Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship set for Orange Beach
Top teams to battle for a share of $300,000 in no-entry-fee championship
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The top 100 teams from the $1.8 million 2006 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series will battle it out for a share of $300,000 in the circuit’s no-entry-fee championship in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 26-28.
Team Young Guns, captained by Harvey Way Jr. of Bunnell, Fla., will lead the East Florida Division qualifiers at Orange Beach, while Robert Schoenfield of Conroe, Texas, will captain Team Lured Away, winner of the Gulf Coast Division points race. Team Gain, captained by Joe Buie of Welcome, N.C., is the No. 1 qualifier from the North Carolina Division, and Team Gotta Go, led by David Hauhn of Bluffton, S.C., is the top team from the South Carolina-Georgia Division. The top qualifier from the West Florida Division, Team Never E-Nuff, is captained by Michael Rinaldo of Englewood, Fla.
Overall, 20 teams qualified from each of the circuit’s five divisions through a series of three one-day tournaments in each division.
“It’s ripping up there right now,” said Rinaldo, whose team won the Sarasota event in March. “A 62-pounder was caught near Orange Beach within the last month. From what I hear, the fishing is awesome. I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
Although he has yet to begin practicing in the area, Rinaldo predicts a good bite.
“Big blue runners are the most popular bait in that area, but I suspect that mullet, hard tails and ribbonfish will produce quality kings if you get on them,” he said. “Some teams will go out and put together a pretty good pattern and some other teams will hop from rig to rig looking for a hot bite. Either one could win this thing.”
The winning team could bring home as much as $75,000, which includes a $30,000 cash award for first place, a $22,500 boat bonus from Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl or Wellcraft and a $22,500 engine bonus from Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met.
As points champions teams Young Guns, Lured Away, Gain, Gotta Go and Never E-Nuff will receive free entries into the 2007 FLW Kingfish Series. The top five teams from each division may also advance to the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour – the nation’s top professional kingfish circuit since its introduction in 2005 – were they can win as much as $100,000 in every qualifier.
Teams competing in the FLW Kingfish Series Championship will take off from Zeke’s Landing located at 26619 Perdido Beach Blvd. in Orange Beach at 7 each morning. Scales open at 3 p.m. daily and all teams must check-in by 5 p.m. The morning start and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
The championship 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.
The Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau is hosting the event. For more information, visit its Web site at Gulfshores.com.
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, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or 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.