PORT LAVACA, Texas – The Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division will make its first $170,000 regular-season stop April 10-12 in Port Lavaca, Texas. The lucrative tournament will feature as many as 125 redfish teams casting for a top award of $50,000.
“It’s going to be a tough tournament, and a lot of it is going to depend on the weather,” said pro Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla., who, along with Kevin Shaw of Corpus Christie, Texas, is entering his second year of FLW Redfish Series competition in both the Eastern and Western divisions. “We’ve got a tremendous run to get across a major bay and hopefully the weather will cooperate for us and everybody can catch some fish.”
Vandemark said a few days of stable weather before the tournament will put the fish at ease and allow for the biggest weights to cross the weigh-in stage. Anglers should find success fishing a variety of baits by both sight-casting and blind casting, but Vandemark said all it takes is one cold front moving through to shut down the fishing and make the tournament a tough one.
“It’s been 85 and 90 degrees here in Texas and then it’ll go to 42 and the wind will blow 40 miles an hour,” Vandemark said. “We’ll really need consistency in the weather for anybody to be really successful.”
Vandemark said anglers should stay close to the Port Lavaca area during the tournament, and he expects to see local anglers Jonathan and Kris Culpepper near the top of the leaderboards at the end of the tournament. Vandemark said it could take a three-day weight of 31 to 32 pounds to win the tournament.
Anglers will take off at 7 Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings from Lighthouse Beach located at 700 Lighthouse Beach Blvd. in Port Lavaca. Weigh-ins will also be held at Lighthouse Beach beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 400 Tiney Browning Blvd. beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free, and the community is invited to attend the festivities.
The Port Lavaca FLW Redfish Series event is hosted by the City of Port Lavaca Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The top award of $50,000 includes $20,000 cash plus a $15,000 cash bonus from Ranger Boats and a $15,000 cash bonus from Yamaha or Evinrude if contingency guidelines are met.
The top 50 teams in each division of the 2008 FLW Redfish Series, based on Land O’Lakes Team of the Year points standings at the end of the season, will advance to the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss. The winning team at the championship will earn as much as $100,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing, FLW Outdoors offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
In FLW Redfish Series competition, 125 points are awarded to the winner, 124 for second, 123 for third, and so on. All teams that receive weight credit will receive points that determine Land O’Lakes Team of the Year standings. All FLW Redfish Series events are three-day tournaments (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). The full field competes during the first two days, and the top five teams based on accumulated weight advance to day three. Final standings are determined by the total weight from all three days.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Series stop in Port Lavaca will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing April 25. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
Awards are based on a full field of 125 boats in every tournament.