Wal-Mart FLW Striped Bass Series
returns in 2007 with sport’s most lucrative payouts
Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series teams
will fish for top awards of $30,000 in every qualifier
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Competition kicks off May 19 in Atlantic Highlands, N.J.,
followed by tournaments June 16 in New London, Conn.; Sept. 22 in West
Dennis, Mass.; and Dec. 8 in Virginia Beach, Va.
Entry fees for 2007 are $450 per team, per tournament for early entries and
$500 per team for entries taken on-site.
Seaswirl,
Hydra-Sports,
Scarab, Triumph and
Wellcraft boat
owners may enter the 2007 FLW Striper Series beginning April 19.
All other entries will be accepted beginning April 20.
Entries may be made online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling
(270) 252-1000.
Phones are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday.
Schedules,
complete rules and
tournament details (click on any event in the schedule for event details
as well as the purse table) for the 2007 season are available at
FLWOutdoors.com.
The top 25 teams from each qualifier will then advance to a three-day,
no-entry-fee championship where they will
compete for a share of $150,000,including a top award of
$50,000, on international television.
“We knew there was incredible demand for high-paying,
high-profile professional striped bass tournaments".
said FLW Outdoors Chairman Irwin L. Jacobs.
“But even we were surprised by
the flood of calls we received from
anglers when we announced our intention
to launch
the Wal-Mart FLW striped bass circuit.
The phones rang off the hook for days. Now we are proud to announce all
of
the details about our new Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series,
and we think that the
angling community will agree
that we’ve delivered on our promises.”
In FLW Striper Series qualifying tournaments, each team will be allowed
to
weigh in two stripers ranging in size from 28 to 34 inches
(unless local
regulations dictate otherwise).
The fish must be kept alive in new keep-alive boxes developed by
FLW Outdoors that will be available for purchase or rent during
registration.
The innovative boxes, based on proven live-release techniques,
will allow
all FLW Outdoors striper tournaments to be catch-and-release
events – thus
helping to protect the nation’s striped bass
population and ensure a vibrant
fishery for generations to come.
Teams will be charged a 2-pound penalty for any fish that is not weighed in
alive.
“At FLW Outdoors we pride ourselves on maintaining annual live-release rates
in excess of 98 percent in all of our black bass, walleye and redfish
tournaments,” said FLW Striper Series Tournament Director Bill Carson. “We
are confident that we can achieve similar results with striped bass
tournaments and help establish a catch-and-release ethic in the striped bass
community as a whole.”
During competition teams may have no more than four lines in the water at
any time,
and only artificial lures are permitted.
Trolling is allowed, but umbrella rigs, or arrays of baits, are limited to
one bait with hooks.
In the Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series Championship, each team may weigh two
stripers per day.
The full field will compete the first two days and then be cut to the top
five teams for the final day.
The winner will be determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all
three days.
The championship will be televised as part of “FLW Outdoors” on FSN (Fox
Sports Net),
which reaches 81 million subscribers in the United States.
“FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time.
“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million
households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia,
Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely
distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more
than 800,000 Military personal stationed around the world in 177 countries
and aboard Navy ships
through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Registration for the new FLW Striper Series opens May 16
for Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl, Triumph and Wellcraft boat owners.
Registration for all other teams opens May 18.
Entry fees are $450 per team for all entries received prior to the day of
registration for each tournament. The entry fee for entries received on
registration day for a tournament or on-site during tournament registration
will be $500 per team.
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