FLW ANNOUNCES PRO FIELD FOR 2017 FLW TOUR

MINNEAPOLIS (Jan. 10, 2017) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) announced today the complete professional angler roster of 165 for the upcoming 2017 FLW Tour season, the 22^nd season of the FLW Tour. The 2017 FLW Tour will feature seven regular-season tournaments with competition kicking off Feb. 2-5 at Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama.

The 2017 FLW Tour roster is headlined by three-time reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, and 2016 Forrest Wood Cup champion John Cox of DeBary, Florida. They’ll be joined by nine former FLW Tour AOY winners, six former Forrest Wood Cup champions, and 30 Tour rookies in 2017.

Also making their FLW Tour debut at Lake Guntersville in February will be former Bassmaster Elite Series competitors Carl Jocumsen, Billy McCaghren, Matt Reed, Casey Scanlon and Dennis Tietje. Those newcomers bring a combined 33 top-10 finishes and career earnings of more than $1.6 million to the Tour.

“The talent level of the professional anglers on the 2017 FLW Tour roster is second to none,” said Bill Taylor, Senior FLW Tournament Director. “We are extremely excited to kick off the season next month at Lake Guntersville and I anticipate that this season will be one of the most competitive seasons that we have ever had in FLW Tour history.”

The top 100 pros and top 10 co-anglers from the 2016 FLW Tour, the top 10 pros from each of the five 2016 FLW Series divisions, the 2016 TBF National Champion, and the 2016 BFL All-American champion all received priority invitations to join the Tour.

In addition to the $125,000 paycheck that is awarded to FLW Tour winners, FLW will pay out at least $10,000 to pros down to 50^th place along with one additional payout of $4,000 per boat over a 160-boat field. The season opener on Lake Guntersville, scheduled to fish 165 boats, will pay out 55 places.

In FLW Tour competition anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 11-13 on Lake Murray and is hosted by the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com.  For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

2017 FLW Tour Anglers

Jason Abram                        Piney Flats, Tenn.

Tracy Adams                        Wilkesboro, N.C.

Dean Alexander*                 Georgetown, Texas

Matt Arey                               Shelby, N.C.

Scott Ashmore                     Broken Arrow, Okla.

Justin Atkins*                        Florence, Ala.

Todd Auten                           Lake Wylie, S.C.

Evan Barnes*                       Hot Springs, Ark.

Clayton Batts                        Macon, Ga.

Robert Behrle                       Hoover, Ala.

Cody Bird                              Granbury, Texas

Zack Birge                             Blanchard, Okla.

Daryl Biron                            South Windsor, Conn.

Derrick Blake*                      Rockwood, Tenn.

Randy Blaukat                      Joplin, Mo.

Greg Bohannan                   Bentonville, Ark.

Terry Bolton                          Paducah, Ky.

Christopher Brasher           Longview, Texas

Jimmy Brewer                      Marshall, Texas

Aaron Britt*                           Yuba City, Calif.

Chase Brooks                      Iraan, Texas

Keith Bryan*                         Novato, Calif.

Grae Buck*                           Harleysville, Pa.

Jamey Caldwell*                 Carthage, N.C.

Jeff Cannon*                        Douglasville, Ga.

Scott Canterbury                  Springville, Ala.

Peter Cherkas*                    Des Moines, Iowa

Joey Cifuentes*                   Clinton, Ark.

Brandon Cobb                     Greenwood, S.C.

Ramie Colson Jr.                 Cadiz, Ky.

Kyle Cortiana*                      Broken Arrow, Okla.

John Cox                               Debary, Fla.

Wade Curtiss*                      Meadow Vista, Calif.

Alex Davis                             Albertville, Ala.

Bill Day                                  Frankfort, Ky.

John Devere                         Berea, Ky.

Jim Dillard                            West Monroe, La.

Jeff Dobson*                        Bartlesville, Okla.

Bradley Dortch*                   Atmore, Ala.

Josh Douglas*                     Mound, Minn.

Kurt Dove                              Del Rio, Texas

David Dudley                       Lynchburg, Va.

Luke Dunkin                         Lawrenceburg, Tenn.

Charlie Evans                      Berea, Ky.

Ronald Farrow*                    Rock Hill, S.C.

Austin Felix                           Eden Prairie, Minn.

Mark Fisher                           Wauconda, Ill.

Tim Frederick                       Leesburg, Fla.

Shinichi Fukae                     Palestine, Texas

Anthony Gagliardi               Prosperity, S.C.

Nick Gainey                          Charleston, S.C.

Chris Gosselaar*                 Fresno, Calif.

Matt Greenblatt                    Port St Lucie, Fla.

Buddy Gross                         Chickamauga, Ga.

Jeff Gustafson                     Keewatin, Ontario, Canada

Bradley Hallman                 Norman, Okla.

Dylan Hays*                         Sheridan, Ark.

Jonathan Henry*                 Grant, Ala.

Billy Hines*                           Vacaville, Calif.

Joe Holland                          Jefferson, Maine

Todd Hollowell                     Fishers, Ind.

Jamie Horton                       Centerville, Ala.

