Bolton Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Ferguson
Category: press release
Jun 29th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 29th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
GREENVILLE, Miss. (June 29, 2009) – Brandon Bolton of West Point, Miss., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Mississippi Division tournament on Lake Ferguson Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces. The victory earned Bolton $4,127 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Kentucky/Barkley Lakes Regional Championship in Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Bolton said he was fishing for schooling fish on main points in water 19 feet deep with stumps.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Lloyd Pickett, Jr. of Bartlet, Tenn. (five bass, 18-9, $2,064); Terry Bates of Greenville, Miss. (five bass, 17-5, $1,377); Jim Phillips of Greenwood, Miss. (five bass, 16-10, $963) and Michael Roach of Olive Branch, Miss. (five bass, 15-13, $825).
Preston Morris took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $575 for a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught.
Ryan Strait of Brandon, Miss., earned $2,064 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five- bass weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught on a worm and lizard.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Rick McKlemurry of Brandon, Miss. (five bass, 12-0, $1,032); Lance Graves of Raymond, Miss. (four bass, 11-14, $688); Daniel Kennedy of Madison, Miss. (four bass, 11-12, $482); and John Speake of Terry, Miss. (five bass, 11-11, $413).
Jon Butler, Jr. earned $287 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass.
The next Mississippi Division event will be the Super Tournament held on the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Miss., Sept. 12-13.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.
The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee $2.5 million Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series™ for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour®.
In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.
As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.
Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.