Chandler Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Event on Kentucky & Barkley Lakes
Category: press release
Mar 16th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Mar 16th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (March 16, 2009) – Ryan Chandler of Hobart, Ind., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League® LBL Division tournament on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 29 pounds. The victory earned Chandler $5,154 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Fort Madison Regional Championship in Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 1-3, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
“One I weighed in, I saw I had 29 pounds and knew if anyone else had caught that much I would have had a heart attack,” said Chandler.
Chandler caught his limit by noon fishing south of Paris, Tenn., using a beaver shad jerkbait by Lucky Craft.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Ron Peckenpaugh of Louisville, Ky. (five bass, 22-2, $2,577); Jeff Evans of Benton, Ky. (five bass, 21-4, $1,719); Harold Buchmeier of Anna, Ill. (four bass, 20-1, $1,203) and Jeff Siress of Benton, Ky. (five bass, 19-9, $1,031).
Benjamin Parker took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $795 for an 8-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught.
Jeff Berryhill of Paris, Tenn., earned $2,577 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 20 pounds, 2 ounces that he caught on a jerkbait.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brian Gray of Watseka, Ill. (five bass, 16-6, $1,288); Rodney Childerson of Pocahontas, Ill. (five bass, 15-7, $858); Scott Brown of Louisville, Ky. (five bass, 14-14, $601); and Corey Jones of Jackson, Tenn. (three bass, 13-7, $515).
Co-Anglers Jeff Berryhill and Todd Schmitz earned $198 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass.
The next LBL Division event will be held on the Kentucky/Barkley Lakes in Gilbertsville, Ky., April 4.
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 Wal-Mart 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 Wal-Mart 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.