LAKE CONROE TO HOST WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE COWBOY DIVISION TOURNAMENT

CONROE, Texas (March 6, 2007) – The Cowboy Division of the $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit Lake Conroe in Conroe, Texas, March 17 for the third 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.

If the winner is a participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, he will receive a $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats and $500 from Yamaha if his boat is powered by Yamaha. Ranger will award $500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner, and Yamaha will kick in $250 if the boat is powered by Yamaha. Bombardier will award $1,000 to the winning boater if the winner’s boat is equipped with a qualifying Evinrude E-TEC or Direct Injection outboard. That’s a potential top award of $8,000 for anglers who meet contingency guidelines.

The winning co-angler will earn as much as $3,000 cash.

Snickers Big Bass awards of up to $1,000 and $500, respectively, will also be awarded in the Boater and Co-angler Divisions.

Anglers may register for the tournament online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000. Onsite registration will be held March 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 18700 State Highway 105 West in Conroe. Entry fees are $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers.

Lakeview Marina in Conroe, Texas, will host the takeoff and weigh-in at 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee 2008 Wal-Mart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total field of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2008 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour.

Cowboy Division anglers will visit Toledo Bend in Hemphill, Texas, April 14, for their fourth regular-season event, followed by a two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas, Sept. 29-30.

Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in the Cowboy Division will advance to the Wright Patman Lake Regional Championship in Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 25-27 and will compete against anglers from the Arkie, Louisiana and Okie divisions for an All-American berth.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

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 238 events in 2007.