Lynch wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Event on Kentucky, Barkley lakes

CADIZ, Ky. – Boater Drew Lynch of Paducah, Ky., earned $5,380 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League LBL Division event on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. The tournament was the third of five regular-season LBL Division events and featured 171 boaters vying for the win, which earned Lynch 200 points in the Boater Division.

Lynch’s winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 4 ounces. He was throwing a 1/2-ounce green-pumpkin jig on the northern end of the lake to catch his fish.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Clint Huntsman of Cadiz, Ky. (five bass, 18 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,690); Donnie Cato of Madisonville, Ky. (five bass, 18 pounds, 8 ounces, $1,794); Daniel Langton of Haubstadt, Ind. (five bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,255) and Brent Anderson of Kingston Springs, Tenn. (five bass, 17 pounds, 15 ounces, $1,076).

David Chaney of Reed, Ky., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $855 for a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Texas-rigged watermelon Zoom Brush Hog.

Blake Lehman of Clarksville, Tenn., bested the 171 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,690 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 18 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a Carolina rig in the Fenton area.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are David Mouser of Elizabethtown, Ky. (five bass, 15 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,345); Joseph Brockman of Clarksville, Tenn. (five bass, 14 pounds, 14 ounces, $899); Bill Wampler of Huntingburg, Ind. (five bass, 13 pounds, 11 ounces, $628); and John Snipp of New Abny, Ind. (three bass, 13 pounds, 10 ounces, $538).

James Lee of Grand Rivers, Ky., earned $427 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass he caught on a chartreuse and white Norman DD-22 crankbait.

All LBL Division tournaments are held on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes. The LBL Division’s next event will be held June 24 out of Kenlake Marina in Aurora, Ky., followed by their two-day Super Tournament out of Kentucky Dam Marina near Gilbertsville, Ky.

Following the regular season, the LBL 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 LBL Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Chickamauga Regional near Hixson, Tenn., Oct. 12-14, where they will compete against Bulldog, Dixie and Music City 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 and nine other national tournament circuits offering a combined $35.5 million in awards through 235 events in 2006. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren 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, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series 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.