NATCHITOCHES, La. (Jan. 31, 2006) - The Louisiana Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit the Red River near Natchitoches, La., Feb. 18 for the first of five regular-season events. The event was originally scheduled to be held on Toledo Bend Reservoir, but low water conditions resulted in safety concerns, which prompted FLW Outdoors officials to relocate the event.
Grand Encore Recreation Area in Natchitoches will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Tournament registration will be Feb. 17 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 925 Keyser Ave. in Natchitoches. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers.
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. 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 winner 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. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner's boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or 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 $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.
The top 40 boaters and co-anglers in each of the BFL's 28 divisions at the end of the season are eligible to advance to regional competition. Seven $110,000 Regional Championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the 2007 Wal-Mart BFL All-American championship, which will feature a $1 million purse and a top award as high as $140,000. 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 Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a championship field of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers.
The winning boater and the winning co-angler at the All-American will have the opportunity to advance to the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup, where the winner could earn up to $1 million.
The top 40 Louisiana Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Wright Patman Regional Championship near Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 19-21 and will compete against anglers from the Arkie, Cowboy and Okie divisions for an All-American slot. The top 40 anglers from each division may also advance to the Stren Series in 2007.
Louisiana Division anglers will next visit the Atchafalaya Basin in Berwick, La., March 18 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on Bayou Black in Gibson, La., April 29. The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on the Red River in Shreveport, La., June 10. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on the Atchafalaya Basin in Berwick Sept. 23-24. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.
If the Feb. 18 tournament is not yet full, entries will be accepted at tournament registration.
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.