2004 FLW Championship under way
Top 48 pros set to battle competition, elements in quest for $500,000 first-place prize money
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Against the backdrop of cloudy skies, calm winds and decidedly humid conditions, a host of the nation’s top pros and co-anglers departed Pell City Lakeside Park Marina Wednesday morning to kick off the start of the $1.5 million 2004 FLW Tour Championship.
As the anglers made their way onto the open waters of Logan Martin Lake – renowned for its largemouth and ultra-aggressive spotted bass – the full field carefully sized up the competition in what amounts to the largest head-to-head matchup tournament in all of bass fishing.
With six regular-season events already in the books, the highly anticipated year-end FLW Tour Championship represents the largest single event of the year and most lucrative tournament on the entire FLW circuit. The four-day event will conclude Saturday, Aug. 14, with the crowning of the 2004 FLW Tour champion.
While all anglers in this year’s championship are considered to be among the nation’s best, a few pros will receive a little more attention than most. For starters, FLW Tour rookie sensation Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan – who earned the top seed in the tournament despite his very first year fishing in the United States – will be a big draw. Eyes will also be on last year’s FLW Tour champion, David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., as well as this year’s Bassmaster Classic champion Takahiro Omori of Emory, Texas. And to be sure, nobody is counting out Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., perhaps the hottest professional bass-fishing angler in the world after finishing in second place in the year-end standings in both the FLW Tour and BASS circuits in 2004.
Championship format
The 2004 FLW Championship employs a unique format that pits angler against angler in a series of head-to-head matchups for the majority of competition. Heading into the tournament, all championship anglers received seeds ranging from 1 to 48 based on year-end FLW standings points. Once the tournament begins, the No. 1 ranked angler (FLW Tour rookie Shinchi Fukae of Osaka, Japan, holds the distinction this year) will be matched with the 48th-ranked angler (Chad Grigsby of Colon, Mich.) Second-ranked angler Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., takes on 47th-seeded angler and local favorite Todd Ary of Birmingham, Ala., and so on down the line.
For the first two days of competition, each pro will compete in bracket-style, head-to-head matchups against his one opponent. Whoever brings the most weight to the scales in total over the course of two days will advance to the “Round of 24” Friday. Consequently, 24 anglers in each division will be eliminated after the second day of competition.
On Friday, the two survivors in each four-man bracket will have their weights zeroed out and square off for another day of head-to-head competition. Whoever brings in the most weight during the one-day matchup will advance to the finals. The end result is that another 12 anglers will be eliminated Friday, while the remaining 12 winners will advance to Saturday’s finals.
On the final day of competition, the advancing 12 pros once again will have their weights zeroed out at the start of competition. Then the finalists will head out onto the open waters of Logan Martin Lake in a one-day battle for the first-place prize of $500,000 cash. However, with a total purse of $1.5 million earmarked for the entire championship, the pro who comes in 48th, or last place, will still take home a check for $15,000.
In the Co-angler Division, the full field – determined by the top 48 co-anglers in the year-end standings – will fish the first two days of competition. After Thursday’s weigh-in, the top 24 co-anglers who bring in the largest combined two-day stringers will make the cut and earn a berth in Friday’s co-angler finals. There is no head-to-head competition for co-anglers. On Friday, the top 24 anglers who survive the first two days of competition will have their weights reset to zero. After one more day of fishing, the co-angler champion will be crowned. The winner will receive $25,000.
Can’t make the championship weigh-in in person? … no problem
Thanks to some innovative technology, hardcore bass-fishing enthusiasts will be able to get all of the sights and sounds of each day’s weigh-in from the Aug. 11-14 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship at Logan Martin Lake. Fans will get up-to-the-second weigh-in results, live streaming video and real-time audio immediately on “FLW Live™” – a new feature on FLWOutdoors.com that brings the live weigh-in format right to your computer screen.
But that’s not the only highlight of the new live weigh-in window.
At any moment during weigh-in, fans can search for their favorite anglers and get their specific day’s weigh-in results. Throughout the weigh-in, FLWOutdoors.com visitors will receive detailed information (including angler photos) specifically related to each day’s weigh-in, current and previous days’ standings and links to anglers’ biographical pages. The pro and co-angler leaderboards will be constantly updated on FLW Live to bring fans all the latest action.
In addition, FLW Outdoors fans will get to see the unveiling of the revolutionary new Ranger Z-Series boat on FLW Live, scheduled to take place right before the start of weigh-in Aug. 13.
To locate FLW Live, simply go to the FLW Tour home page and click on the FLW Live, located on the left-hand navigation bar. The start page will appear. Follow the directions to activate FLW Live.
FLW Championship action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. in Birmingham, Ala.
Wednesday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:57 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 70 degrees
Expected high temperature: 86 degrees
Water temperature: 75-82 degrees
Wind: from the southeast at 6 mph
Humidity: 87 percent
Day’s outlook: cloudy with chance of thunderstorms throughout the afternoon