Chickamauga Angler Buddy Gross To Compete As Pro On 2019 Fishing League Worldwide Tour

  • Thursday, November 29, 2018
Buddy Gross
Buddy Gross

Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced on Monday the complete professional angler roster for the upcoming 2019 FLW Tour season, the 24th season of the FLW Tour. The field will be showcased along the 2019 FLW Tour, which features seven regular-season tournaments around the country with competition kicking off at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jan. 10-13, in Brookeland, Texas, and culminating with the world championship of bass fishing – the FLW Cup at Lake Hamilton, Aug.

9-11, in Hot Springs, Ar.

Among the 170 professional anglers competing will be local angler Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, who will be competing in his fourth season on the Tour. Mr. Gross has career earnings of more than $258,000 with FLW and has three career victories in FLW competition, including a win at the FLW Tour at Pickwick Lake in 2016.

There was enormous demand to compete on the 2019 FLW Tour, with 210 anglers registering for a slot on the prestigious tournament circuit in its final year of priority registration before switching to a strict qualifying process and a 150-pro field in 2020.

The top award at each Tour event is $125,000 with $300,000 going to the winner of the FLW Cup. Since the final field exceeds the published payout basis of 150 pros, FLW will survey all 170 participating pros to finalize the 2019 payout structure.

“With the demand we saw this year to join the FLW Tour, we couldn’t be more eager to kick off another season at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in January,” said Bill Taylor, FLW’s senior director of Tournament Operations. “FLW has long been the home to some of the most decorated bass anglers in the sport, and with the expanded live coverage at all of our Tour events this year, we are more than ready to show off their skills at some of the best fisheries in the world.”

The 2019 FLW Tour roster is headlined by a stout contingent of bass-fishing heavyweights, including three-time Angler of the Year (AOY) and 2003 FLW Cup champion David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, 2015 AOY and 2011 FLW Cup champion Scott Martin of Clewiston, Florida, and two-time Angler of the Year Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina. They’ll be joined by bass-fishing legends Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Oklahoma, and Larry Nixon of Quitman, Arkansas, as well as three former FLW Cup champions – John Cox (2016), Brad Knight (2015) and Darrel Robertson (2002). The 2019 Tour will also feature 34 rookies from around the country.

The complete FLW Tour roster for 2019 can be found at FLWFishing.com.

2019 FLW Tour Regular-Season Schedule:

 

  • January 10-13     Sam Rayburn Reservoir  Brookeland, Texas

Hosted by the Jasper County Development District

 

  • February 7-10     Lake Toho                         Kissimmee, Fla. 

Hosted by Experience Kissimmee and Experience Kissimmee/Kissimmee Sports

 

  • March 7-10          Lake Seminole                  Bainbridge, Ga. 

Hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau

 

  • March 28-31        Grand Lake                       Grove, Okla.       

Hosted by the City of Grove and Cherokee Casino Grove

 

  • April 11-14          Cherokee Lake                  Jefferson City, Tenn.      

Hosted by the Economic Development Alliance, Jefferson County

 

  • May 2-5                Lake Chickamauga           Dayton, Tenn.

Hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council

 

  • June 27-30          Lake Champlain                Plattsburgh, N.Y.             

Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau

 

  • Aug. 10-12           FLW Cup – Lake Hamilton             Hot Springs, Ark.             

Hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism

 

FLW announced last week a greatly expanded FLW Live schedule for the 2019 season as part of its commitment to growing the sport of tournament bass fishing and bringing more publicity to the anglers who fish its circuits. The live on-the-water broadcast will air on days three and four of all FLW Tour regular-season events from the boats of the tournaments’ top pros. Originally airing from 8 a.m. to Noon during FLW Tour events, the FLW Live on-the-water program has been extended two hours and will now broadcast from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every weigh-in will be broadcast on FLWFishing.com.

You can watch any FLW Live broadcast – either from on the water or weigh-in – by logging on to FLWFishing.com and clicking on the FLW Live page link. On-the-water broadcasts will be simulcast on FLWFishing.comYouTube.com/FLWFishing and Facebook.com/FLWFishing. All FLW Live broadcasts are free to watch.

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