GRAND LAKE TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE OKIE DIVISION EVENT

GROVE, Okla. (March 16, 2004) ­ The Okie Division of the $6.3 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit Grand Lake near Grove March 27 for the second 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 $32,850 in cash prizes, including as much as $5,000 cash for the Boater Division winner.

Red 11 Port in Grove will host takeoff and weigh-in at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. The community is encouraged to attend the takeoff and weigh-in. 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.

The winning boater will earn as much as $5,000 cash based on a full field, and if the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he will receive another $1,000 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.) If the winning boater uses only Garmin electronics during the event and at least one product is a qualifying unit, Garmin will award him another $1,000. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner’s boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude 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 $2,500 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.

The top 30 boaters and co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 24 nationwide divisions are eligible to advance to postseason regional competition. Six regionals will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the 2005 All-American championship, which awards $100,000 to the winning boater. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to regional competition are eligible to compete in the Chevy Trucks Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the
All-American for a championship field of 84 competitors.

The top 30 Okie Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Toledo Bend Regional near Many, La., Oct. 12-16 and will compete against anglers from the Arkie, Louisiana and Ozark divisions for an All-American slot.

Okie Division anglers will next visit Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner May 1 for the third regular-season event, followed by an event on Keystone Lake in Mannford June 19. The two-day Super Tournament will also be held on Grand Lake in Grove Oct. 2-3. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.

If the March 27 tournament is not yet full, entries will also be accepted at tournament registration, which will be held March 26 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Grove Wal-Mart located at 2115 S. Main St. Entry fees are $150 for boaters and $75 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.

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. Each BFL division features four regular-season events followed by a two-day Super Tournament.

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 EverStart Series and ultimately the Wal-Mart FLW Tour — bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series. Each year the top 30 boaters and co-anglers from each BFL division are eligible to advance to the EverStart Series, and the All-American champions are eligible for Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition. The top 10 pros and co-anglers from each division of the EverStart Series are eligible to advance to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour.

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.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer,
please visit FLWOutdoors.com.

FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.