MORRISTOWN, Tenn. – The $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit Lake Cherokee near Morristown Oct. 6-8 for one of seven $110,000 Regional Championships. The top 40 boaters and the top 40 co-anglers from the Buckeye, Illini, LBL and Piedmont divisions will compete in the no-entry-fee event.
The Boater Division winner will receive a new Chevy truck and Ranger 519VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha, for a total prize package of $60,000. The Co-angler Division winner will receive a new Ranger boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha. Boaters and co-anglers who finish in the top six will also advance to the 2006 All-American presented by Chevy, where they will fish for a share of $1 million – a championship purse second only to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s Forrest L. Wood Championship presented by Castrol, which offers a $1.5 million purse to the world’s top anglers.
Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a BFL division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total championship field of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers. The top boater at the All-American will earn as much as $140,000 in cash, and the top co-angler will earn as much as $70,000 in cash.
Cherokee Park, located at 3075 Floyd Hall Road in Morristown, will host daily takeoffs at 7:30 a.m. Cherokee Park will also host Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 475 S. Davy Crockett Parkway beginning at 4 p.m.
In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.
As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the EverStart Series and ultimately the Wal-Mart FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series. Former BFL anglers who have become fishing superstars on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour include Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt, Ranger pro Tommy Biffle and four-time FLW Tour champion David Fritts.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and eight other national tournament circuits offering a total purse in excess of $32 million through 230 events in 2006. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart 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 and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
Wal-Mart and many 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. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.
Complete BFL tournament details for the 2006 season are available online at FLWOutdoors.com.