Pro field announced for 2015 Walmart FLW Tour season
Category: press release
Jan 12th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jan 12th, 2015 at 12:00 AM
FLW announced today the complete pro angler roster of 152 for the upcoming 2015 Walmart FLW Tour season, the 20th anniversary season of the FLW Tour. In addition to offering the sport’s top prizes, the FLW Tour will pay out $10,000 down to 60th place, offering tournament anglers the best overall payouts for the lowest overall investment. The six-tournament season will kick off March 5-8 at Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Florida.
FLW announced in October plans to limit the field on the FLW Tour to just 150 professional anglers in 2015. Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Missouri and Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas will be allowed to return to the Tour after withdrawing in 2014 due to medical reasons, bringing the field to 152.
“We’re delighted that Stacey and Clark will be rejoining the Tour in 2015. Their integrity and competitiveness represent the best the sport has to offer,” said Kathy Fennel, FLW President of Operations. “They have worked hard to battle back, and they deserve the opportunity to compete against their peers – the best bass anglers in the world.”
King and Wendlandt will be joined by bass fishing legends such as Larry Nixon and Jimmy Houston to compete for the sport’s top prizes against established stars and promising rookies, like former co-anglers Jason Johnson and Nick Hensley.
The 2015 FLW Tour Roster is headlined by Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, winner of the last two consecutive FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) titles. Morgan is joined by fellow AOY winners David Dudley (2008, 2011, 2012), Bryan Thrift (2010), Wendlandt (1997, 2000, 2009), Jay Yelas (2002, 2007), Shinichi Fukae (2004), Dan Morehead (2003), Peter Thliveros (1996) and the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup Champion Anthony Gagliardi (2006).
Nine former Forrest Wood Cup Champions including Gagliardi will be competing on Tour this season, including David Fritts (1997), Darrel Robertson (1999), Dion Hibdon (2000), Dudley (2003), Luke Clausen (2004), Scott Suggs (2007), Scott Martin (2011) and Jacob Wheeler (2012).
The entire 2015 Walmart FLW Tour roster can be found at FLWFishing.com.
In FLW Tour competition anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2015 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 20-23 on Lake Ouachita and is hosted by Visit Hot Springs. Anglers could win as much as $500,000 – professional bass-fishing’s richest prize.