MINNEAPOLIS (July 22, 2010) - Larry Long has enjoyed fishing his entire life, especially with his son Brent. L. Long, of Lincolnton, N.C., used Player's Advantage, an online Fantasy Fishing tool, and his intimate knowledge of the sport to reap the rewards and win the 2010 FLW Fantasy Fishing grand prize of $50,000.
"I have fished all my life and my son actually fishes on the FLW Tour," said L. Long. "I never once thought about winning. I don't know what I will do. I have always wanted to take a trip to Montana so maybe I will do that.
"This is some surprise," continued L. Long. "I thought I did well, maybe a top 10 finish, but I never thought I would win the whole thing. This is going to take some time to sink in, but it will be put to good use, that I can guarantee. I still can't believe it and don't know what I will do with the money. I guess I will have to talk to my wife."
L. Long's son Brent, recently won his first FLW Tour event on Lake Guntersville in June and took home $125,000. He dedicated his victory to his dad for a Father's Day present.
"He does it all on his own, but I kept telling him if he wouldn't pick me to win, he would do better. When he told me he was in ninth after Lake Ouachita, I had no idea he was doing that well," said B. Long.
Dennis Burns of Tiffin, Ohio, took home $25,000 for finishing second. Benny Esquivel of Tehachapi, Calif., took third overall and will be heading to Cabela's to redeem his $5,000 gift card before he and one guest go on a fishing trip to Lake El Salto in Mexico for five days.
"This was the first year I played and it was great," said Esquivel, who used Player's Advantage to help make his selections. "This is a great way to keep up with the FLW Tour and it is a lot of fun watching the weigh-ins and the anticipation of how your team will finish. This trip will be awesome."
Eli Purdy, a college student at the University of Kentucky who also competes on the National Guard FLW College Fishing circuit, finished fourth and won a BRP Can-Am Outlander 400 all-terrain vehicle. "This will be great and come in handy. My family has a 250-acre farm and we will use it mostly for hunting and then some chores as well. FLW Outdoors has been nothing short of great to deal with through issues with our teammate's boat when there was an accident on the road to operating FLW College Fishing. Everything is awesome."
Brannon Morgan of Collierville, Tenn., took fifth and earned $5,000 for his finish. Roy Marchant, who finished 12th overall, won the first Fantasy Fishing tournament of the season, and Donald Stanley, who finished 10th, won the second tournament, both earning $5,000 for their victories earlier in the year.
Participants finishing in sixth through 10th earned $1,000. Eleventh through 15th place took home $500.
Below are the top-15 rankings for the 2010 FLW Fantasy Fishing season and their prizes.
Rank Name City, State Points Prize 1 Larry Long Lincolnton, N.C. 40,966 $50,000 2 Dennis Burns Tiffin, Ohio 40,726 $25,000 3 Benny Esquivel Tehachapi, Calif. 39,851 $12,000 ($5,000 Cabela's gift card & 5-day fishing trip on Lake El Salto) 4 Eli Purdy Frankfort, Ky. 39,819 $9,699 (BRP Can-Am Outlander 400 ATV) 5 Brannon Morgan Collierville, Tenn. 39,635 $5,000 6 Greg Brown Morris, Ala. 39,340 $1,000 7 Jeff Burdick Oakley, Ill. 38,808 $1,000 8 Brian LeBlanc Davie, Fla. 38,764 $1,000 9 Ricky Tripp Preston, Md. 38,651 $1,000 10 Donald Stanley Newton, N.C. 38,596 $1,000 11 Elizabeth Little Whitesburg, Ky. 38,536 $500 12 Roy Marchant Elkhart, Ind. 38,513 $500 13 Ray Long Bay Minette, Ala. 38,459 $500 14 Andrew Armstead Cottonwood, Calif. 38,371 $500 15 Tina Clapp North Manchester, Ind. 38,324 $500
In conjunction with Fantasy Fishing, fans could register to win a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD through the online contest WinaSilveradoHD.com , which was launched to promote the revamped 2011 Silverado HD. David Burbules of Deltona, Fla., won the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD. The contest was promoted through Chevrolet's multiple channels as well as at the numerous tournaments and events hosted by FLW Outdoors and all the members worldwide playing Fantasy Fishing.
FLW Fantasy Fishing completed its third year of fantasy sports. Fans can visit FantasyFishing.com to get more information and to sign up for the 2011 season.