CLEWISTON, Fla. – The $7.1 million Walmart FLW Series will visit Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Fla., Jan. 28-31 for its first BP Eastern Division tournament of the season. Hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martins Marina & Resort, the tournament will feature as many as 300 top bass anglers from 33 states casting for top awards of $125,000 in the Pro Division and $25,000 in the Co-angler Division.
“The lake looks beautiful, the water is clear and there is grass everywhere,” said Team BP pro J.T. Kenney of Palm Bay, Fla., who won the 2008 FLW Series BP Eastern Division Lake Okeechobee event. “Anglers won’t be stacked up in the canal this year because the water level is up 3 1/2 feet. This year the tournament will be a lot better.”
Kenney predicts that some anglers will look for a Rat-L-Trap as a key bait and other anglers will find that there is plenty of flipping water on Lake Okeechobee that should produce quality fish. He also stated that since the lake is so clear many anglers will be sight-fishing catching spawning fish.
“It’s amazing to me that the lake is so clear,” Kenney said. “The water was muddy for so long and now there is a lot of new vegetation that has cleared the water up and it is great for fishing. It is going to be a good tournament.”
Kenney predicts anglers will need weights similar to last year’s event to take home the $125,000 first-place cash prize, 40 pounds to make the cut to the final day of competition and anywhere from 65 pounds to 70 pounds to win.
Lake Okeechobee helped put Kenney on professional fishing’s map in 2002 when he was a guide on the lake who happened to get into a Wal-Mart FLW Tour event at the last minute from the waiting list. Four days later he won the event, sacking up his first $100,000 check.
Since then he has won a BASS Open (October 2003) and notched three other top-10s in Stren Series competition on the Lake Okeechobee. In fact, Kenney once held the record for the heaviest one-day catch in a Stren Series event (32-12) from Okeechobee until the Stren Series ventured west to Texas and California.
Anglers will take off from Roland & Mary Ann Martins Marina & Resort located at 920 E. Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston at 7 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 1005 W. Sugarland Highway in Clewiston beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Walmart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include a trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three based on the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The total purse for the Lake Okeechobee tournament is nearly $900,000, including $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division. Ultimately, all anglers in the tournament will also be competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at advancing to the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
Coverage of the Lake Okeechobee FLW Series tournament will be broadcast as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “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. Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
Total awards are based on a full field of 150 boats in every tournament.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.