Fishing fans will have the opportunity to meet some of the most accomplished anglers in the world of competitive bass fishing at four Walmart stores in the area April 20, from 6:30-8 p.m.
Anglers will be signing autographs, posing for photos and offering fishing tips to store visitors during the two-hour event, which precedes the National Guard Open, the third stop of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Norman April 23-26.
Hosted by the Charlotte Sports Commission, Visit Lake Norman, Visit Charlotte and Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the tournament will feature anglers going for top awards of $150,000 cash in the Pro Division and $40,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.
– Walmart Supercenter Store at 150 Concord Commons in Concord
– Walmart Supercenter Store at 7131 Hwy. 73 in Denver
– Walmart Supercenter Store at 169 Norman Station Blvd. in Mooresville
– Walmart Supercenter Store at 2420 Supercenter Drive in Kannapolis
As part of the festivities surrounding the tournament, Ben Mynatt Chevrolet in Concord will be hosting Chevy Pro Night from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 22.
Fishing fans will have the chance to swap tales with Team Chevy anglers Jimmy Houston, Larry Nixon, Luke Clausen, Jay Yelas, Kim Stricker, Dion Hibdon and Anthony Gagliardi. Hibdon and Clausen also are two of only five anglers in the history of the sport to have won both the Forrest Wood Cup and the Bassmaster Classic.
These anglers will be signing autographs, posing for photos and offering advice to fishing fans at 281 Concord Pkwy. South in Concord.
The first 100 fans will receive a free FLW Outdoors hat and everyone can register to win fishing rods, fishing tackle, a die cast Ranger boat and children 14 and under can register to win youth rod and reels.
The FLW Tour will award more than $8 million cash to the world’s top bass anglers in 2009. The $2 million Forrest Wood Cup will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh with 77 pros, 77 co-anglers and bass fishing’s largest cash award ń a potential $1 million first-place prize for the winning pro.
FLW Outdoors was named after Forrest L. Wood, the founder of Ranger Boats. FLW Fantasy Fishing offers the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes.
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.
SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE TOURNAMENT: The Shenandoah Division of the $8 million Walmart Bass Fishing League will visit Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Va., on Saturday for the first of five regular-season events. As many as 200 boaters and 200 co-anglers are expected to compete in the tournament, which will award as much as $45,000 in cash, including a top award of $6,000 in the Boater Division.
Parkway Marina in Huddleston, Va., will host the takeoff at 7 a.m. and the weigh-in at 3 p.m.
Fishers Of Men tourney: Steve Singleton and Wayne Needham of Seagrove won first place in the Fishers Of Men Piedmont Division Trail event on Lake Wylie on March 21.
In a field of 44 boats, their winning weight was 14.26 pounds. They earned $1,500.
C.J. Johnston and Matt Stanley of Salisbury finished second with 13.2 pounds and a $672 paycheck.
The two teams are tied for the points championship race.
The biggest fish was caught by Steve Craighead and Jamison Hamilton and weighed 4.76 pounds.
The next tournament will be at Lake Norman on April 18.
Pro anglers available for autographs Monday, April 20.