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Johnston Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Event on Red River

Category: press release

 May 4th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified May 4th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

NATCHITOCHES, La. (May 4, 2009) – Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Louisiana/Texas Division tournament on the Red River Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces. The victory earned Johnston $4,199 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the DeGray Lake Regional Championship in Arkadelphia, Ark., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“The river water was being lowered to expect the extra coming down from other areas,” said Johnston. “It was a real surprise to win this one.”

Johnston concentrated on fishing in pool three on Red River throwing a Sebile Crankster and a soft plastic bait. “I had never really fished that area before. I always fish in pool four or five but I just couldn’t get a bite in there.” Johnston caught his last fish weighing 3 pounds in the remaining 20 minutes of the tournament.

Rounding out the top five boaters are David Carter of Woodville, Miss. (5 bass, 14-13, $2,100); James Stricklin Jr. of Jasper, Texas (5 bass, 12-7, $1,398); Ronald Bates of La Porte, Texas and Zachary Brazda of Arnaudville, La. (5 bass, 12-3, $910).

Dan Stevens of Dry Prong, La., took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $585 for a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught.

Sean McGraw of Lafayette, La., earned $2,019 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to 5bass weighing 10 pounds, 2 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Randy Hicks of Lumberton, Texas (5 bass, 8-11, $1,009); Andrew Peters of Nederland, Texas (2 bass, 8-7, $675); Marvin Geoghagan of Natchitoches, La. (5 bass, 7-1, $471); and Colton Carpenter of Winnfield, La. (3 bass, 6-11, $404).

Andrew Peters earned $272 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass.

The next Louisiana/Texas Division event will be held on Toledo Bend in Many, La., 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.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.