August 9, 2018

James Watson was recognized this evening as the recipient of the 2018 Forrest L. Wood Sportsmanship & Community Leadership Award. Forrest Wood, the namesake of the award, was on hand to recognize Watson during the FLW Cup pre-tournament banquet. Cup qualifiers, their families, the FLW staff and members of the media were in attendance.

Watson received several nominations from FLW Tour anglers and FLW staff members throughout the 2018 season. He was then selected by vote by members of the FLW leadership team.

The Missouri pro is well deserving of the award, in part due to his commitment to participating in FLW Community Outreach opportunities that take place in the host communities that the FLW Tour visits. He has also developed a relationship with the non-profit organization Shriners Hospitals for Children. Watson has visited multiple children’s hospitals while on Tour this year, pledged thousands of dollars to support the organization, recruited some of his fellow pro anglers to do the same and taken every opportunity available to bring additional awareness to the Shriners cause. He also works with local high school fishing teams regularly and is committed to promoting and teaching the next generation of anglers, not only the sport of fishing, but that it’s OK to dream and then go after those dreams.

Watson has fished the FLW Tour as a pro since 2010 and was the winner of the 2016 FLW Tour Invitational at Norris Lake. He resides in Lampe, Mo.