Walmart is back as the title sponsor of the FLW Tour, and along with it comes the return of the Walmart Open at Arkansas' Beaver Lake after a 1-year hiatus.
FLW Outdoors announced today that the Beaver event, which was held every year from 1998 through 2009, is back on the schedule for March 3-6, 2011. It will be the first of six "Majors" conducted next year and replaces the tournament that was originally scheduled for Falcon Lake in Texas.
“It is only fitting that we begin our first Walmart FLW Tour Major of 2011 at Beaver Lake," said FLW Outdoors Marketing Division president Trisha Blake. "We could not be more excited to once again return to one of the greatest host cities in the country and home to Walmart headquarters.
"Northwest Arkansas has some of the greatest fishing fans in America and we plan to put on the biggest and best event the area has ever seen. We look forward to bringing the Walmart FLW Tour to Beaver Lake for years to come."
Past winners at Beaver include Clark Wendlandt and Andre Moore (twice each), along with Rick Clunn, Andy Morgan and Gerald Swindle. Arkansas' own Ray Scheide won the most recent edition in 2009.
Some Tour anglers will undoubtedly lament that they won't be visiting Falcon, which is renowned for 10-pound-plus fish and 40-pound sacks (Paul Elias caught more than 132 pounds there over 4 days en route to winning a 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series event). At Beaver, 40 pounds is a good 4-day total.
FLW Outdoors hinted in its press release that more changes for the 2011 Tour are forthcoming.
