CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2003) - For the seventh time in eight years, the FLW Tour will open its season on Florida's fabled Lake Okeechobee. Three hundred and fifty of the world's greatest bass anglers will descend upon the Big O Jan. 22-25, 2003, to compete for their share of a $500,000 cash purse.
"I'm expecting it to be a great tournament with some really heavy weights, provided we don't have a cold front come through and shut things down," said Stanley Works pro Scott Martin, an FLW Tour regular from Clewiston, Fla. "If we've been having good weather, it could take upwards of 20 pounds a day to win."
Since the tournament is scheduled just four days after a full moon, a major wave of egg-laden bass should be making their way to the sandy spawning flats. Martin said he expects sight-fishing and flipping to be major patterns, and the healthy Okeechobee grass should make for some interesting competition.
"The grass is in as good a shape now as it was during the lake's heydays in the early 1980s," Martin said. "A guy who gets on the right groups of fish in the matted stuff could do really well."
The event kicks off the most lucrative FLW Tour season to date, with three of seven events touting cash purses of $1 million or more. Six qualifying events, including the Lake Okeechobee tournament, lead up to the historic $1.5 million Jacobs Cup, which will award a record $500,000 to the winning pro. Ninety-six Jacobs Cup contenders (48 pros and 48 co-anglers) will compete on the James River in Richmond, Va., Sept. 10-13, and with $5.76 million up for grabs along the way, the road to Richmond is paved with gold.
One hundred and seventy-five Pro Division anglers and 175 Co-angler Division anglers will scour Lake Okeechobee in search of hefty five-bass limits that will garner them either the top pro award of $100,000 cash or the top co-angler award of $15,000 cash. Pro anglers supply the boat, fish from the front deck and control boat movement while co-anglers fish from the back deck and compete against other co-anglers.
The full field competes for two days, after which the field is cut to the top 10 pros and co-anglers who will advance to the semifinal round. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes with the winner determined by the heaviest catch weight that day. The 10 pros continue their competition in Saturday's final round, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The 10 pro anglers who advance to the final round will be paired with an Outdoor Life Network (OLN) camera crew as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television show. Complete coverage of the Okeechobee tournament as well as exciting weigh-in action will be broadcast to OLN's 55 million subscribers on "FLW Outdoors" in the weeks following the tournament.
Joining "FLW Outdoors" hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr in 2003 are fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon. Parker is best known for his popular fishing show "Hank Parker's Outdoor Magazine" and was once described by sportscaster Greg Gumble as "the rod and reel answer to Michael Jordan." Nixon is a highly successful angling veteran who fishes the full FLW Tour schedule. A two-time FLW Tour winner and key member of the Chevy pro staff, he has qualified for the FLW Tour championship five times and has amassed more than $460,000 in FLW Tour earnings since 1998.
Parker will make his "FLW Outdoors" debut Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003, at 7 p.m. EST. The broadcast will be shown again Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003, at 1 p.m. EST. "FLW Outdoors" will feature highlights from the season opener the following Saturday and Sunday a strategic recap with Nixon the week after that. "FLW Outdoors" 28-episode television season runs Jan. 25 to July 5 Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. EST. Special Jacobs Cup episodes will air in September.
Anglers will take off from Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston at 7 a.m. each morning. Wednesday and Thursday's weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1005 W. Sugarland Highway in Clewiston at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Wal-Mart FLW Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America's most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its five 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.