Wooten Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Event on Smith Mountain Lake
Category: press release
May 18th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 18th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
MONETA, Va. (May 18, 2009) – Thomas Wooten of Huddleston, Va., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Shenandoah Division tournament on Smith Mountain Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned Wooten $4,009 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Potomac River Regional Championship in Marbury, Md., Oct. 8-10, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Wooten said he caught the majority of his bass fishing a trick worm on a shaky-head jig head on the lower lake.
Rounding out the top five boaters are James Henderson Jr. of Evington, Va. (five bass, 16-10, $2,005); Ryan Mace of Forest, Va. (five bass, 15-0, $1,336); Boogie Atkins of Greenville, Va. (five bass, 13-14, $935) and Jeff Camp of White Sulphur Springs, W.V. (five bass, 12-5, $802).
Atkins took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $550 for a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass he caught on a drop-shot rig.
David O’Flynn of Gainesville, Va., earned $2,005 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 10 pounds, 13 ounces.
O’Flynn said he caught the majority of his bass fishing docks 3 to 7 feet deep with a shaky-head rig.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ed Robtison of Roanoke, Va. (five bass, 9-15, $1,002); Nathan Reeves of Lynchburg, Va. (four bass, 9-11, $668); Dennis Burdette of Lindside, W.V. (five bass, 9-8, $468) and Brad Campbell of Concord, Va. (five bass, 9-5, $401).
Kenny Wynn of Gladys, Va., earned $275 as the co-angler Big Bass winner with a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait fishing upper lake docks.
The next Shenandoah Division event will be held on the James River in Richmond, Va., 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.