Top bass anglers gear up for $1 million Wal-Mart Open
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – A top award of $200,000 will be at stake April 25-28 when 350 of the nation’s top bass anglers visit Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark., for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s fourth annual Wal-Mart Open – a $1 million event that signals the midpoint of the 2001 season.
Already, the 2001 season has been one for the record books. Chevy Pro Staff angler David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., won the season opener on Lake Okeechobee and raised the tour’s all-time win mark to four after a three-year absence from the winner’s circle. Team Timex pro Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., broke his string of three second-place finishes with a hard-fought win on the Pascagoula River, but only after Johnny McCombs of Morris, Ala., who had enough weight to win, was disqualified for late check-in. And most recently, Tokyo native Takahiro Omori, who now resides in Emory, Texas, became the first Japanese national to win a Wal-Mart FLW Tour event when he knocked off fishing legends Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo., and Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., on Lake Martin.
Several records will be in jeopardy at the Wal-Mart Open as well. A victory by Clunn would be his fourth and would boost his career Wal-Mart FLW Tour earnings to a record $924,600. Clunn, who leads the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points race by one point over Ricky Shumpert of Lexington, S.C., won last year’s Wal-Mart Open. He also has finished in the top 10 a record 13 times and advanced to the top five a record 10 times. His 2000 win on Beaver Lake started an unprecedented streak that includes six top-10 finishes in the last seven Wal-Mart FLW Tour events.
Three hundred and fifty anglers representing 35 states will be competing in two divisions on Beaver Lake. The winning pro will take home $200,000 – one of the richest cash awards in bass fishing – and the winning co-angler will collect $40,000.
Pros will fish from the front of each boat and control its movement throughout the four-day tournament, while co-anglers fish from the back of each boat. Anglers in both divisions will compete for two days to make the opening-round cut. Only the top 10 anglers in each 175-person division will fish during the one-day semifinal round. Co-angler competition ends after the semifinal round, and the top five pros advance to the final day of competition. Catch weights carry over during the opening round but are cleared for the semifinal and final rounds.
Two hundred points will be awarded to the winner of the Wal-Mart Open. Second place will receive 199 points, and third place will collect 198 points.
The winner of each regular season tournament plus the top 44 pro and co-anglers based on year-end point totals will qualify to fish for up to $250,000 in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship presented by CITGO. The pro angler who accumulates the most points will also be named the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and receive $25,000 plus a Ranger bass boat. At the end of the season, the top co-angler will be named Eagle Co-Angler of the Year and awarded a Ranger bass boat. More than $4.45 million will be awarded to anglers over the course of the 2001 season.
Competition will begin at 6:30 a.m. April 25-26 at Prairie Creek Park in Rogers. The park will also host weigh-ins April 25-26 starting at 3 p.m. Takeoff from the park April 27 is scheduled for 8 a.m. followed by the semifinal round weigh-in at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 2110 West Walnut in Rogers. Immediately following the weigh-in country sensation Kenny Chesney will perform a free concert live from the Wal-Mart parking lot. The concert will be broadcast nationwide over the Wal-Mart Television network starting at 7:30 EST. Wal-Mart will also host the final weigh-in April 28 at 3:30 p.m.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour Family Fun Zone will be open in the Wal-Mart parking lot from 3 to 5 p.m. April 27 and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 28. The Fun Zone is a festival featuring free children’s games, interactive displays and product samples from Wal-Mart FLW Tour sponsors. Fishing fans also have the opportunity to win $1 million without even leaving home. Fans who enter the Visa $2 Million Challenge are eligible to win valuable sponsor prizes and one lucky fan could win $1 million if his Wal-Mart FLW Tour angler catches a state record largemouth, smallmouth or spotted bass during the tournament. The angler catching the record bass would also receive $1 million.
No matter who wins the tournament or what records fall, Beaver Lake anglers will benefit from a $5,000 donation from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and the FishAmerica Foundation. The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation will use the donation to construct 20 fish attractors that will be placed in the lake. Each attractor, which is expected to remain productive for 20 years or more, will be placed in at least 10 feet of water for safety. The contribution is part of a $100,000 conservation partnership between Operation Bass, Wal-Mart and FishAmerica that will be used to benefit fisheries and anglers across the country.
For more information on the FishAmerica Foundation, visit the American Sportfishing Association Web site at www.asafishing.org.
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