CLEWISTON, Fla. – Bass pros and co-anglers competing in the $5.1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour season opener presented by EverStart Batteries Jan. 23-26 will experience a completely different Lake Okeechobee than they’ve fished before. This year, the massive 467,000-acre lake is full of clear water thanks to a resurgence of aquatic vegetation.
“The lake will fish much larger than it ever has,” says Team Kellogg’s angler Steve Daniel, winner of the 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on the fabled Florida fishery. “There is a bunch of alligator grass growing all over the lake and it has cleared the water in places that have not had clean water for years.”
Okeechobee has been the Wal-Mart FLW Tour opener for six of the last seven years. In 1999 and 2000, the clear water areas needed to harbor bass were scarce. In 2001, the lake was at record low levels and hardly any green vegetation existed. Crankbait ace David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., zeroed on the hard structure of Okeechobee’s rim canal to win a record fourth Wal-Mart FLW Tour event.
Daniel says the lake looks completely different this year and will consequently fish differently for the 350 competitors representing 30 states, who will be casting for a share of the tournament’s $550,000 cash purse.
Another difference awaiting anglers is the opportunity to appear on PAX TV. The final weigh-in will be broadcast live to more than 84 million households as the FLW Outdoors television show airing Saturdays at 3 p.m. EST, 2 p.m. CST and 3 p.m. PST.
“If you look at major sporting event history, the real turning point in popularity came with the introduction of live television coverage,” said Charlie Hoover, FLW Outdoors president. “This is without question one of the most progressive events to ever happen in professional bass fishing. This is another step in taking the sport to the next level.”
FLW Outdoors’ historic broadcasting partnership with PAX TV starts Jan. 19 with a live studio show from Little Rock, Ark. The debut show will be co-hosted by Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr, with fishing commentary provided by Dennis Green, former NFL Minnesota Vikings Head Coach. The FLW Outdoors series will bring live Wal-Mart FLW Tour coverage to network television for the first time. Each episode will also feature tournament news, guest appearances by outdoor sports personalities and celebrities, as well as angler profiles.
Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will compete on Lake Okeechobee as pros or co-anglers for top awards of $110,000 and $15,000 respectively. Pros will fish from the front of each tournament boat and control its movement, while co-anglers fish from the back of each boat. Twenty anglers in each division will advance to the semifinals after two days of competition. The top 10 pros from the semifinal round will advance to the final day.
At the end of the season, the top 48 professionals and co-anglers will advance to the FLW Tour Championship. This year’s FLW Tour Championship will feature a new, bracketed style format with a much larger purse. In fact, over $300,000 has been added to the purse since last year, bringing the total to $800,000, the largest in bass fishing today.
Joining anglers for the 2002 season are new Wal-Mart FLW Tour sponsors Castrol, Evinrude, Faded Glory and Stanley Works. These companies join the strongest sponsorship team in the sport including ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Chevy Trucks, Coleman, Conseco, Eagle Electronics, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Kellogg’s, Land O’Lakes, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers, US Bank, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards. Associate sponsors are Abu Garcia, Act II, Berkley, David Sunflower Seeds, Eagle Claw, Laker, Plano and Solar Bat.
Competition on Lake Okeechobee begins at 6:30 a.m. (or first available safe light) Jan. 23 at Roland Martin’s Marina. The marina, located at 920 East Del Monte Avenue in Clewiston, will host each day’s take-off, plus the opening round weigh-ins. Weigh-ins will begin at 3 p.m. on Jan. 23-24. The Jan. 25 semifinal round weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 1005 West Sugarland Highway in Clewiston. Wal-Mart will also host the final weigh-in Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.
A Family Fun Zone located in the Clewiston Wal-Mart parking lot will feature free children’s games and product samples and run from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26.
Added to the list of winners is Lake Okeechobee itself. Thanks to a $5,000 donation from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and the FishAmerica Foundation, Okeechobee will receive funding to improve vegetating spoil islands with native tree species including willow, bald cypress and pond-apple, while the water immediately surrounding the spoil islands will be vegetated with bulrush. A similar donation from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour last season funded the successful reintroduction of native aquatic vegetation in Lake Okeechobee. Each year, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, in conjunction with FLW Outdoors, contributes $100,000 to conservation projects that directly benefit the tournament waters.
For more information on the FishAmerica Foundation, visit the American Sportfishing Association Web site at asafishing.org. For more information on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 362-4880.