BILOXI, Miss. – The 2008 season of the $2.2 million Walmart FLW Redfish Series will come to an exciting finale Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss., at the $300,000, no-entry-fee FLW Redfish Series Championship. The lucrative tournament will feature the top 50 teams from the circuit’s Eastern Division and the top 50 teams from the circuit’s Western Division casting for a top award of $100,000 cash.
“I’m excited about this tournament,” said Team Berkley pro John Henninger of Jacksonville, Fla., who, along with teammate John Eggers of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., is fishing his fourth season of Redfish Series competition. “I’d really like to win this one.
“We’re going to a very nice fishery,” Henninger continued. “It’s not a fishery like Venice, but it can be very good sight fishing.”
Henninger said he doesn’t know what toll the recent hurricanes might have taken on Biloxi’s waters, but he remains optimistic and is looking forward to fishing the area.
“The water clarity may be messed up because of the storms, and if it is, we’ll just adapt and blind cast topwater baits and popping corks. We’ll be fine.”
Anglers will take off at 7 Thursday and Friday morning from The Isle of Capri at 151 Beach Blvd. in Biloxi. Weigh-ins will also be held at The Isle of Capri beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s takeoff will be at 7:15 a.m. at The Isle of Capri, and Saturday’s weigh-in will begin at 4 p.m. at Walmart located at 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D’iberville, Miss.
The host for the FLW Redfish Series Championship is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The winning team will receive a guaranteed $50,000 cash award. If Ranger, Hydra-Sports or Wellcraft contingency guidelines are met, the winning team will also receive a $25,000 cash bonus. If Yamaha or Evinrude contingency guidelines are met, the winning team will receive an additional $25,000 cash bonus for a total of $100,000.
The full field will compete Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams based on accumulated weight from both days will advance to Saturday’s competition. Final standings will be determined by the total weight from all three days.
Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing, FLW Outdoors offered 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 could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every Walmart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Series Championship will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Jan. 4, 2009. “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. 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.