Lake Ouachita to host Walmart BFL Regional Championship

Top Cowboy, Louisiana/Texas, Okie and Ozark division anglers will compete for a $60,000 prize package

MOUNT IDA, Ark. – The $8.8 million Walmart Bass Fishing League will visit Lake Ouachita in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25 for one of seven no-entry-fee Regional Championships. During the tournament hosted by Mountain Harbor Marina, top Cowboy, Louisiana/Texas, Okie and Ozark division anglers will compete for a $60,000 prize package that includes a new Chevy truck and Ranger 198VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha in the Boater Division and a $40,000 Ranger 198VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha in the Co-angler Division.

Boater Ken Smith of Dallas, Texas, and co-angler Mark Watson of Lubbock, Texas, will lead the Cowboy qualifiers on Lake Ouachita while boater Glen Freeman of Converse, La., and co-angler John Ellender of Hemphill, Texas, lead the Louisiana/Texas division contingent. Boater Wade Garcia of Alma, Ark., and co-angler Jim Hargrave of Cushing, Okla., are the No. 1 qualifiers from the Okie division, and boater Dennis Berhorst of Holts Summit, Mo., and co-angler Blase Frick of St. Louis, Mo., are the top qualifiers from the Ozark division.

Overall, 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers qualified from each of these divisions for a total field of 160 boats on Lake Ouachita. The anglers qualified for the Regional Championship through a series of four one-day tournaments and a two-day Super Tournament in each of their respective divisions.

Mountain Harbor Marina located at 34 Marina Drive in Mount Ida will host daily takeoffs at 7 a.m.

Mountain Harbor Marina will also host Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in featuring the top six boaters and six co-anglers will be held at the Walmart located at 1601 Albert Pike Rd. in Hot Springs, Ark., beginning at 4 p.m. The winners will be determined by the heaviest total catch from all three days of competition.

Boaters and co-anglers who finish in the top six at the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship will also advance to the $1 million no-entry-fee 2009 All-American championship presented by Chevy where they will fish for as much as $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will also advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing.

In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3 million. Additionally, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2009 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offered 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 could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every Walmart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

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. 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, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.