Gasaway Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Event on West Point Lake
May 18th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 18th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
LANETT, Ala. (May 18, 2009) – Rick Gasaway of Marietta, Ga., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Bulldog Division tournament on West Point Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds even. The victory earned Gasaway $4,915 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Gasaway said he caught the majority of his bass by a black and blue jig in 10-12 feet of water off banks in Potato Creek.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Rob Jordan of Tifton, Ga. (five bass, 13-0, $2,458); Robert Spates of Salem, Ala. (two bass, 12-15, $1,640); William Hamrick of Eatonton, Ga. (five bass, 12-9, $1,065) and David Millsaps of Ranger, Ga. (five bass, 12-9, $1,065).
John Crosby Jr. of Macon, Ga., took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $750 for a 7-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a Rebel Pop-R.
Scott Laughman of Acworth, Ga., and Ray Perkins of Blakely, Ga., tied for first place and each earned $1,852 as the co-angler winners Saturday thanks to four bass for Laughman and two bass for Perkins weighing 9 pounds, 2 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Isaac Clemmons of Douglas, Ga. (three bass, 9-0, $823); Jason Matthews of Forsythe, Ga. (five bass, 8-14, $576); and Gerald Bozeman of Sylvester, Ga. (three bass, 8-12, $494).
Perkins earned $372 as the co-angler Big Bass winner with a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm rigged on a shaky-head jig head.
The next Bulldog Division event will be held on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala., June 20.
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.