Jimmy Houston                   Cookson, Okla.

Rex Huff                                Corbin, Ky.

Bill Hutchison*                     Bessemer, Ala.

Eric Jackson                         Walling, Tenn.

Carl Jocumsen                    Frisco, Texas

Jason Johnson                    Gainesville, Ga.

Chris Johnston                     Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Cory Johnston                      Cavan, Ontario, Canada

Jim Jones                             Big Bend, Wis.

Cody Kelley                          Conway, Ark.

Powell Kemp                        Scotland Neck, N.C.

Jay Kendrick                         Grant, Ala.

J.T. Kenney                           Palm Bay, Fla.

Mike Kernan                         Wylie, Texas

Rob Kilby                               Hot Springs, Ark.

Brad Knight                           Lancing, Tenn.

Daniel Kweekul*                  Bryant, Ark.

Jason Lambert                     Pickwick Dam, Tenn.

Brian Latimer                       Belton, S.C.

Jeremy Lawyer*                  Sarcoxie, Mo.

Shane Lehew                       Catawba, N.C.

Richard Lowitzki                  Hampshire, Ill.

Scott Martin                           Clewiston, Fla.

Lendell Martin Jr.                 Nacogdoches, Texas

Billy McCaghren                  Mayflower, Ark.

Chris McCall                         Palmer, Texas

Johnny McCombs               Morris, Ala.

Michael McCoy*                  Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio

Bill McDonald                       Greenwood, Ind.

Tim McDonald                     Prestonsburg, Ky.

Brandon McMillan               Clewiston, Fla.

Brandon Medlock                Lake Placid, Fla.

Jason Meninger                   Gainesville, Ga.

Cody Meyer                          Auburn, Calif.

Kerry Milner                          Bono, Ark.

Kurt Mitchell                          Milford, Del.

Tom Monsoor                       La Crosse, Wis.

Drew Montgomery              Maiden, N.C.

Harry Moore                         Valley, Ala.

Dan Morehead                     Paducah, Ky.

Andy Morgan                        Dayton, Tenn.

Bob Morin                             Seymour, Tenn.

Troy Morrow                         Eastanollee, Ga.

Brandon Mosley*                 Choctaw, Okla.

Jim Moulton*                        Merced, Calif.

Jim Moynagh                       Carver, Minn.

Shawn Murphy                     Nicholasville, Ky.

Michael Neal                        Dayton, Tenn.

Chris Neau                           New Orleans, La.

Blake Nick                             Trussville, Ala.

Larry Nixon                           Bee Branch, Ark.

Jordan Osborne                   Longview, Texas

Stephen Patek                     Dallas, Texas

Robert Pearson                    Herndon, Va.

Pete Ponds                           Madison, Miss.

Chad Randles*                    Elkhorn, Neb.

Tom Redington                    Royse City, Texas

Matt Reed                              Madisonville, Texas

Clark Reehm                        Huntington, Texas

Jimmy Reese                       Witter Springs, Calif.

Jason Reyes                         Huffman, Texas

Curtis Richardson                Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Darrel Robertson                 Jay, Okla.

Mark Rose                             West Memphis, Ark.

Zell Rowland                        Montgomery, Texas

Casey Scanlon                    Lenexa, Kan.

Bryan Schmitt                       Deale, Md.

Braxton Setzer                     Montgomery, Ala.

Alvin Shaw                            Roaring Gap, N.C.

William Shelton III               La Crosse, Va.

Blake Smith                          Lakeland, Fla.

David Smith                          Del City, Okla.

Bill Smith Jr.                         Burlington, Ky.

Jeff Sprague                        Point, Texas

Matthew Stefan                    Junction City, Wis.

Wesley Strader                    Spring City, Tenn.

Scott Suggs                          Alexander, Ark.

Mike Surman                        Boca Raton, Fla.

Austin Terry                          San Angelo, Texas

Peter Thliveros                     Saint Augustine, Fla.

Rodney Thomason             Maumelle, Ark.

Timmy Thompkins              Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Bryan Thrift                           Shelby, N.C.

Dennis Tietje                        Roanoke, La.

Rusty Trancygier                  Hahira, Ga.

Jim Tutt                                  Longview, Texas

Andrew Upshaw                  Tulsa, Okla.

John Voyles                          Petersburg, Ind.

Chad Warren*                      Sand Springs, Okla.

James Watson                     Nixa, Mo.

Joshua Weaver                    Macon, Ga.

Joseph Webster                   Fulton, Miss.

Kyle Weisenburger*            Ottawa, Ohio

Clark Wendlandt                  Leander, Texas

Chris Whitson                       Louisville, Tenn.

Scott Wiley                            Bay Minette, Ala.

Barry Wilson                         Birmingham, Ala.

Matt Wittekiend                    Angleton, Texas

Kenneth (Boo) Woods        London, Ky.

Michael Wooley                   Collierville, Tenn.

Gary Yamamoto                  Palestine, Texas

Jay Yelas                               Corvallis, Ore.

Andy Young                          Mound, Minn.

(* denotes FLW Tour rookie)

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat: @FLWFishing.