Tidwell takes top honors at Pickwick Lake BFL

Tisdale tops co-anglers

FLORENCE, Ala. – Boater Leon Tidwell of Muscle Shoals, Ala., earned $5,627 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division event on Pickwick Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Mississippi Division events and featured 182 boaters vying for the win, which earned Tidwell 200 points in the Boater Division.

Tidwell’s winning catch of five bass weighed 15 pounds even. He was fishing a tube in the Kroger Island area around river humps and shell mounds to catch his bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Danny Gray of Sheffield, Ala. (five bass, 14 pounds, 7 ounces, $2,813); Ken Romain of Northport, Ala. (five bass, 13 pounds, 4 ounces, $1,877); Darrel Moon of Corinth, Miss. (three bass, 13 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,313) and Andrew Lambert of Muscle Shoals, (five bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,125).

Mike Heard of Meridian, Miss., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $910 for a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.

Jimmy Tisdale of Ellisville, Miss., won the Co-angler Division to earn $2,675, thanks to five bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught while fishing a spinnerbait and worm in shallow grass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerry Riddle of Jayess, Miss. (four bass, 8 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,337); Justin Jolly of Oakland, Tenn., (three bass, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, $891) Time Beale of Hernando, Miss., (two bass, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, $624) and William Jones of Kosciusko, Miss. (three bass, 6 pounds, 10 ounces, $535).

Michael Roppolo of Avondale, La., earned $425 as the co-angler big-bass award winner.

The Mississippi Division’s next event will be held May 6 on Columbus Pool near Columbus, Miss., followed by an event on the Mississippi River near Greenville, Miss., June 17. The Mississippi Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 16-17 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Ross Barnett near Jackson, Miss.

Following the regular season, the Mississippi Division boater with the most points who advances farthest in the Wal-Mart BFL All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances farthest will earn $5,000 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 Mississippi Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Demopolis Regional Championship near Demopolis, Ala., Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Choo Choo, Everglades and Seminole division anglers for one of six slots in the 2007 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 $8.8 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 FLWOutdoors.com.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

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.