High school standout reels in $100,000 through fantasy fishing
Alamo, Calif., high school senior, football player gets hooked on fishing after tragic rugby accident; FLW Fantasy Fishing prize to help pay for college
MINNEAPOLIS – Virtual anglers from around the world are attempting to hook more than $7.3 million in cash and prizes, and today an Alamo, Calif., student hooked $100,000 in the third of seven fantasy fishing tournaments that will continue through mid-August.
John Yandell III, 18, a San Francisco-area high school senior attending De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., took first place and reeled in $100,000 in the third tournament of the FLW Fantasy Fishing online game by selecting 10 professional bass anglers who he thought would weigh in the heaviest catches of largemouth bass at the National Guard Open, a premier stop on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour that took place last weekend on Lake Norman near Charlotte, N.C. Yandell is now in the running for a $1 million grand prize, which will be awarded to the fantasy fishing player who accumulates the most points over the seven-tournament season.
The son of Maureen and John Yandell, Yandell III learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing from watching “FLW Outdoors,” the weekly television program that showcases FLW bass, walleye and saltwater-species tournaments. Yandell and several other students formed a fantasy fishing league at De La Salle High School, an all-boys Catholic high school with 1,000 students, known for its nationally ranked football teams, for which Yandell played.
“I’m in shock. I can’t believe I won. When I told my mom, she thought I was pulling her leg,” said Yandell, who intends to use his winnings to attend Sonoma State University in the fall.
The win is especially sweet for Yandell, who suffered a life-threatening rugby accident two years ago that nearly cost him his life. Even though he lost a kidney as a result of the accident, he recovered and was able to play football with the school’s team last fall. As part of his recovery, his friends introduced him to bass fishing, which he now enjoys regularly on nearby lakes and rivers.
“I had tried fantasy baseball but thought it was boring. At about the same time I saw fantasy fishing on `FLW Outdoors,’ I read about it in ESPN Magazine,” Yandell added. “The magazine article said it was up and coming, it was fun, and anyone could win, so I decided to enter.”
Using a laptop computer rather than a rod and reel, Yandell entered the fantasy fishing game at FantasyFishing.com from his family’s home office, selecting 10 pro bass anglers from among the 200 pros who participate in the FLW Tour, hosting a series of seven bass tournaments that began in late February and will conclude in mid-August. Yandell earned points based on the real, on-the-water performance of the pro anglers who fished the tour’s third four-day tournament, which was conducted last weekend at Lake Norman, located near Charlotte, N.C. The National Guard Open was won by pro Sean Hoernke, a Magnolia, Texas, resident, who finished the tournament fishing out of a Prilosec OTC-wrapped boat. Hoernke weighed a total of 27 pounds of largemouth bass in the final two days of the competition to win a cash prize of $150,000.
While Yandell did not select Hoernke for his fantasy fishing team, he did select four pro anglers who made the final cut in the National Guard Open at Lake Norman, when the field of 200 pros who fish on the first two days of the tournament is cut to just 10. Yandell also selected local pro Michael Bennett, a Roseville, Calif., resident, who won $125,000 when he took first place at Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake FLW tournament two weeks ago.
1. Luke Clausen
2. Michael Bennett
3. Scott Canterbury
4. Greg Pugh
5. Danny Pierce
6. Mark Pack
7. Jay Yelas
8. Glenn Browne
9. Brent Ehrler
10. Jacob Powroznik
Only 19 points separated Yandell from the second-place winner, Robert Hooper, a 55-year-old Cullman, Ala., pipefitter, who won a $5,000 Wal-Mart gift card.
“This is the first time I’ve ever played a fantasy sport,” said Hooper, who previously served in the National Guard many years ago. “I saw a sign about it at my local Wal-Mart store and thought I’d give it a try. I enjoy bass fishing, so I think I’ll by a new tackle box with my winnings.”
Coming in third place and winning a $2,500 U.S. Savings Bond was Aniwa, Wis., resident Travis Krueger, a firefighter and paramedic with the Antigo, Wis., Fire Department (near Wausau, Wis.), who competes in a fantasy fishing league against his mother, aunt and uncle and is more accustomed to musky fishing than bass fishing.
“I had tried fantasy football and fantasy NASCAR, but this is more fun, and it’s easy to play,” added Krueger. “My wife won’t believe I won a prize playing fantasy fishing.”
Taking time to study the pro anglers participating in the FLW Tour was the key to picking their fantasy fishing teams, according to all three winners, who watched the “FLW Outdoors” television program on FSN (FOX Sports Net) and gathered news and information from FLWOutdoors.com. For those who don’t have the time to study, FLW Fantasy Fishing created Player’s Advantage, a season-long subscription to an online research tool for both experts and novices alike. Player’s Advantage provides in-depth information about all 200 anglers participating in the FLW Tour, including a ranking of pros who best match up to a tournament lake, as well as a list of local pros.
