BENTON, Ky. – FLW Outdoors announced Friday the formation of the Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series for members of the 2007 Ranger Owners Group. The series features two tournaments that each offer a $10,000 top prize and an automatic berth into the 2007 $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5 – the most lucrative championship in bass-fishing history.
Kerr Lake in Henderson, N.C., will host the first tournament April 13-14, and Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Mo., will host the second tournament May 11-12. The events feature a team format and are open to all Ranger boat owners that are 2007 Ranger Owners Group members, except for those who have fished the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series or Bassmaster Elite Series as a pro in 2006 or 2007. The entry fee is $200 per team, per event, and entries may be made by calling FLW Outdoors at (270) 252-1000 starting at 8 a.m. Central time Dec. 12.
The rules require only team boaters to be registered Ranger owners. Each boater’s partner does not have to be a Ranger owner. Teams must compete out of a Ranger Boat, however, and cannot wear any other boat manufacturer’s apparel during competition extending through weigh-in.
Boaters now may also substitute partners in the case of schedule conflicts as long as FLW Outdoors is advised of the substitution prior to each tournament’s registration meeting.
Each Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series event offers a payback through 100th place and a top prize of a $10,000 Ranger purchase certificate plus a berth into the Forrest Wood Cup. Second place in each event is a $7,500 purchase certificate plus a berth into the Forrest Wood Cup. In both cases the team captain/boater will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup as a pro and his or her partner/co-angler will advance as a co-angler. Ranger will cover all travel expenses for both qualifiers to compete in the Forrest Wood Cup. There will also be a random drawing among competitors in each tournament for a fully rigged Ranger Z20 Comanche. Additionally, a Family Fun Zone and demo rides will be provided on opening day of each event with one day of competition taking place on day two. Both events will be televised on FSN (Fox Sports Net), Americana Outdoors and Versus.
The Forrest Wood Cup will include qualifiers from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and The Bass Federation (TBF) competing for a top pro award of $500,000 plus a Ranger bonus of $500,000 for a total of $1 million for qualified Ranger owners. The top co-angler award in the Forrest Wood Cup is $50,000 for qualified Ranger owners.
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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, 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 will offer combined purses of $43 million through 238 events in 2007.
For more information about Ranger Owners Tournament events, click here.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, 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.
