MINNEAPOLIS – As part of the festivities surrounding the $1.25 million Wal-Mart Open powered by Tyson on Beaver Lake, FLW Outdoors announced today that country music singer Mark Wills will give a concert to fishing fans on Friday, April 7.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, is slated to take place at 6 p.m. shortly after the day-three weigh-in at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 4208 Pleasant Crossing Blvd. in Rogers, Ark.
Wills, who won the ACM’s Top New Male Vocalist honor in 1999, has a solid history of hit records, including “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Don’t Laugh At Me.” With its heartfelt message of tolerance and charity, “Don’t Laugh at Me” garnered nominations from the Country Music Association for single, song and video of the year in 1998. He also scored big with “19 Something,” a seven-week No. 1 hit that was named Billboard’s most played country single of the year for 2003.
Anglers competing in the Wal-Mart Open will take off at 7 each morning from Prairie Creek Marina. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Prairie Creek Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store beginning at 4 p.m., with the concert taking place immediately after the day-three weigh-in.
The total purse for the Wal-Mart Open is $1.25 million, including $200,000 to the winning pro and $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division. Tyson Foods will also release four tagged “money fish” worth $4,000 each into Beaver Lake. Any pro or co-angler competing in the tournament is eligible to catch these “money fish” and claim the cash award. This exciting element leads up to the release of the $150,000 “Power Bass” at the FLW Tour Championship in Birmingham, Ala. In addition to the “money fish” promotion at Beaver Lake, Tyson Foods will also be awarding the “Tyson Powerboat of the Day” to the pro/co-angler pairing that brings in the largest combined catch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the tournament. The winning duo from each day will be awarded $1,000.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series, as well as 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 and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006. FLW Outdoors also recently announced the addition of a striped bass circuit, which will debut in May.
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.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.