FLW hits the Ouachita

Bass at Walmart?  Fishermen from around the country racing up and down the Ouachita River?  A $50,000 prize for the biggest bag of bass?  What’s going on?

It’s the FLW EverStart Series Championship on the Ouachita River out of Monroe Nov. 1-4. Weigh-in will be held the first two days at Forsythe Park, then the best of the best will shoot it out the final two days and bring their bags of bass to the Walmart Store on Louisville Avenue in Monroe the final two day weigh-ins on Saturday and Sundayas. In addtion, there will be a Pro Day Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Walmart from 2-4 p.m. where fishing fans can get autographs and meet the FLW pro anglers. The FLW tour is named after outdoor legend and Ranger Boats founder Forrest L. Wood.

It may be the first week of hunting season and the middle of football season, but the big boys of bass fishing will be grabbing their share of headlines in our area this week, too. Tournament waters will be Fesenthal Lock & Dam to Columbia Lock & Dam and all backwaters and tributaries on that pool on the Ouachita River. Locking is NOT permitted. Competition waters were off limits to fishing October 22-26, 2012 and October 31, 2012. You can bet there will be a parade of boats heading up Bayou D’Arbonne, especially with the drawdown of the lake supplying lots of fresh water and current in the bayou.

The field will include the winners of the EverStart Series 2012 Strike King Angler and Co-angler of the Year award from each of the five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consisted of four tournaments and anglers competed for valuable points that would earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler.

Pro anglers receiving honors:
The pro winners from each division (pictured above) are: Central Division: Zach King, Clarksville, Ark., 758 points, $5,000; Northern Division: Snapple pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 761 points, $5,000; Southeast Division: Kent Ware, Wadmalaw Island, S.C., 731 points, $5,000; Texas Division: Kris Wilson, Montgomery, Texas, 771 points, $5,000; and Western Division: Jeff Michels, Lakehead, Calif., 738 points, $5,000.  The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division also qualified for the EverStart Series Championship presented by Castrol on the Ouachita River this week. For more on FLW and complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. We will have more on the tournament in the next few days and look forward to seeing the catches this weekend. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.