FSN to air season-opening Kingfish Tour event

May 20 show to highlight $300,000 king mackerel tournament from Sarasota, Fla.

MINNEAPOLIS – Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour actions returns to FSN Sunday, May 20 at 11 a.m. Eastern time. The show will cover the season-opening king mackerel tournament held in Sarasota, Fla. The first event of the $1.7 million season concludes with the winning team claiming a cash prize of $100,000.

The “FLW Outdoors” saltwater series is a reality-format show told from the anglers’ perspective. Each week the top-five finalists are followed from takeoff to weigh-in, allowing the audience to feel the anglers’ nerves, listen to their strategy and learn from their mistakes. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced.

FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes on day one and day two and the top five teams compete on day three. The winning team is determined based on the heaviest kingfish from day one or day two plus the heaviest kingfish from day three.

On day two, a hefty 45-pound, 7-ounce kingfish vaulted team Team Lured Away to the top of the leaderboard. The veteran team, captained by Robert Schoenfeld of Conroe, Texas, now owns the overall lead heading into Sunday’s five-team final round. That weight not only helped to knock some hopeful teams in the high 30s out of the top five, it was over 5 pounds heavier than their closest rival, Team Reelin’, which had a 40-1 Saturday. Most of the top teams ventured far south past Sanibel Island despite choppier seas. Lured Away was one of those teams.

Having made a more than 350-mile round-trip run south, they hooked the 45-pound fish on the long line with a big blue runner and fought it for roughly 20 minutes before landing it. The key to their big day was simple: find the right area with big fish in it. This is Lured Away’s fourth appearance in the top five in a span of only two years. Despite that impressive track record, this event is the team’s best chance at claiming their first Kingfish Tour victory.

Marc Pincus, who hails from Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Team Reelin’ caught the only other fish over 40 pounds during the two-day opening round, hooking it within 30 minutes of dropping their lines Saturday after making the grueling run south about a hundred miles. Crewmember Eric Moore said Reelin’ caught their 40-1 on a big blue runner in about 60 feet of water.

FSN also follows Team Hannon’s Cannon of Seminole, Fla. After catching a 39-pound, 10-ounce kingfish on day one, the team failed to upgrade their fish on day two and trail the leader by nearly 6 pounds coming into the finals. Capt. Kevin Hannon said they caught their day-one fish on a large blue runner in 80 feet of water about 30 miles offshore. The fish hit the long, shotgun line, but it didn’t take more than 10 minutes to land with it Hannon on the reel, crewmembers Steve Riley on the gaff and Rick Cook at the wheel. Tune in Sunday to see if their area harbors one more immense mackerel.

FSN is the industry leader in providing the most up-to-date technology in TV production. FSN puts viewers in the boats with the pros, shadowing them from sunrise until the final weigh-in using innovative camera work that gives fishing fans the most intimate viewing experience available.

FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLWOutdoors.com also provides an online guide listing upcoming episodes on “FLW Outdoors.”

FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces more than 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory” documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at www.FoxSports.com.

“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, 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 service men and women 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 Walmart.com.

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