WORLD’S BEST ANGLERS GEARING UP FOR 2009 FLW TOUR STOP ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN |

WORLD’S BEST ANGLERS GEARING UP FOR 2009 FLW TOUR STOP ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN

On June - 29 - 2009

Free Family Fun Zone Opens at Noon on Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (June 29, 2009) – The Walmart FLW Tour presented by Folgers will stop in Plattsburgh, N.Y., July 9-12 for the final regular-season tournament of the 2009 season on Lake Champlain that will feature anglers from across the United States, Mexico and Japan fishing for top awards of $125,000 cash in the Pro Division and $25,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.

“July is kind of a tricky month on Champlain from what I’ve heard,” said Team National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., who has won more than $1.1 million in FLW Outdoors events and is leading the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race. “And why it’s tricky is largemouth are going to be a large factor in this tournament. From what I’ve heard, smallmouth are going to weigh lighter because they’re post-spawn.

“You may find good largemouth down south toward Ticonderoga,” Ehrler added. “But it’s 70 miles away, and if the wind blows, you may get there, but you may not get back (in time). It’s going to be tricky.”

Ehrler said he expects anglers to rely on topwater baits and flipping to catch their limits. Anglers targeting smallmouth may find success with a Carolina rig, jerkbait or tube. Ehrler said a soft-plastic topwater frog should be productive for largemouth.

“It’s going to be fun fishing,” Ehrler said. “On the flip side, you may run 70 miles, catch 12 pounds and it won’t be good enough.”

In the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race, Ehrler is going into the final regular-season event with a three-point lead over Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas.

“It’s very close,” Ehrler said. “Last year it flip-flopped a ton just in the very last tournament. And this year there’s four of us who are really, really close. So it’s going to come down to who finishes highest in the tournament is going to win the Angler of the Year title.

“If I let that get in my head, it will be tough,” Ehrler added. “If I can not worry about it, I could do really good. It’s when you get that added stress, then you start thinking differently about how you need to go into a tournament and do well.”

Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. all four days of competition from Dock Street Landing located at 5 Dock Street in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Dock Street Landing beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Plattsburgh State Field House located at 167 Rugar Street in Plattsburgh beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Plattsburgh State Field House each day at noon. The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator. Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone on Sunday will receive a free rod and reel combo courtesy of WOKO-FM while supplies last. One lucky member of the audience will even win a new Ranger boat that will be given away during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in Sunday, July 12. Admission is free, and you must be present to win.

In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Saturday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.

Coverage of the tournament, hosted by the City of Plattsburgh, will be broadcast on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Nov. 1 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, 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.

The FLW Tour will award more than $8 million in cash to the world’s top bass anglers in 2009. Regular season competition includes three qualifiers and three opens. Each event takes anglers a step closer to the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa. The prestigious championship and outdoor show hosted by VisitPittsburgh will feature 77 pros, 77 co-anglers and bass fishing’s largest cash award – a potential $1 million first-place prize for the winning pro.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

FLWOutdoors.com