Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Wins $15,000 in FLW Fantasy Fishing Event

League play pays off in Fantasy Fishing for Master Sgt.

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Jul 28, 2011, 01:26 ET

MINNEAPOLIS, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ken Sheffield of Bonneau, S.C., was stunned to hear that he won $15,000 by playing FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk held in conjunction with the Walmart FLW Tour. Sheffield correctly picked National Guard pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., to win the Walmart FLW Tour event on Pickwick Lake.

"Tell the truth? Seriously?" asked a shocked Sheffield. "Wait until I tell my league buddy! Two years ago a buddy of mine set-up a Fantasy Fishing league and invited me to play. So far it is just he and I in the league, but boy do I have something to tell him now. I think he won a die cast boat the first year he started playing, this sure trumps that!

"I started bass fishing in '97," Sheffield, a retired Master Sgt. from the Air Force, went on to say. "I've been hooked on bass fishing ever since. I have fished in a few local tournaments, but nothing like what these guys fish in. I try to pick my team based on how the anglers have preformed there in the past. This time it really paid off. "

In addition to his win on Pickwick, Rose has two top-10 finishes in 2011 including a second place finish at the Red River in May and sixth place at Kentucky Lake in June. Rose finished the 2011 FLW Tour season in third place for Angler of the Year, he will be making his seventh appearance at the Forrest Wood Cup Aug. 11-14 at Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark.

Sheffield's Fantasy Fishing team was led by Rose and earned him 2,342 valuable points that will continue to accumulate for the remainder of 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 second place on the fantasy side for the Pickwick Lake event was Al Odom of Chapin, S.C., who won $5,000, and in third was Shauna Austin of Clovis, Calif., who won $1,000. Several other winners from Montana to Maine took home 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