Trombly Wins BFL Event on Detroit River

Ramsey Wins Co-angler Division

TRENTON, Mich. – Michael Trombly of Perrysburg, Ohio, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League final Michigan Division tournament on the Detroit River Sunday with a two-day 10-bass catch weighing 48 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned Trombly $4,806.

Anglers were competing to qualify for the Fort Madison Regional Championship in Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 1-3, where they could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“This was a great weekend,” said Trombly. “I didn’t get a lot of bites, but the bites I did get were big and good. On Sunday I ended up culling a 5-pound fish; it was just an awesome day.”

“I used Mike’s Rx bait tube, snapping it off the bottom,” he added. “Everything I caught was deep, 26 feet or more.”

Rounding out the top five boaters are Ryan Said of Wixom, Mich. (10 bass, 45-6, $2,403); Heath Wagner of Angola, Ind. (10 bass, 44-1, $1,603); Skip Johnson of Goodells, Mich. (10 bass, 39-9, $1,121); and Todd Schmitz of Goshen, Ind. (10 bass, 39-6, $961).

Joe Balog and Kevin Hesson tied for the Boater Division Folgers Big Bass award, earning $288 each for the 5-pound, 13-ounce bass each of them caught. Hesson was using a Berkley Gulp minnow to land his big bass.

Ken Ramsey of Cassopolis, Mich., earned $2,403 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to 10 – bass weighing 40 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught using a crankbait.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Greg Rutschilling of Rossford, Ohio (10 bass, 39-3, $1,202); James Sharp of Sylvania, Ohio (10 bass, 36-9, $801); David Michaelis of Commerce, Mich. (10 bass, 35-12, $561); and Erik Jacques of Harrison Township, Mich. (10 bass, 30-15, $481).

Ramsey also earned $289 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.

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For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.