$5.1 Million Wal-Mart FLW Tour Heading to Lake Wheeler.Sports Editors Noun 1. sports editor - the newspaper editor responsible for sports news newspaper editor - the editor of a newspaper , Outdoor & Fishing Writers FLORENCE, Ala.--(BW SportsWire)--Feb. 5, 2002 Wal-Mart's $5.1 million FLW FLW Frank Lloyd Wright FLW Forrest L Wood (fishing tournament) FLW Fort Leonard Wood (US Army) FLW Famous Last Words FLW Four Letter Word FLW Final Weight Tour is heading back to Lake Wheeler Feb. 13-16 for a $550,000 tournament presented by Pepsi and Frito Lay. It's the tour's first visit to Wheeler since 1998. The sport's top pros, including Team Fuji's Randy Blaukat, Team Coleman's Mike Wurm and Team Yamaha's Dean Rojas, will compete on the 67,100-acre lake for a $110,000 cash first-place award. Including the Co-angler Division, where contestants fish from the back of a pros boat for a top award of $15,000 cash, 350 anglers representing 34 states and Japan will visit Wheeler. Randy Howell, winner of the 1998 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on Wheeler, expects better fishing this time around. "The lake has come back a lot since 1998," says the Trussville, Ala., pro. "In '98 I averaged about 10 pounds per day and won. Last March I fished a tournament there and caught 10 pounds per day and barely got a check. It has improved tremendously." One complicating factor anglers will face is dropping water levels. After reaching near flood stages Flood stage is the point at which the surface of a river, creek, or other body of water has risen to a sufficient level to cause damage. When a body of water rises to this level, it is considered a flood event. last month, Wheeler has dropped considerably in recent weeks. The receding waters affect on the lake's plentiful smallmouth, spotted and largemouth bass largemouth bass see micropterus salmoides. populations will create an interesting twist for the nation's top anglers. The tournament's final weigh-in will be broadcast live on PAX TV to more than 84 million households as part of the FLW Outdoors television show airing Saturdays at 3 p.m. EST, 2 p.m. CST CST abbr. 1. Central Standard Time 2. convulsive shock treatment CST Central Standard Time Noun 1. and 3 p.m. PST PST Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, see there . "We are breaking new ground in competitive fishing by televising our weigh-ins live nationwide on PAX TV," said Charlie Hoover, FLW Outdoors president. "This is a pioneering project that will pay huge dividends to the sport by attracting a new audience of outdoor enthusiasts. Our goal is to find the right mix that appeals to both diehard tournament anglers and the nation's fishing fans." Competition on Lake Wheeler is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Feb. 13 at Joe Wheeler State Park Joe Wheeler State Park is located on 2550 acres (10.3 km²) along Wheeler Lake in Northwest Alabama. The park includes a resort lodge, full service convention facilities, restaurant, campground, a marina with 140 boat slips and an 18 hole championship golf course. . The park, located at 4401 McLean Drive in Rogersville, will host each day's take-off plus the opening round weigh-ins. Weigh-ins begin at 3 p.m. Feb. 13-14. The Feb. 15 semifinal round weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 3100 Hough n. 1. Same as Hock, a joint. v. t. 1. Same as Hock, to hamstring. [ imp. & p. p. os> r>; p. pr. & vb. n. os> n. 1. An adz; a hoe. v. t. 1. To cut with a hoe. Road in Florence, Ala. Wal-Mart will also host the final weigh-in Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. Twenty anglers in each division advance to the semifinals after two days of competition. The top 10 pros from the semifinal round advance to the final day. Co-angler competition concludes after the semifinal round. Anglers advancing to the semifinal and final rounds start from zero and fish for the heaviest five-bass limit each day. For more information on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, visit FLWOutdoors.com. |
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