Grand Lake BFL tourney won by Ramsey

GROVE, Okla. – Boater Wade Ramsey of Midwest City earned $4,143 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Okie Division event on Grand Lake. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Okie Division events and featured 133 boaters vying for the win, which earned Ramsey 200 points in the Boater Division. Ramsey also won the Ranger Cup Award worth $1,000.

Ramsey’s winning catch of four bass weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces. He fished the midlake area with a crankbait on windy points.

Finishing second was Keith Conley of Ponca City with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces that earned him $2,072. Jason Christie of Park Hill claimed $1,356 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces. In fourth was James Carper of Wright City with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces worth $1,055, and finishing fifth and earning $866 was Craig Torkleson of Mannford, with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces.

Conley also took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $665 for a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a spinnerbait around main-lake rocks.

Ryan Wilbanks of Wagoner won the Co-angler Division to earn $2,072, thanks to four bass weighing 10 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a spinnerbait fished around shallow wood.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are David Lenard of Owasso (three bass, 8 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,036); Tim Hickson of Cleveland (two bass, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, $677); John Delago of Wichita Falls, Texas (one bass, 6 pounds, 14 ounces, $527); and James Victory of Coweta (three bass, 5 pounds, 15 ounces, $433).

Delago also earned $333 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass he caught on a Long A Bomber on a rocky point in 8-10 feet of water.

The Okie Division’s next event will be held April 9 on Eufaula Lake near Eufaula, followed by an event on Ft. Gibson Lake near Sequoyah May 7. The fourth qualifying event will be held at Grand Lake near Monkey Island June 4. The Okie Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on Grand Lake near Grove.

Following the regular season, the Okie Division boater with the most points will earn $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler amassing the most points will earn $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. The top 40 Okie Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Ouachita Regional near Hot Springs, Ark., Oct. 18-22 where they will compete against Cowboy, Louisiana, and Ozark Division anglers for one of six slots in the 2006 All-American. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.

The $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse this Web site.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.