the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory.”
“FLW Outdoors” is also televised on the American Forces Network, which reaches over 800,000 service men and women stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard naval ships.
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, 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, Ranger owners’ tournaments and Stratos owners’ tournaments. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $35 million through 244 events in 2006.
Wal-Mart and more than 40 of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events.
By: J Sealock
