Head hauls in BFL win on Grand Lake

MONKEY ISLAND, Okla. – Boater Allen Head of Pryor earned $3,381 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Okie Division event on Grand Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Okie Division events and earned Head 200 points in the Boater Division.

Head’s winning catch of five bass weighed 23 pounds, 11 ounces. Head fished rocks in 8 feet of water with a jig to catch his bass.

Head also earned an additional $1,000 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Finishing second was Chris Torkleson of Sand Springs with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces that earned him $1,690. Steve Dowty of Claremore claimed $1,106 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces. In fourth was John Wynn of Bentonville, Ark., with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces worth $861, and finishing fifth and earning $707 was Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces.

Torkleson took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $252 for a 6-pound bass. He caught his big bass on a Carolina rig.

John Stottlemyre of Edmond earned $1,690 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 15 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught on a firetiger crankbait. Stottlemyre earned an additional $253 as winner of the co-angler big-bass award with a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jeremy Littlefield of Grove (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $845); Roy Hurst Jr. of Wagoner (five bass, 12 pounds, 7 ounces, $555); Marc Logan of Edmond (five bass, 12 pounds, 6 ounces, $430); and Erik Spence of Jay (five bass, 11 pounds, 12 ounces, $353).

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.