The event will mark the first Bassmaster event on the fishery. The WBT Championship, the culmination of the 2009 season, will feature the top 20 pro and co-anglers from the regular-season Bassmaster Women's Tour Angler of the Year standings.
Anglers will get their first crack at Cypress Black Bayou on Thursday, Oct. 15 on the official practice day. On Friday, the three-day tournament will kick off.
Tournament launches, beginning at 7 a.m. CT each day, will be moved to Cypress Black Bayou Ramp;135 Cypress Park Drive out of Benton, La., 71006. Weigh-ins will be held, as previously scheduled, at the Academy Sports + Outdoors store located at 2801 Beene Blvd. in Bossier City, La., beginning at 3 p.m. CT Friday-Sunday.
Anglers are competing for a piece of $94,000 in prizes, including the winner's take of $5,000 and a Triton/Mercury boat package valued at $55,000. Twenty other qualifiers will compete in the co-angler division, fishing from the back of pros' boats for a $40,000 Triton/Mercury boat rig, plus $3,250, awarded to the co-angler winner. In both divisions, the second-place prize is a Skeeter/Yamaha rig.
Besides being the championship event, the Oct. 16-18 tournament is the finish line in the 2009 Bassmaster Women's Tour Angler of the Year race, in which the big plums are a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic and a new Tundra. With an entry in the Feb. 19-21 Classic on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala., the 2009 AOY will become only the second woman to qualify for a Classic.
WBT Championship Qualifiers Pro Field Place Points 1. Pam Martin-Wells Bainbridge, Ga. 862 2. Juanita Robinson Highlands, Texas 841 3. Laura Gober Pendergrass, Ga. 807 4. Judy Wong Many, La. 807 5. Dianna Clark Bumpus Mills, Tenn. 800 6. Tammy Richardson Amity, Ark. 785 7. Janet Parker Little Elm, Texas 784 8. Sheri Glasgow Muskogee, Okla. 782 9. Debra Petrowski Arlington, Texas 776 10. Kim Bain-Moore Alabaster, Ala. 759 11. Melinda Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 754 12. Meta Burrell Fort Worth, Texas 748 13. Lisa Sternard Clarksville, Tenn. 745 14. Paula Alexander Lincolnton, Ga. 739 15. Lisa Johnson Centre, Ala. 732 16. Lucy Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 732 17. Cindy Hill Smyrna, Tenn. 732 18. Robin Babb Livingston, Texas 727 19. Emily Shaffer Mount Juliet, Tenn. 721 20. Patti Campbell Waxahachie, Texas 714 Co-Angler Field Place Points 1. Terri Bittner McKinleyville, Calif. 870 2. Donna Newberry Van Buren, Ark. 836 3. Martha Goodfellow Simpsonville, S.C. 823 4. Stacy Zhelesnik Hoboken, N.J. 822 5. Debbie Pegoli Loveland, Ohio 802 6. Colleen McKay Worcester, Mass. 781 7. Monica Altman Angier, N.C. 781 8. Bonnie Ward Snohomish, Wash. 768 9. Gail Wood Russellville, Ark. 761 10. Kim Martin Clayton, Ind. 757 11. Linda Owens Brandon, Miss. 756 12. Teri Cindric Hermitage, Tenn. 743 13. Barbara Gaskins Suffolk, Va. 741 14. Sherry Melton Monterey, Tenn. 727 15. Vicki Henderson Ashdown, Ark. 722 16. Charlotte Frazier Dallas, Texas 722 17. Diane Smith Fayetteville, Ga. 716 18. Bertha Cavakis Amity, Ark. 708 19. Kala Wright Spiro, Okla. 706 20. Linda Walker Beebe, Ark. 704