VENICE, La. – Team “Chevy/Miss Micki 2” captained by Ricky Rowland of Raleigh, N.C., retained its lead in the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Venice based on Friday’s fish weighing 51-15.
Captain Rowland and his crew – Shannon Rowland of Raleigh, N.C., and Bill McNabb of Raleigh, N.C. – reported catching four fish Friday before landing the team’s biggest at approximately 12:15 p.m. All of the fish came on ribbonfish fished in 170 feet of water on downrigger lines at 85 feet.
“We didn’t go out today-we just got ready for tomorrow and prepared our boat, lines and tackle,” said crew member Bill McNabb. “We felt like we couldn’t really top our fish yesterday; luckily, we are still leading and rested up for tomorrow.
“We had not prefished, but had some good information about where the fish were, so we ran west and caught our big one,” McNabb added. “We don’t think there are a ton of big ones in our spot, but plan to try to catch one again tomorrow. We also will hit another spot where we think there are fish in the 30-pound range.”
Rounding out the top five teams advancing to Sunday’s final round are team “Folgers” captained by David Kingery of Melbourne, Fla. (45-11); team “M&Ms” captained by Randy Griffin Jr. of Hampstead, N.C. (44-08); team “My Three Sons” captained by Terry Grantham of Florence, S.C. (43-09); and team “Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone” captained by Ed Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga. (43-07).
Anglers experienced light rain and a moderate chop on the water this morning, fishing in temperatures in the low 80s with a southwest wind of 5 to 10 mph and 2-foot seas. Gulf surface temperatures measured approximately 84 degrees in the Venice area.
FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Friday and Saturday, and the top five teams compete Sunday. The winning team is determined based on the heaviest kingfish from Friday or Saturday plus the heaviest kingfish from Sunday. Teams will take off from Venice Marina located at 237 Sports Marina Road in Venice at 6:30 Sunday morning. The final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1501 Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey, La., beginning at 5 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Coverage of the Venice tournament hosted by the Venice Marinawill be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Sept. 21. “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.
The Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour consists of four regular-season events. After four events are complete, the top 50 teams will compete in the three-day, no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 14-16. The winning team at the championship will take home as much as $150,000.
The FLW Kingfish Tour will stop in Orange Beach, Ala., Sept. 12-14 for its third regular-season event. The tour’s last qualifying event will be held in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., Oct. 17-19.
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. 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, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.
Awards are based on a full field of 100 boats in qualifying tournaments.