One-hour show to cover sport’s first pro/co-angler tournament
Tune in Sunday, April 27 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Open from New Orleans, La. The tournament, which was held in conjunction with Southern Sportsman’s Expo in the Louisiana Superdome, will highlight the best redfish anglers in the world as they compete for a top prize of up to $50,000 cash.
The “FLW Outdoors” saltwater series is a reality-format show told from the anglers’ perspective. Each week the top-five finalists 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 FLW Redfish Open format is modeled after the highly successful Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, where randomly paired pros and co-anglers fish as a team and carry their combined catch weight to the next day of competition. The full field will compete for two days and then be cut to the top 30 pros and co-anglers for day three. After day three, the field will be cut to the top five pros and co-anglers for the fourth and final day of competition. Winners in each division will be determined by the accumulated weight of their respective catches during all four days of competition.
After three hard-fought days of competition, longtime friends Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., and Todd Dufour of Marrero, La., have suddenly found themselves locked in a battle for first place with identical catch totals of 45 pounds, 12 ounces. After trading the tournament lead for two consecutive days, Dufrene and Dufour now stand tied atop the leaderboard with only one day of competition remaining.
Dufrene is targeting shallow redfish in heavy grass, using spoons and Berkley Jerk Shad baits. To get to his primary area, Dufrene is running all the way to Golden Meadow, La. Dufour is also fishing shallow and the majority of his keepers are coming from sight-fishing in 1 to 2 feet with a combination of Berkley Gulp shrimp and craw worms.
While neither pro has ever won an FLW Redfish tournament, both are considered top-notch anglers. Tune in as one of these two fishermen will take home a life-changing payday and the tournament title.
FSN also follows third-place pro Alden Bourgeois of Barataria, La., who has a three-day total of six redfish weighing 45 pounds, 4 ounces. Ironically, Bourgeois is Dufour’s regular FLW Redfish Series partner and on day four the two will be in the unusual situation of competing against each other.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sunday mornings. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area.
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, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.
By: Dave Washburn, vp comm, FLW Outdoors