DETROIT, Mich., After three days of competition among the world’s top bass anglers, five professional anglers will advance to the final round of fishing action in the Forrest Wood Open being held on Lake St. Clair near Detroit. The event, which features a $1 million purse and one of sport fishing’s largest first place cash awards $200,000 culminates Saturday.
In Saturday’s final round, the final five will fish Nascar-styled, Ranger Commanche fishing machines, and each competitor will be paired with a camera crew from ESPN.
The angler catching the heaviest limit of bass for the day will be the Pro Division winner of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s sixth event and receive $200,000. Second place will pay $100,000; third – $50,000; fourth – $35,000; and fifth – $30,000. The five anglers making the cut, along with boat assignments include: (1)Pet Thliveros, Jacksonville, Florida, 18-14, Coleman boat, (2) Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Arkansas, 18-2, EverStart boat; (3) Art Ferguson, Rochester, Michigan, 15-14, Land O Lakes boat; (4) David Reault, Livonia, Michigan, CITGO boat; (5) Kevin Van Dam, Kalamazoo, Michigan,14-12, Bank US-VISA boat.
In other fishing action, the Co-Angler competition has ended with John Bruce of Buford, Georgia, winning first place with a catch of 17 pounds, 12 ounces. He received $40,000 for the win. The top five Pros and five Co-Anglers in the Forrest Wood Open will join the winning Pros and Co-Anglers from the five previous Wal-Mart FLW Tour events and the top 40, based on points and pounds in those events, in advancing to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship, presented by CITGO, September 22-25, 1999, on Ft Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s Forrest Wood Open event will be televised on ESPN, Saturday, July 17, 1999, at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Operation Bass has announced that the 2000, seven-venue Wal-Mart FLW Tour will continue to be the richest series in sport fishing history featuring $4.45 million in cash awards. The 2000 series will be highlighted by the Wal-Mart Open and the Forrest Wood Open, both boasting $1 million purses, and four qualifying FLW Tour events sporting $500,000 purses. The $450,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship will pay the winner $250,000.
The 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule will include stops on: Lake Okeechobee, January 26-29, Clewiston, Florida; Pascagoula River, February 16-19, Biloxi, Mississippi; Lake Murray, March 15-18, Columbia, South Carolina; Beaver Lake, April 12-15, Bentonville, Arkansas, (Wal-Mart Open); Mississippi River, May 17-20, Memphis, Tennessee; Pickwick Lake, June 21-24, Florence, Alabama, (Forrest Wood Open); and Red River, September 13-16, Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana, (Championship).
The Forrest Wood Open is presented by EverStart Batteries