Fishing Fanatic From Virginia Wins $15,000 in FLW Fantasy Fishing Event

Tournament winner's mom takes second place to lead a pack of Oklahoma fans in fantasy fishing

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Mar 30, 2011, 07:29 ET

MINNEAPOLIS, March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mickey Southall of Brodnax, Va., correctly picked Diet Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla. to win last week's Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy. For his effort, he won $15,000 playing FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk held in conjunction with the Walmart FLW Tour.

Fifty-one year old Southall has been fishing since he was six years old, learning by fishing ponds behind his house. After losing his fishing partner a year ago, Southall started playing Fantasy Fishing as a means of staying close to the sport of bass fishing.

"No joke? This is wonderful," said an astounded Southall upon hearing he had just won $15,000. "I am an avid fishing fan. I have fished in tournaments for over 25 years. I faithfully watch 'FLW Outdoors' every week and I love to follow the professional anglers.

"About a week before the Lake Hartwell tournament I started watching the water temperatures and seasonal patterns for the lake," continued Southall, who has relied on Player's Advantage. "That, plus keeping an eye on which anglers are hot right now, is how I made my picks for this tournament. I forgot to pick my 10th man, but FLW Outdoors randomly assigned an angler to fill the last position and it really paid off for me. I am so excited!"

Christie won his first Walmart FLW Tour event last week on Lake Hartwell with a four day total of 20 bass that weighed 70 pounds, 11 ounces. Christie, in his third year on Tour, already has over $480,000 in winnings. He has appeared in the Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing, the past two years and finished in eighth place last year.

Christie's mom finished in second place playing Fantasy Fishing, earning $5,000 for her picks.

"I told Jason I would pick him to win until he did," said Pam Christie. "Jason is from a fishing family. If he wasn't on the basketball court he was out fishing while growing up. We have fished some tournaments together years ago, but it was his dad and uncles that really taught him to fish."

Mrs. Christie indicated that she would continue to pick Jason to win, "I can't stop now."

Southall's Fantasy Fishing team was led by Christie and earned him 2,298 valuable points that will continue to accumulate throughout the season, putting himself in position to contend for the $100,000 grand prize.

Fantasy Fishing is free to play, but fans can gain an edge with Player's Advantage. Player's Advantage is a unique tool that offers additional resources and information, and those with Player's Advantage have won at a rate of four-to-one. An added benefit to purchasing Player's Advantage is receiving access to the FLW Outdoors Magazine e-Edition.

Finishing in third place was Garry Steiner of Ochelata, Okla., who won $1,000 for his picks. In all there were 12 winners from Okla., who placed in the top 50 winning prizes ranging from $500 cash to $10 Walmart gift cards.

The 2011 Fantasy Fishing season consists of 10 tournaments surrounding the Walmart FLW Tour with cumulative and individual tournament prizes. Fans compete for more than $25,000 in cash and prizes from each of the 10 tournaments and a top prize of $15,000. The cumulative grand prize is $100,000 with the overall runner-up winning a Ranger Z-520 boat with a Ranger Trail Trailer, 250 Mercury outboard, Minn Kota Maxxum 80 trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and trolling motor batteries – all valued at $54,000.

The third-place overall winner will win a Chevy 1500 Silverado valued at $38,000, and fourth place will take home a FinCraft 17 Dual Console boat with a 115 Evinrude outboard valued at $27,000. A BRP Can-Am Outlander 400 All-Terrain vehicle, valued at $8,000, will be awarded to the fifth-place finisher; while sixth- through 10th-place finishers will win Walmart gift cards ranging in value from $9,000 to $5,000.

To begin playing, visit FantasyFishing.com and sign up. A team will automatically be selected for you, but you can edit that team and choose the 10 anglers you think will place the highest in the next Tour event. You must then select the angler you think will win the tournament and predict that angler's cumulative winning weight, which will serve as the tiebreaker. Player's modifications to their teams must be finalized by 11:59 p.m. ET the night prior to the tournament.

TracFone Wireless, America's largest "no-contract" cellular service provider is the official and exclusive mobile phone service provider of FLW Outdoors. Supporting a two-member professional fishing team, Team Straight Talk's Scott Canterbury and JT Kenney will compete in internationally televised events on the 2011 Walmart FLW Tour.

For updates, insider tips, tournament news and more, follow FLW Fantasy Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FantasyFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.

ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS

FLW Outdoors is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world's richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player's Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com.

FLWOutdoors.com

SOURCE FLW Outdoors