Goodwin grabs BFL win on Lake Texoma

POTTSBORO, Texas. – Boater Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Okla., earned $4,428 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Okie Division event on Lake Texoma. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Okie Division events and featured 127 boaters vying for the win, which earned Goodwin 200 points in the Boater Division.

Goodwin’s winning catch of five bass weighed 15 pounds, 4 ounces. He was throwing a black Red River Buzz Bait in 1 foot of water to catch them.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Al Fisher of Hackett, Ark. (five bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces, $2,214); Marc Downs of Midwest City, Okla. (five bass, 12 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,478); Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas (five bass, 11 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,033) and Jason Reyes of Humble, Texas (five bass, 11 pounds, 2 ounces, $886).

Rodney Lowe of Tulsa, Okla., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $317 for a 4-pound, 13-ounce bass.

Fisher also took home an additional $500 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.

Clint Barnes of Sperry, Okla., won the Co-angler Division to earn $2,214 thanks to four bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces that he caught while throwing a Texas-rigged white Senko around creek channel drops in 8 feet of water.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jim Hargrave of Cushing, Okla. (four bass, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,107); Mark Troyer of Edmund, Okla., (five bass, 8pounds, 8 ounces, $738); John Stottlemyre of Edmund, Okla. (three bass, 8 pounds, 7 ounces, $517); Lynn Dollar of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Mike Hesson of Fort Smith, Ark. (four bass, 8 pounds, 1 ounce, $424).

Butch Baker of Tulsa, Okla., earned $317 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a bass weighing 4-pounds and 6-ounces.

The Okie Division’s next event will be held May 13 on Lake Eufaula near Eufaula, Okla., followed by an event on the Arkansas River near Muskogee, Okla., June 17. The Okie Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 9-10 with a two-day Super Tournament on Grand Lake near Grove, Okla..

Following the regular season, the Okie 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 Okie Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Wright Patman Regional Championship near Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Arkie, Cowboy and Louisiana 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.