1000 ISLANDS TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE EMPIRE DIVISION TOURNAMENT

CLAYTON, N.Y. (Aug. 16, 2006) - The Empire Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit 1000 Islands near Clayton, N.Y., Aug. 26 for the fourth 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 as much as $6,000 to the Boater Division winner.

French Creek Marina in Clayton will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. Anglers will compete for prize money as well as points that count toward postseason competition. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for the season-ending Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 points for second, 298 for third, and so on.

If the winning boater is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he or she will also receive a $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats and $500 from Yamaha if the boat used during competition 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 a $1,000 bonus to the winning boater if his or her boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard.

The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash. The angler who catches the biggest bass of the day in the Boater Division will earn as much as $1,000, and the co-angler big-bass winner will earn as much as $500.

For more information or to enter the tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com. Tournament entries will also be accepted on-site during registration Aug. 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 20823 NYS Rt. 3 in Watertown, N.Y. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers. A $25 late fee also applies to entries taken on site along with a $25 membership fee for anglers who are not yet members of FLW Outdoors.

The top 40 boaters and 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. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee 2007 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. 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 field of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers.

The winning boater and co-angler at the All-American will each advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 1-5, 2007. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing.

The top 40 Empire Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Smith Mountain Regional Championship near Moneta, Va., Oct. 19-21 and will compete against anglers from the North Carolina, Northeast and Piedmont divisions for an All-American slot. These regional qualifiers also have the option to advance to the Stren Series in 2007.

Empire Division anglers will next visit Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga, N.Y., Sept. 23-24 for their two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event.

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 Wal-Mart FLW Tour - bass fishing's most lucrative tournament series. Former BFL anglers who have become fishing superstars on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour include Kellogg's pro Clark Wendlandt, Ranger pro Tommy Biffle and four-time FLW Tour champion David Fritts.

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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

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

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.