Ginter wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Grand Lake

Boater Gary Ginter of Maplewood, Ohio, earned $4,398 as winner of the Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on Grand Lake. Angler: Gary Ginter.

May 14, 2005 • MLF • Archives

CELINA, Ohio – Boater Gary Ginter of Maplewood earned $4,398 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on Grand Lake. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Buckeye Division events and featured 144 boaters vying for the win, which earned Ginter 200 points in the Boater Division.

Ginter’s winning catch of five bass weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces. Ginter was fishing around docks with a Zoom craw when he caught his bass.

Finishing second was Brad Baldwin of Dayton with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces that earned him $2,199. Jack Dalzell of Amherst claimed $1,435 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces. In fourth was Matthew Jeffries of Celina with five bass weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces worth $1,120 and finishing fifth and earning $920 was Arlyn Johnson of Dayton with five bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

Baldwin took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $720 for a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a goby tube.

Dan Fry of Marysville, who finished in sixth place and earned $760 with five bass weighing 9 pounds, earned an additional $500 for the Ranger Cup award.

David Randle of Cincinnati earned $2,138 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a green-pumpkin tube.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Scott Clark of Thornville (three bass, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,069); Jim Asher of Tipp City (four bass, 8 pounds, 4 ounces, $700); David Yurko of Strongsville (three bass, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, $544); and William Redmond of Sciotoville (five bass, 7 pounds, 9 ounces, $447).

Clark earned $350 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass he caught on a zipper worm.

The Buckeye Division’s next event will be held July 9 on the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Ind., followed by an event on the Ohio river near Maysville, Ky., July 30. The fourth-qualifying event will be held on Lake Erie near Sandusky August 20. The Buckeye Division will wrap up its regular season with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Erie near Sandusky Sept. 10-11.

Following the regular season, the Buckeye 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 Buckeye Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Cherokee Regional near Morristown, Tenn., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Illini, LBL, and Piedmont 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.