ZAPATA, Texas (Sept. 3, 2008) – FLW Outdoors®, home of FLW Fantasy Fishing™ (www.FantasyFishing.com), and the largest cash payout in fantasy sports history, announced today that Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas, will host the 2008 Walmart™ FLW Series® Fish-Off Nov. 20-22.
The lake, which is home to the FLW Outdoors four-day weight record of 20 bass weighing 110 pounds, 2 ounces, will play host to top-ranked National Guard Western Division and BP Eastern Division pros from the 2008 season. Thirty pros from each division will face each other in head-to-head action to determine who will advance to the $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol, where qualifiers have a shot at winning $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
The No. 1 seeds from each division will face the No. 30 seeds, the No. 2 seeds will 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.
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.
“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.”
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, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million in cash and prizes.
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.
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