“We are excited to expand the FLW Tour,” said Charlie Evans, President and CEO of FLW Outdoors. “We have a long history of offering the best paybacks in the sport, and our new expanded schedule, with stops on some of the nation’s top fisheries, will bring even more opportunity and visibility to our anglers, corporate supporters and for our fans.”

The 2011 FLW Tour will consist of six FLW Tour Majors and four FLW Tour Opens. FLW Tour Majors, which will feature a 150-boat field, are open to professional anglers who enter all six tournaments. Pros fishing the FLW Tour Majors will receive priority when entering FLW Tour Opens and pros that enter all four FLW Tour Opens will receive priority over individual entrants. FLW Tour Opens will also feature a 150-boat field. Complete details regarding registration requirements will be available in the near future at FLWOutdoors.com or you can call (270) 252-1000.

The 2011 FLW Tour season is listed below and can be viewed at FLWOutdoors.com.

2011 FLW Tour Schedule

Date Fishery Location Tournament
Feb. 2-5 Lake Okeechobee Clewiston, Fla. FLW Tour Open
March 2-5 Falcon Lake Zapata, Texas FLW Tour Major
March 23-26 Lake Hartwell Greenville, S.C. FLW Tour Major
April 13-16 Lake Chickamauga Chattanooga, Tenn. FLW Tour Major
May 4-7 Table Rock Lake Branson, Mo. FLW Tour Major
May 18-21 Red River Shreveport, La. FLW Tour Major
June 1-4 Potomac River National Harbor, Md. FLW Tour Open
June 15-18 Kentucky Lake Murray, Ky. FLW Tour Major
Aug. 11-14 Lake Ouachita Hot Springs, Ark. Forrest Wood Cup
Sept. 14-17 Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, N.Y. FLW Tour Open
Oct. 19-22 Lake Guntersville Guntersville, Ala. FLW Tour Open

The prestigious Angler of the Year title for 2011 will be determined over the 10 events. The top 30 pros and co-anglers from the FLW Tour Majors will qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup, which will consist of 58 pros and co-anglers. In 2012, the top 35 pros and co-anglers from the FLW Tour Majors, along with the top five from the 2011 FLW Tour Opens, will qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.

The full field will compete the first two days of each FLW Tour event. On day three, the top 75 pros and co-anglers will compete with the co-angler winner being crowned based on cumulative weight from all three days. Day four will feature the top five pro anglers with the winner determined by cumulative weight from all four days.

Pro anglers will compete for up to $125,000 and co-anglers will be vying for up to $25,000 in each tournament. With a full field, the paybacks will be $10,000 through 50th place on the pro side and $1,000 on the co-angler side. Entry fees are unchanged for 2011 at $4,000 per tournament for pros and $700 per tournament for co-anglers. For additional details regarding paybacks, visit FLWOutdoors.com.

ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. FLW Outdoors has also taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing awarding the largest prizes in the history of fantasy sports. FLW Outdoors memberships are available featuring numerous benefits including Player’s Advantage. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com. FLWOutdoors.com