Ranger Boats Opens Owners Tournaments to All Anglers

FLIPPIN, Ark. (Feb. 14, 2007) – Responding to requests from Ranger boat owners nationwide, Ranger Boats has decided to open its Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series events to all anglers, regardless of boat ownership. The move will accommodate Ranger owners wishing to fish the team-format events with friends and family members who are not Ranger owners.

The original rules for the series, which will qualify eight anglers to compete in the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5, stated that both teammates had to be Ranger owners. This limited anglers in their choices of partners. The revised rules require only team boaters to be registered Ranger owners. Each boater’s partner does not have to be a Ranger owner. Teams must compete out of a Ranger Boat, however, and cannot wear any other boat manufacturer’s apparel during competition extending through weigh-in.

Boaters now may also substitute partners in the case of schedule conflicts as long as FLW Outdoors is advised of the substitution prior to each tournament’s registration meeting.

Kerr Lake in Henderson, N.C., will host the first Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series event April 13-14, and Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Mo., will host the second tournament May 11-12. The entry fee is $200 per team, per event, and entries may be made by calling FLW Outdoors at (270) 252-1000. Anglers who have fished the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series or Bassmaster Elite Series or Bassmaster Classic as a pro in 2006 or 2007 may not participate.

Each tournament offers a payback through 100th place and a top prize of a $10,000 Ranger purchase certificate plus a berth into the Forrest Wood Cup. Second place in each event is a $7,500 purchase certificate plus a berth into the Forrest Wood Cup. In both cases, the team boater will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup as a pro, and the boater’s partner will advance as a co-angler. Ranger will cover all travel expenses for both qualifiers to compete in the Forrest Wood Cup and will supply all qualifiers with apparel to be worn during the Forrest Wood Cup. There will also be a random drawing among competitors in each tournament for a fully rigged Ranger Z20 Comanche. Both events will be televised on FSN (Fox Sports Net), Americana Outdoors and Versus.

The Forrest Wood Cup will include qualifiers from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and The Bass Federation (TBF) competing for a top pro award of $500,000 plus a Ranger bonus of $500,000 for a total of $1 million for qualified Ranger owners. The top co-angler award in the Forrest Wood Cup is $50,000 for qualified Ranger owners.

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.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.