OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Sept. 24, 2004) - Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Gator Division anglers will have to wait a week to wrap up their regular season due to Hurricane Jeanne, which is expected to reach Florida by Sunday. A hurricane watch for portions of Florida issued Friday by the National Hurricane Center in Miami prompted tournament officials to reschedule Saturday and Sunday's tournament on Lake Okeechobee for Oct. 2 and 3.
Registration for the rescheduled event will be held Oct. 1 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Wal-Mart located at 2101 S. Parrott Ave. in Okeechobee, and contestants will launch out of Okee-Tantie Oct. 2 and 3. "Everything has just been moved back by one week," said BFL tournament director Ron Lappin. "Angler safety is always foremost in our minds, so we made a decision to reschedule the tournament after a hurricane watch was announced this morning."
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Jeanne was about 300 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the northwestern Bahamas at 8 a.m. EDT Friday morning. It had top sustained winds of 100 mph and was traveling west at less than 10 mph.
Once under way, the rescheduled BFL Super Tournament will feature as many as 200 boaters and 200 co-anglers competing for a share of $70,950, including a top award of $9,600 for the winning boater and $4,800 for the winning co-angler based on a full field.
Anglers will take off from Okee-Tantie both competition days. The weigh-in Saturday, Oct. 2 will also take place at Okee-Tantie, with the final weigh-in Sunday, Oct. 3 held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2101 S. Parrott Ave. in Okeechobee.
The full field will compete Saturday with the top 20 percent advancing to Sunday's final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest two-day catch weight. The tournament is the last chance for anglers to accumulate points that determine year-end angler standings, which in turn determine which competitors will advance to postseason competition. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on, except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on.
Following the Super Tournament, the top 30 boaters and co-anglers in the Gator Division will advance to the Lake Seminole regional, which will be held Oct. 5-9 in Bainbridge, Ga. There they will compete against qualifying anglers from the Bama, Mississippi and Piedmont divisions for one of six slots in the 2005 All-American. The All-American awards a $100,000 cash prize to the winning boater and $50,000 to the winning co-angler.
The BFL is comprised of 24 nationwide divisions, and the top 30 from each division advance to one of six regionals, each of which send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American. Anglers who fish all five regular-season tournaments 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.
If the winning boater at the Super Tournament 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.) 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 his boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude Direct Injection outboard. That's a potential top award of $12,600 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.
The angler who catches the biggest bass on opening day in the Boater Division will earn as much as $2,000, and the co-angler big-bass winner will earn as much as $1,000.
If the Super Tournament is not yet full, entries will be accepted at tournament registration Sept. 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Okeechobee Wal-Mart store. Entry fees are $300 for boaters and $150 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.
For more information about the BFL or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.