$5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour to visit Lake Murray
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour will make its third regular-season stop March 12-15 on Lake Murray for a four-day tournament presented by Snickers. Three hundred and fifty of the world’s greatest bass anglers – 175 pros and 175 co-anglers – from 34 states, Canada and Japan will compete for a share of a $500,000 purse and valuable points as they take the next step toward qualifying for the $1.5 million Jacobs Cup world championship of bass fishing.
Currently, veteran angler Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, leads the points race with 379, followed closely by Evinrude pro Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., who lags just three points behind, and Yamaha pro Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pa., who is just seven points off the pace. The top 48 pros and 48 co-anglers based on points standings after six qualifying events will advance to the historic Jacobs Cup Sept. 10-13 on the James River in Richmond, Va., where the winning pro will collect an unprecedented $500,000 cash, the largest guaranteed award in the history of professional bass fishing.
The Jacobs Cup will also feature a world-class outdoor show in the Greater Richmond Convention Center, a free country music concert and a celebrity pro/am tournament to benefit prostate cancer research at City of Hope in southern California. In 2003, the road to Richmond, Va., is paved with gold.
Lake Murray should present an interesting playing field for competing anglers, as bass will likely be in prespawn mode. Primary lures will likely include spinner baits, jerkbaits and crankbaits.
Lake Murray pros will compete for a top pro award of $100,000 cash, while co-anglers vie for a top award of $15,000 cash. Each pro supplies a boat, fishes from the front deck against other pros and controls boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. Two hundred points are awarded for a win, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings, and every angler who receives weight credit earns points.
During the tournament, the full field competes for two days, after which the field is cut to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers who will advance to Friday’s competition. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes with the winner determined by the heaviest catch weight that day. The 10 pros continue their competition in Saturday’s final round, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
Complete coverage of the Lake Murray event will be broadcast to 55 million subscribers of the Outdoor Life Network in the weeks following the tournament on “FLW Outdoors.” Joining “FLW Outdoors” hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr for the 2003 season are fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon.
Parker will be featured alongside Team Snickers pro John Sappington, Team Fujifilm pro Wesley Strader and Team 7 UP pro Robert Pearson in a Lake Murray preview, which will air Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m. EST. The broadcast will be shown again Sunday, March 16, at 1 p.m. EST. “FLW Outdoors” will feature tournament highlights with Evans, Wing and Carr Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23, followed by a strategic recap with Nixon Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30. “FLW Outdoors” airs every Saturday at 7 p.m. and every Sunday at 1 p.m. EST on OLN through July 5. Special Jacobs Cup episodes will air in September.
During the Lake Murray tournament, anglers will take off from Lighthouse Marina in Chapin at 7 a.m. each morning except for Friday, when takeoff will be at 8 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 360 Harbison Blvd. at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
On Wednesday, March 12, fishing fans are invited to Herndon Chevrolet on U.S. Highway 378 in Lexington to meet members of the Chevy Truck Pro Staff, including Tommy Biffle, Jimmy Houston, David Fritts, Tom Mann Jr., Larry Nixon, Kim Stricker, Kevin VanDam and Jay Yelas. These top bass-fishing pros will be available for autographs, fishing tips and photos from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please browse this Web site.
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