$10 million Wal-Mart FLW Series to visit Lake Dardanelle

$1 million BP Eastern Division tournament to feature top bass anglers from 33 states, Canada

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The $10 million Wal-Mart FLW Series will visit Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark., May 9-12 for its second BP Eastern Division tournament of the season. Hosted by the Russellville Advertising and Promotion Commission, the tournament will feature as many as 400 top bass anglers from 33 states and Canada casting for top awards of $125,000 in the Pro Division and $25,000 in the Co-angler Division.

“In my opinion, the Dardanelle pool is the best pool on the Arkansas River,” said Team Wal-Mart pro George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark., who has won more than $786,000 fishing FLW Outdoors events. “It has more backwater, cover and grass than any other pool on the river.”

Cochran said weed cover near the shoreline – coontail, pepper grass and cattails – combined with logs and stumps make shoreline fishing very productive on Lake Dardanelle. Cochran expects to see a lot of bass make it to the weigh-in stage, provided the weather cooperates.

“It is a river, and weather has a lot to do with how it fishes,” Cochran said. “But usually by May, everything is cleared up on the river, and it starts stabilizing. The cut after day three will be 40 pounds or more.

“The only thing that could screw things up is a lot of heavy rain that muddies up the river,” Cochran added.

Cochran expects some bass – but not many ¬- to be spawning when the Dardanelle tournament begins. Anglers fishing Lake Dardanelle in May have a variety of successful techniques to choose from – with spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and shallow crankbaits producing results – and anglers may target offshore structure such as stumps and creek channels with Carolina rigs. Cochran expects the majority of fish to be caught in less than 5 feet of water.

“Lots of fish will be caught, and that will bring the crowds out to the weigh-ins,” Cochran said. “People from Little Rock and Fort Smith will be there. Anybody within 100 miles of Russellville will want to be at those weigh-ins.”

Anglers will take off from Lake Dardanelle State Park located at 100 State Park Drive in Russellville, Ark., at 6:30 Central time each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the Lake Dardanelle State Park Tournament Weigh-in Pavilion beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2409 E. Main St. in Russellville 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 Wal-Mart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Fujifilm 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 Lake Dardanelle tournament is $1 million, including $10,000 through 50th place and $2,000 through 75th place in the Pro Division. Ultimately, all anglers in the tournament will also be competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the BP East-National Guard West Fishoff and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.

Coverage of the Lake Dardanelle FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program, airing July 15. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Europe, Africa and Asia, making it the most widely distributed weekly fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.