BILOXI, Miss. – The Walmart FLW Kingfish Tour – the most lucrative kingfish tournament trail in the world – will close its 2008 season with a championship shootout Nov. 14-16 in Biloxi, Miss. The top 50 teams from the FLW Kingfish Tour will be competing for a top award of $75,000 cash in the lucrative no-entry-fee championship.
Team Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne, captained by Edward Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga., will lead the charge on opening day as the No. 1 qualifier, but past performance is no guarantee of victory. Mecchella and his team will have to land a smoker king or two during the two-day opening round in order to make the crucial day-three cut to the top five teams and put themselves into a position to win.
Teams will take off from City Marina next to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Biloxi at 7 each morning. Weigh in is at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D’Iberville, Miss., beginning at 4:30 p.m. The takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The winner will be determined based on the heaviest kingfish from Friday or Saturday plus the heaviest fish from Sunday.
The winning team earns $37,500 cash guaranteed plus a $18,750 bonus if the team captain is the original owner of a Hydra-Sports, Scarab, Seaswirl or Wellcraft boat that is used during the tournament. Additionally, if the winning captain is the original owner of a qualifying Yamaha or Evinrude outboard that is used during the tournament, the team will receive another $18,750 bonus for a total award of $75,000.
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 Kingfish Tour Championship hosted by the City of D’Iberville, Miss., in partnership with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Mississippi Development Authority will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States Jan. 18, 2009, as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “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 a.m. 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.
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.