Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series anglers make a run for the championship in Tierra Verde

Chase for $300,000 championship to be decided April 29

TIERRA VERDE, Fla. – The $1.8 million Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series will wrap up its West Florida Division regular season Saturday as teams compete for a guaranteed top award of $12,000 cash and a shot at the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship.

With money like that on the line, the FLW Kingfish Series stop in Tierra Verde is one of the richest regional kingfish tournaments in the state. Tack on Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl, Wellcraft, Yamaha and Evinrude bonuses totaling $18,000, and the winner’s take could be as much as $30,000 cash – a sum that ranks the tournament as one of the most lucrative regional kingfish events in the nation. Openings are still available in the tournament, which has a $500 entry fee. Teams may register online or by calling (270) 252-1000. Entries will also be accepted during on-site registration from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 3501 34th St. S. in St. Petersburg, Fla. The field, however, is capped at a maximum of 100 boats.

“The fishing is absolutely on fire right now,” said team Never E-Nuff Captain Michael Rinaldo of Englewood, Fla. “The water is clean and there’s more baitfish than I have ever seen. Huge pods of threadfin and Spanish Mackerel are everywhere.”

Rinaldo, who is the Florida West Coast Division points-leader, believes that not only will a lot of fish be brought to the scales, but also some pretty big fish will be caught as well.

“I might sound like I’m crazy, but I think every single boat is going to weigh a fish,” he said. “Somebody is going to drag a bait by a 45 or 50-pounder. Hopefully, it’s me.”

Rinaldo won the season opener in Sarasota with a 20-pound, 13-ounce kingfish that earned him $21,000. That win, coupled with a 24th place finish in Englewood, has qualified him and his team into the no-entry-fee, $300,000 FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 26-28, which will be televised nationwide as part of “FLW Outdoors” on FSN (Fox Sports Net). This broadcast will reach approximately 80 million households in the United States plus 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show 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. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sundays at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Tierra Verde is the last chance for teams on the bubble to qualify for the championship, where they could win as much as $75,000. One hundred and fifty points are awarded to the winning team in each tournament, 149 points for second, 148 points for third, and so on. The top 20 teams from each division, based on points for the season, will qualify for the FLW Kingfish Series Championship. Additionally, the points champion from each division will receive a full year of free entries into the division of their choice for the 2007 FLW Kingfish Series. The top five teams from each division also qualify for the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, where they can compete for a share of $330,000 in every qualifier.

The FLW Kingfish Series consists of five divisions: Florida – East Coast, Florida – West Coast, North Carolina, South Carolina/Georgia and Gulf Coast. Each division is comprised of three one-day events with a $100,000 purse for each event, based on a full field.

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, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006. FLW Outdoors also recently announced the addition of a striped bass circuit, which will debut this summer.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.

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.