Shaffer Wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Event On Patoka Lake
Category: Tournament
May 19th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 19th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
JASPER, Ind. (May 19, 2008) – Boater Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio, won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League® Hoosier Division tournament on Patoka Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned Shaffer $3,531 plus a $623 Ranger contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Cherokee Lake Regional Championship in Morristown, Tenn., Oct. 16-18, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
“I was at the right place at the right time,” said Shaffer, who has amassed more than $278,500 in career earnings and has 36 top-10 finishes with FLW Outdoors. “I was just hoping to catch a few fish. I had a few key spots in mind that I wanted to go to from past tournaments so I stuck with that.”
Shaffer caught his limit only two miles from Newton Stewart South Marina.
“I caught four keepers in the first hour but I didn’t think that I would have enough weight to win,” Shaffer added. “Winning this tournament never crossed my mind.”
Shaffer caught his limit fishing shallow on a tube and lizard.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Tony Young of Depauw, Ind. (five bass, 11-14, $2,078); Brad Stogsdill of Nashville, Ind. (five bass, 10-15, $1,383); Matt McCoy of Indianapolis, Ind. (five bass, 10-04, $970) and Jason Rigdon of Louisville, Ky. (four bass, 9-14, $831).
Ryan Deal of Haubstadt, Ind., took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $570 for a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught fishing the main lake on a brown jig.
Timothy Clark of Muncie, Ind., earned $2,078 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to two bass weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a green-pumpkin Zoom Centipede fishing shallow in bushes.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kevin Alvey of Taylorsville, Ky. (three bass, 7-08, $1,039); Larry Kitchel of Monticello, Ind. (three bass, 6-04, $691); Lawrence Spicher of Boonville, Ind. (two bass, 5-14, $485) and Shawn Conner of Nineveh, Ind. (one bass, 4-13, $416).
Clark earned $285 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
Hoosier Division anglers will visit Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Ind., June 7 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on the Ohio River in Tell City, Ind., June 28. The division’s fourth qualifying event will be held on the Ohio River in Evansville, Ind., July 26. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on the Ohio River in Tell City, Sept. 6-7.
Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on year-end points standings in the division will advance to the no-entry-fee Cherokee Lake Regional Championship where they will compete against top qualifiers from three other BFL divisions. At the Regional Championship boaters will fish for a new Ranger boat and Chevy truck and co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger boat. The top six boaters and top six co-anglers at the Regional Championship will also advance to the All-American presented by Chevy. With a total purse of $1 million, a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and as much as $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing. The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American also advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the sport’s biggest championship.
Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired. Boaters supply the boat and fish from the front deck against other boaters while co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
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.
Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.