Right Hook leads Striper Series Championship

$50,000 top prize up for grabs in inaugural Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series Championship

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Team Right Hook, captained by Samuel Fisher of Heathsville, Va., boated two striped bass weighing 35 pounds, 2 ounces Thursday to lead opening day of the inaugural Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series Championship in Virginia Beach. If his team’s lead holds up Friday, Fisher and crew will advance to Saturday’s final round, where the top five teams will compete for a top award of $50,000.

Fisher’s crew is one of four teams from Virginia fishing the lucrative championship. The next highest-placing team from Virginia is Team Castrol, captained by David Dudley of Lynchburg, in 12th place with two fish weighing 22 pounds. Dudley is well known in bass-fishing circles for his accomplishments on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. In 2002, at the age of 26, he became the youngest angler in history to surpass $1 million in tournament winnings. Earlier this year, at the age of 30, he became the youngest angler in history to surpass $2 million in tournament winnings. His passion, however, has always been fishing for striped bass.

Team Amazing Grace, captained by Jamie Judy of Middletown, and Team Dialed In, captained by Jonathan Dehart of Virginia Beach, round out the home-state contingent. Both teams came up empty on day one.

Rounding out the top five teams on the leaderboard are Team Atlantic Outboard, captained by Dan Wood of Waterford, Conn. (two fish, 32-15); Team Hydra-Sports, captained by Phillip Gootee of Church Creek, Md. (two fish, 31-8); Team LBift, captained by Michael Greene of Bronx, N.Y. (two fish, 29-12); and Team Doubled Up, captained by Steve Howell of Paxton, Mass. (two fish, 29-5).

The field of 26 championship contenders will continue competition Friday then be cut to the top five teams for Saturday. The winner will be determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all three days.

To qualify for the FLW Striper Series Championship, hosted by the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, teams competed in six FLW Striper Series events held in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland this season.

Only artificial lures are allowed in FLW Striper Series competition, and each team may weigh in only two striped bass ranging in size from 28 to 34 inches per day. In order to avoid a 2-pound penalty, the fish must be kept alive in new keep-alive boxes developed by FLW Outdoors and KeepAlive Systems. These innovative boxes, based on proven live-release techniques, allow all FLW Outdoors striper tournaments to be catch-and-release events – thus helping to protect the nation’s striped bass population and ensure a vibrant fishery for generations to come.

Teams will take off from Lynnhaven Marine located at 2150 Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach at 7 each morning. The scales will open Friday at 3 p.m. at Lynnhaven Marine, and Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1149 Nimmo Parkway in Virginia Beach beginning at 5 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Coverage of the FLW Striper Series Championship will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Jan. 28, 2007. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, among other others, making it 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.

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.

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.