FLW Series pros set for head-to-head battle on Falcon Lake

Winners will advance to $2 million Forrest Wood Cup for shot at $1 million bass-fishing title

ZAPATA, Texas – The 2008 tournament season is coming to an end, but there is still some unfinished business for top-ranked Walmart FLW Series pros from the National Guard Western Division and BP Eastern Division. Thirty pros from each division will face each other in head-to-head action on Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas, Nov. 20-22 to determine who will advance to the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 30-Aug. 2, where qualifiers have a shot at winning $1 million – the sport’s biggest award. In addition, with the launch of FLW Fantasy FishingTM, anyone can become a virtual pro angler and compete for prizes including $1 million cash by signing up on fantasyfishing.com.

Leading the Western Division charge at Falcon Lake is No. 1 seed Ken Wick of Star, Idaho, who will face No. 30 Eastern Division seed David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., who fishes for Team Castrol and was named 2008 Land O’ Lakes Angler of the Year on the Walmart FLW Tour.

Leading the Eastern Division contingent is No. 1 seed Jimmy McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., and will face No. 30 Western Division seed Dustin Baker of Lakeside, Calif.

“Fishing Falcon is going to be a real treat,” said McMillan, who has earned nine top-10 finishes in his FLW Outdoors career. “I’m really looking forward to catching some big fish. The weights out there are just phenomenal, and the plus side is, I only have one guy to beat.”

The No. 1 seeds from each division will face the No. 30 seeds, the No. 2 seeds with face the No. 29 seeds, etc. The winners of these head-to-head match-ups will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup along with the top 30 co-anglers based on accumulated weight at the Fish-Off. The pro with the heaviest overall weight will also earn $25,000, and the co-angler with the heaviest overall weight will earn $5,000.

“The fishery is just phenomenal,” said Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas. “I’ve never seen a place that produces 9- 10- and 11-pound bass like Falcon Lake. It’s just unreal the number of large fish that are down there. It is without a doubt the best big-bass lake in the nation right now.”

Falcon Lake proved to be a world-class fishery during the 2008 Stren™ Series season opener in January when the tournament winner, Jeremy Guidry of Opelousas, La., established a new four-day FLW Outdoors weight record (110-02). Not only did Guidry surpass the previous record of 105 pounds, 8 ounces, but so did second and third place finishers Tim Reneau of Del Rio, Texas, and Nicky McNeely of Natchitoches, La., with catches of 107-12 and 105-09, respectively. Interestingly, the second-place catch included just 19 bass of a 20 bass limit.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. each day from Beacon Lodge located just off Farm Road 3074 in Zapata. Weigh-ins will be held each day at Beacon Lodge beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes all three days with the winner of each head-to-head matchup in the Pro Division determined by the heaviest total weight from all three days. These 30 winners will advance to the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. In the Co-angler Division, the top 30 competitors based on total weight will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup. With a total purse of $2 million, including as much as $1 million going to the winning pro, and a world-class outdoor show, the Forrest Wood Cup is bass-fishing’s crown jewel.

The 2008 Walmart FLW Series Fish-Off will be the final one as the format to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup in 2010 has changed. The top 20 pros and co-anglers from the FLW Series BP Eastern Division and National Guard Western Division will advance directly to the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup for a shot at winning $1 million, the sport’s largest award.

Coverage of the FLW Series Fish-Off hosted by the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Center will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.

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 also took fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, awarding a historic $1 million prize to Michael Thompson of St. Michael, Minn. Details on the enhancements to FLW Fantasy Fishing for 2009 will be announced soon.

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