SOUTHPORT, N.C. – The new $1.8 million Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series will open its North Carolina Division July 15 with a full field of 100 boats. In fact, all three North Carolina Division tournaments have already reached the 100-boat cutoff and a waiting list of teams hoping to compete for a share of $100,000 cash plus a shot at the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship is building.
While there is currently a waiting list for North Carolina tournaments, there are openings available in the Florida East Coast, Florida West Coast, South Carolina/Georgia and Gulf Coast divisions. The entry fee is $500 per tournament, and teams may register online at www.flwoutdoors.com or by calling 270-252-1000. Entries will also be accepted during on-site registration at each tournament, but fields will be limited to a maximum of 100 boats.
Teams will fish for a guaranteed top award of $12,000 cash in each tournament. That alone ranks each FLW Kingfish Series stop among the richest one-day regional tournaments in the nation. Tack on Hydra-Sports, Wellcraft and Yamaha bonuses totaling $18,000, and the winner’s take could be as much as $30,000 – a truly impressive sum.
Teams will also compete for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the no-entry-fee, $300,000 FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 26-28, which will be televised nationwide as part of “FLW Outdoors” on FSN (Fox Sports Net). This broadcast reaches 78 million households in the United States plus 300 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sundays at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
One hundred and fifty points are awarded to the winning team in each tournament, 149 points for second, 148 points for third, and so on. The top 20 teams from each division will advance to the FLW Kingfish Series Championship. Additionally, the points champion from each division will receive a full year of free entries into the division of their choice for the 2007 FLW Kingfish Series. The top five teams from each division also qualify for the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, where they can compete for a share of $330,000 in every qualifier.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ 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. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.