$5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour to visit Atchafalaya Basin
MORGAN CITY, La. – The $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour will pay its first-ever visit to the Atchafalaya Basin in Morgan City, La., Feb. 12-15 for a four-day event presented by Frito Lay. The tournament will feature 350 of the world’s best bass anglers vying for a share of a $500,000 total cash purse.
FLW Tour pro Greg Hackney of Oak Ridge, La., expects the swampy, sprawling Louisiana river basin to fish extremely large. “It’s a shallow-water angler’s paradise,” Hackney said. “I’d venture to say there will be a lot of fish that will never see a bait the whole tournament.”
The Atchafalaya Basin is cluttered with prime habitat for bass, including an abundance of milfoil, water hyacinth, peppergrass and hydrilla beds as well as dense forests of cypress trees. According to Hackney, water clarity will be a primary concern for anglers, who will likely use dark-colored soft plastics in shades of black, purple and sour grape. Flipping and pitching are expected to be the primary patterns.
The Atchafalaya Basin event is the second of six regular-season FLW Tour events, all of which lead up to the $1.5 million Jacobs Cup on the James River in Richmond, Va., Sept. 10-13. The top 48 pros and 48 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Jacobs Cup, which will also feature a world-class outdoor show. The winning pro at the Jacobs Cup will take home $500,000 cash, the largest guaranteed award in the history of professional bass fishing. In 2003, the road to Richmond, Va., is truly paved with gold!
A full field of 175 pros and 175 co-anglers will take on the Atchafalaya Basin in search of a top pro award of $100,000 cash and a top co-angler award of $15,000 cash. Pros supply the boat, fish from the front deck against other pros and control boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back of the boat against other co-anglers. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
During the tournament, the full field competes for two days, after which the field is cut to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers who will advance to Friday’s competition. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes with the winner determined by the heaviest catch weight that day. The 10 pros continue their competition in Saturday’s final round, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Complete coverage of the Atchafalaya Basin tournament as well as exciting weigh-in action will be broadcast to OLN’s 55 million subscribers on “FLW Outdoors” in the weeks following the event.
Joining “FLW Outdoors” hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr in 2003 are fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon. Parker is best known for his popular fishing show “Hank Parker’s Outdoor Magazine” and was once described by sportscaster Greg Gumble as “the rod and reel answer to Michael Jordan.” Nixon is a highly successful angling veteran who fishes the full FLW Tour schedule. A two-time FLW Tour winner and key member of the Chevy pro staff, he has qualified for the FLW Tour championship five times and has amassed more than $460,000 in FLW Tour earnings since 1998.
Parker’s Atchafalaya Basin preview, which includes segments with Hackney as well as Team Yamaha’s Alton Jones and Team Castrol’s David Dudley will air Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. EST. The broadcast will be shown again Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. EST. “FLW Outdoors” will feature tournament highlights the following Saturday and Sunday and a strategic recap with Nixon the week after that. The “FLW Outdoors” 28-episode television season runs Jan. 25 to July 5, airing Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. EST. Special Jacobs Cup episodes will air in September.
Anglers will take off from the Belle River Boat Launch in Belle River, La., at 7 a.m. each morning except for Friday, when takeoff will be at 8 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at the boat launch beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 973 Hwy. 90 E. in Bayou Vista, La., at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, fishing fans are invited to A.J. Dohmann Chevrolet Cadillac at 800 Robison Road in Berwick, La., to meet members of the Chevy Truck Pro Staff, including Tommy Biffle, Jimmy Houston, David Fritts, Tom Mann Jr., Larry Nixon, Kim Stricker, Kevin VanDam and Jay Yelas. These top bass-fishing pros will be available for autographs, fishing tips and photos from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please browse this Web site.
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