Joining Yandell, more than 580 other participants won prizes in FLW Fantasy Fishing’s third tournament for a total of 1,680 prizes awarded so far in 2008. More than 4,000 prizes totaling as much as $7.3 million will be awarded during the course of the FLW Fantasy Fishing seven-tournament season. In addition to millions in cash, other prizes such as Ranger boats; a Chevy Silverado; Yamaha and BRP ATVs and personal watercrafts; hundreds of thousands of dollars in Wal-Mart gift cards; tens of thousands of dollars of free BP gasoline and more will be awarded to the players with the highest point totals earned, based on the placement of their team of 10 professional anglers for each tournament.
Other top 10 winners included:
4th place: Christina Auer, Lantana, Fla.
5th place: Greg Pigg, Brookville, Ohio
6th place: James Wharton, Sewell, N.J.
7th place: Greg Caudill, Island Lake, Ill.
8th place: Donald Helsabeck, Winston-Salem, N.C.
9th place: Stacey Watts, Florence, S.C.
10th place: Chris Crocetti, Westminster, Md.
Fantasy fishing attracts fans worldwide
“The excitement just keeps building,” said Irwin Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors and creator of FLW Fantasy Fishing. “We’re attracting record numbers of players from all over the world – Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, South Africa, Japan and India – all coming together virtually to play fantasy fishing. It’s fun to watch.”
International players had a strong showing in the third event of the FLW Fantasy Fishing season. For example, Maeda Hideki, a resident of Sakai, Japan, who came in 185th place, won a $50 U.S. Savings Bond, and Brenton Keath, an Australian working in Tokyo, Japan, came in 224th place and won a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. Silver Teede, a resident of Rakke, Estonia, won a Berkley fishing-lure prize package for coming in 387th place.
The highest-placing non-U.S. player was (Mr.) Leigh McKenzie, a resident of Claremont, Tasmania, Australia, who came in 30th place and won a $250 Wal-Mart gift card. He was one of three Australians to win prizes in this FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament.
There’s still more excitement to come as FLW Fantasy Fishing will award double points in the next tournament, the Wal-Mart Open, scheduled for May 15-18, 2008, at Beaver Lake near Rogers, Ark. Triple points will be awarded for the final tournament in the FLW Fantasy Fishing game, the Forrest Wood Cup.
“Anyone can be a winner regardless of when you start playing fantasy fishing – there are hundreds of prizes awarded for each tournament, and no one is ever out of the running for the $1 million prize,” Jacobs said. “It’s just like fishing – you never know if your next cast will be the big one.”
Fantasy fishing – how it works
FLW Fantasy Fishing is free to play and is open to adults, ages 18 and up, throughout the world, wherever it is legal to play. Participants log onto http://www.fantasyfishing.com and register to enter the game. Players can sign up any time during the season, up until Aug. 13, 2008, the day before the Forrest Wood Cup championship tournament.
Prior to each FLW Tour tournament, FLW Fantasy Fishing participants select a fantasy team of 10 FLW pro bass anglers. Participants earn points for each tournament, based on the performance (placement in the designated tournament) of their fantasy team pros. Participants can win prizes for an individual tournament as well as accumulate points over seven designated tournaments to be eligible for a $1 million cash prize, which will be awarded to the participant with the highest overall points for the season. Seven $100,000 first-place prizes go to the participants who earn the most points for each tournament. A $5 million bonus will be paid to the first player to correctly rank the top seven finishers in a tournament. Participants can subscribe to Player’s Advantage to get the edge when selecting their team by accessing expert advice, inside information and cutting-edge statistical tools.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour consists of seven tournaments, including:
• Lake Toho (Kissimmee, Fla.): Feb. 28 – March 2, 2008
• Lewis Smith Lake (Jasper, Ala.): April 3 – 6, 2008
• National Guard Open – Lake Norman (Charlotte, N.C.): April 24 – 27, 2008
• Wal-Mart Open – Beaver Lake (Rogers, Ark.): May 15 – 18, 2008
• Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes (Knoxville, Tenn.): June 19 – 22, 2008
• Chevy Open – Detroit River (Detroit, Mich.): July 10 – 13, 2008
• Forrest Wood Cup – Lake Murray (Columbia, S.C.): Aug. 14 – 17, 2008
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, and it conducts the following tournament circuits:
• Wal-Mart FLW Tour
• Wal-Mart FLW Series
• Stren Series
• Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League
• 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
• Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series
These circuits offer combined purses of more than $40 million through 230 events in 2008.
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 Walmart.com. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.