$6.5 Million Wal-Mart FLW Series to Visit
Old Hickory Lake

May 19 , 2006

GALLATIN, Tenn. — The $6.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Series will stop in Gallatin, Tenn., May 31-June 3 for its third regular-season tournament, which will be held on Old Hickory Lake. Hosted by the Sumner County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tournament will feature 400 anglers from 31 states, Japan and Australia competing for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division.

Ultimately, all anglers in the tournament will also be competing for spots in the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will have a shot at bass fishing's first $1 million prize.

“It will be a fun tournament,” said Team Bounty pro Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., who has 31 top-10 finishes in his FLW Outdoors career. “There will be a ton of fish up shallow and a few will be spawning.”

Jigs and topwater baits will more than likely be a determining factor, as well as aquatic vegetation.

“The logjams up the river are always a factor this time of year,” Powers said. “We also had a few really hot days that brought the grass up. It hasn't been a factor in years past, but it looks like it may this year.”

Powers didn't pick a projected weight needed to make the top 10, but he did say it was going to be closely contested tournament.

“Someone is going to come in with a huge sack of fish. They always do,” he said. “After that, the weights are going to be close throughout the remainder of the field. One quality fish can make a huge difference.”

Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Bull Creek Marina. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg's Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The total purse for the Cumberland Lake tournament is $900,000, including $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division.

Coverage of the Old Hickory Lake FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, among other others, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

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, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.5 million through 235 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.

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