$7.1 million Walmart FLW Series to visit Clear Lake

Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title on line in National Guard Western Division

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The $7.1 million Walmart FLW Series will visit Clear Lake in Kelseyville, Calif., Oct. 21-24 for the last stop of the season on the National Guard Western Division circuit. Hosted by Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, the tournament will feature as many as 300 top bass anglers casting for top awards of $125,000 in the Pro Division and $25,000 in the Co-angler Division.

“Clear Lake is an amazing lake and one of the best fisheries in the United States,” said Team National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., who is currently in fourth place in the Angler of the Year point standings. “There are a lot of big fish to be caught, and they will be caught a lot of different ways. Hopefully I will be able to go out and fish the way I like, fast, and cover a lot of water.”

Also up for grabs during this tournament is the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year Award for the Western Division. Zack Thompson is currently in first place with 573 points; Ehrler has 557. Two hundred points will be awarded to the winner of this event, so the title is still anyone’s to be had.

Hot off his recent win at the California Delta, Rusty Salewske believes that it’s not out of line to think that it will take 80 to 90 combined pounds to win this event. From the scattered information he has heard, fishing is good. According to Salewske, it’s taking over 20 pounds to win a one-day event on the lake.

“Clear Lake is a great place to support a big tournament, because no matter what style of fishing you do, everybody has a chance of doing well,” said Salewske. “You will see anglers fishing deep using crankbaits to topwater fishing with swimbaits and everything in between.”

Salewske likes to fish deep and around structures where he will be looking for reaction bites. He is currently in 15th place in the point standings with 507; a top-10 finish could easily put him in contention for the title.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday anglers will take off from Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa located at 8727 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville at 7:30 a.m. Saturday’s takeoff will be from Redbud Park located at 14655 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, Calif., at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 15960 Dam Road in Clearlake 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 Clear Lake 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 Clear Lake tournament, hosted by Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Nov. 22 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.

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 has also taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports. Sign up for Player’s Advantage 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.