Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship set for Orange Beach

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (Sept. 24, 2007) — The $1.78 million Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series will stop in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 4-6 for the season-ending Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship, where top teams from five divisions will compete for a top award of $70,000.

Team “Baitmasters” captained by Robert Ayelsworth of St. Petersburg, Fla., will lead the Gulf Division qualifiers in Orange Beach while Ron Mitchell of Port St. Lucie, Fla., will captain team “Bandit,” winner of the East Florida Division points race. Team “Intense” captained by Neal Foster of Mobile, Ala., is the No. 1 qualifier from the Upper Gulf Division, and team “King of Kings2” led by Bart Wetherington of Richmond Hill, Ga., is the top team from the South Carolina/Georgia Division. The top qualifier from the North Carolina Division, team “Wrench Head,” is captained by Kevin Lawson of Ramseur, N.C.

Overall, 125 teams, the top three from each of 15 qualifying tournaments and the top 16 in the points standings from each division, will compete in the lucrative championship.

“Things worked out well for us last year,” said captain Kevin Alexander of Conroe, Texas, whose team “Force 10,” from the Upper Gulf Division, will be looking to defend its 2006 FLW Kingfish Series Championship title in Orange Beach. “To win back to back title would definitely vindicate some of the bad luck from the tuff season we have had this year. We are going to give it our best shot. We are planning to put in our time and do a lot of homework. All my guys are pumped and ready to go. We are a group of hard workers, and we are very committed to what we do.

“I think the key to winning this event will be finding the right forage the kings are after and staying with them. The key will be to locate bait and stay close to it. With the weather the area is getting right now, a few fronts could scatter the fish and throw everything off.”

Alexander predicted that is would take a kingfish in the 40-pound range to make the top-five cut on Friday. He also said that teams will have to follow things up on Saturday with one about the same weight, making a prediction for 70 to 80 pounds to win.

The winning team will earn as much as $70,000 cash, which includes $30,000 for the win plus a $20,000 bonus from Hydra-Sports, Scarab, Seaswirl or Wellcraft and a $20,000 bonus from Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met.

The full field will compete Thursday, Oct. 4 and Friday, Oct. 5. The top-five teams based on the heaviest kingfish from either day will continue competition Saturday, Oct. 6. The winner will be determined by the total weight of the heaviest kingfish from Thursday or Friday plus Saturday’s catch.

Teams will take off and weigh in daily at The Wharf located at 23101 Canal Road in Orange Beach. Takeoff is at 6:45 a.m. Thursday and Friday with the scales opening at 4 p.m. Saturday’s final takeoff is at 7 a.m. followed by the weigh-in at 4 p.m. The FLW Kingfish Series Family Fun Zone will open at noon Saturday and will include a National Guard HD theater, rock climbing wall and Humvee display. Admission to all activities is free.

As points champions in their respective divisions, teams “Baitmasters,” “Bandit,” “Intense,” “King of Kings2,” and “Wrench Head” will also advance to the $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship presented by BP in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 2-4, where they will compete against the top 50 teams in the FLW Kingfish Tour Land O’Lakes Team of the Year points standings for a top award of $150,000.

The Kingfish Series Championship will be featured in a one-hour episode of “FLW Outdoors” broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom on Dec. 9. This reach makes “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service members stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission is hosting the event along with The Wharf, Brett-Robinson, Live Bait at the Wharf and the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. For more information, visit www.gulfshores.com.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.