Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers heading to Lake Martin
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – Bass pro Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., broke his heart-wrenching string of second place Wal-Mart FLW Tour finishes last month by the narrowest of margins. Now, fueled by his hard-fought 1-ounce victory on the Pascagoula River, Biffle is looking to extend his winning ways with another $100,000 victory on Lake Martin in Alexander City, Ala.
To win, Biffle will have to overcome the specter of three runner-up finishes in the last four FLW Tour championships – a twist of fate that netted the talented Team Timex pro $75,000 instead of $750,000. Fellow Chevy Pro Staff angler Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., may also be standing in the way as he looks to capture the Angler of the Year points lead from Dale Teaney of Williamsburg, Ohio, with a victory of his own.
VanDam, who is competing in just the fourth FLW Tour event of his career, has earned 371 points to date with a second-place finish at the season opener on Lake Okeechobee and a 29th place finish on the Pascagoula River. Teaney holds the lead, however, with 381 points gleaned from a 19th place finish on Okeechobee and a second-place showing on the Pascagoula. Teaney, who is competing in his first FLW Tour season, has five top-10 finishes to his credit in the EverStart Series and the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. In addition to his second-place finish this season, VanDam also placed second at the 1999 Forrest Wood Open on Lake St. Clair.
In Alexander City, 350 anglers representing 34 states will be competing for a share of $500,000 in the third tournament of the seven-event 2001 FLW Tour season. The winning pro will take home $100,000 – one of the richest cash awards in bass fishing – and the winning co-angler will collect $15,000 cash in the event presented by Snickers Cruncher Bar. More than $4.4 million will be awarded to anglers over the course of the 2001 season.
Pros will fish from the front of each boat and control its movement throughout the four-day tournament, while co-anglers fish from the back of each boat. Anglers in both divisions will compete for two days to make the opening-round cut. Only the top 10 anglers in each 175-person division will fish during the one-day semifinal round. Co-angler competition ends after the semifinal round, and the top five pros advance to the final day of competition. Catch weights carry over during the opening round but are cleared for the semifinal and final rounds.
Two hundred points will be awarded to the winner of the Lake Martin tournament. Second place will receive 199 points, and third place will collect 198 points.
The winner of each regular season tournament plus the top 44 pro and co-anglers based on year-end point totals will qualify to fish for up to $250,000 in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship presented by CITGO. The pro angler who accumulates the most points will also be named the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and receive $25,000 plus a Ranger bass boat. At the end of the season, the top co-angler will be named Eagle Co-Angler of the Year and awarded a Ranger bass boat.
Competition will begin at 6:30 a.m. March 21-22 at Wind Creek State Park. The park, which is located at 4325 Highway 128 in Alexander City, will host each day’s take-off plus the opening round weigh-ins. Weigh-ins will begin at 3 p.m. March 21-22. The March 23 semifinal round weigh-in will start at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 2643 Highway 280 West in Alexander City. Wal-Mart will host the final weigh-in March 24 starting at 3:30 p.m. Wal-Mart will also host the FLW Tour Family Fun Zone from 3 to 5 p.m. March 23 and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 24. The Fun Zone is a festival featuring free children’s games and product samples from FLW Tour sponsors.
No matter who wins the tournament, Lake Martin anglers will benefit from a $5,000 donation from the FLW Tour and the FishAmerica Foundation. Alabama’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will use the donation as seed money for construction of a fish release boat that will be stationed at Wind Creek State Park for use by tournament organizers. The boat will be used to evenly redistribute bass in Lake Martin following tournament weigh-ins at the park. The contribution is part of a $100,000 conservation partnership between Operation Bass, Wal-Mart and FishAmerica that will be used to benefit fisheries and anglers across the country.
For more information on the FishAmerica Foundation, visit the American Sportfishing Association Web site at www.asafishing.org.