PENSACOLA, Fla. – The top 50 teams from the Eastern and Western divisions of the $1.9 million 2006 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series will battle it out for a share of $300,000 in the circuit’s no-entry-fee championship in Pensacola, Fla., Oct. 19-21.
Team Folgers’ Todd Adams and Tommy Ramzinsky of Rockport, Texas, will lead the Western Division qualifiers in Pensacola while Daniel Benson of Brandon, Fla., and Steven Howie of Saint Cloud, Fla., lead the Eastern Division qualifiers. As points champions, both teams will receive free entries into the 2007 FLW Redfish Series.
Overall, 100 teams qualified for the championship through a series of four three-day tournaments in each division.
“If we get a couple of cold fronts before the tournament, it should push the fish into a wintertime pattern. Then we’ll be fishing river channels and deep cuts,” said Adams, who won the championship last year along with Ramzinsky. “The winning team will probably end up with 45 to 47 pounds. It doesn’t matter if the weather is good or bad. The weight will be in that range.”
Deep-diving crankbaits, gold spoons and Bass Assassins on ¼-ounce jigheads will likely be the top three baits of the tournament, Adams said.
The winning team could bring home as much as $100,000, which includes a $50,000 cash award for first place, a $25,000 boat bonus from Champion, Hydra-Sports, Ranger or Wellcraft and a $25,000 engine bonus from Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met.
Teams competing in the FLW Redfish Series Championship will take off from Shoreline Park South located at 800 Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze, Fla., at 6:30 Eastern each morning. The weigh-ins will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the ramp. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3767 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Gulf Breeze at 4:30 p.m. The morning takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The championship will be televised nationwide Nov. 26 as part of “FLW Outdoors” on FSN (Fox Sports Net). This broadcast will reach approximately 80 million households in the United States plus 350 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.
The Pensacola Bay area Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting the event. For more information, visit their Web site at visitpensacola.com.
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 presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or 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.