OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — The Everglades Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla., Jan. 5 for the first of five regular-season events. As many as 200 boaters and 200 co-anglers are expected to compete in the tournament, which will award as much as $45,000 in cash, including a top award of $6,000 in the Boater Division.
“The water has been extremely low and FLW Outdoors has worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to come up with alternate plans for the event,” said FLW Outdoors’ Director of Tournament Operations Bill Taylor. “As a result, anglers will be able to lock outside of Lake Okeechobee in areas typically not permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for tournaments. We’re very thankful that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has made this allowance for the event.”
For the Lake Okeechobee event, anglers will be allowed to fish up to the S-78 Franklin lock on the Caloosahatchee River as well as the S-80 lock on the St. Lucie Canal. Anglers also may fish pools D and E and up to the S-65 C lock on the Kissimmee River.
The expanded fishing areas will be in effect for all BFL Everglades Division tournaments until the water levels return to 11 ˝ feet.
If the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he will receive a $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats and $500 from Yamaha if his boat is powered by Yamaha. Ranger will award $500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner, and Yamaha will kick in $250 if the boat is powered by Yamaha. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner’s boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard. That’s a potential top award of $8,000 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.
The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash.
Snickers Big Bass awards of up to $1,000 and $500, respectively, will also be awarded in the Boater and Co-angler Divisions.
Anglers may register for the tournament online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000. Onsite registration will be held Jan. 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 2101 South Parrot Ave. in Okeechobee. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers.
C. Scott Driver Park in Okeechobee will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee 2008 Wal-Mart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.
The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2008 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. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2008 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour.
Everglades Division anglers will visit the Kissimmee River in Lake Wales, Fla., Feb. 9 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee on March 29. The division’s fourth qualifying event will be held on the Kissimmee River in Lake Wales on April 19. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee Sept. 27-28.
Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in the Everglades Division will advance to the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 16-18 and will compete against anglers from the Choo Choo, Savannah River and Piedmont divisions for an All-American berth.
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.
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 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 more than $40 million through 230 events in 2008.
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.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
