Fantasy blog: Embarking on 2010

Earlier today, we officially kicked off the 2010 FLW Fantasy Fishing season. Everything you see on FantasyFishing.com has been updated – from rosters to rules to prizes. There have been some changes and while I’ll do my best to outline the important ones, it might be wise to take a few minutes to browse the site.

For starters, the prize structure has changed. We would have liked to offer the same insane prizes as in the past but it just wasn’t feasible. In case you haven’t been paying attention, the last year has been a trying one in the fishing and boating industry. That being said, we received so much positive feedback we absolutely had to continue with the game. The top award at the end of the year is now $50,000 and there are other solid prizes such as an ATV and a five-day guided fishing trip to Lake El Salto in Mexico. The winner of each FLW Tour qualifier takes home $5,000 and cash awards are paid down to 15th place. In 2010, all the prizes are guaranteed. And most importantly, Fantasy Fishing is still free to play.

The good news is that we simplified the scoring. We received numerous complaints last year about exactas – having an angler finish precisely in the place they were picked. Not only were the exactas weighted too heavily, at times they made the game more about luck than skill. That’s not how we intended it. For example, many people thought Clark Wendlandt was going to do well on Beaver Lake last year. And he did. But who knew he was going to finish exactly third?

This year contestants don’t have to place each of their 10 anglers. Instead, they choose 10 and then pick a winner from that 10. You receive bonus points if your anglers make the top 10 and you receive bonus points for correctly picking the winner. And just like last year, players receive the Angler of the Year points just like the pros. Two hundred for first, 199 for second and so on. You’re also required to pick the winning weight for tiebreaking purposes.

Got all that? Good. One more thing. We tweaked the Player’s Advantage program. All the same content is there to help you make your picks. But new this year, all FLW Outdoors members receive Player’s Advantage. Basically Player’s Advantage is now just one of many features of the FLW membership program. If you’ve been thinking about becoming a member, now is a great time to get in for dirt cheap.

All right, let the games begin. Your Red River picks are due by Tuesday, Feb. 9. And if you don’t have Jason Christie on your roster, you’re crazy.