SARASOTA, Fla. – Team BackNBlack, headed by Edmund Smith of Powder Springs, Ga., caught a kingfish weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event being held in conjunction with the Sarasota FLW Kingfish Tour event. Smith earned $2,000 for the win.
Smith, along with teammates Justin Smith, Clay Smith and Jimmy Miller, said the team headed north to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that spans Tampa Bay and trolled for a couple of hours before relocating to the Egmont Channel.
“We fished that area and about 10:30 we got a strike on a flat line about 100 yards back on a blue runner,” Smith said. “Basically we were fishing through bait pods. We got the fish boated, and it was our winning fish. We spent the rest of the day trying to get a bigger one.”
FLW Kingfish Series qualifying tournaments are one-day events. Each team is allowed to weigh in one kingfish, and the winning team is determined by the heaviest fish.
The Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series consists of six regular-season events, four of which are held in conjunction with FLW Kingfish Tour stops. The top five teams from each tournament and the top 20 teams (who are not already qualified) from the year-end points standings will advance to the two-day championship. Teams finishing the season ranked in the top 20 will also receive priority entry into the 2009 FLW Kingfish Tour. The winning team at the FLW Kingfish Series Championship will take home as much as $15,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing, FLW Outdoors offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
The next FLW Kingfish Series event will be held June 28 in Ft. Pierce, Fla.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
FLW Kingfish Tour awards are based on full fields of 100 boats in qualifying events, and FLW Kingfish Series awards are based on full fields of 50 boats in qualifying events.