Kirby wins Walmart BFL event on Lake Wylie
Cook winning co-angler
Boater Keith Kirby of Gaffney, S.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces April 16 to win $4,244 in the BFL North Carolina Division tournament on Lake Wylie. He was using crankbaits to haul in his limit.
Rounding out the remaining top 10 boaters:
2nd: James Blankenship, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 16-9, $2,122
3rd: Scott Browning, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 16-4, $1,413
4th: Allen Eaker, Cherryville, N.C., five bass, 15-6, $990
5th: John Drew, Gold Hill, N.C., five bass, 15-5, $849
6th: Jason Threadgill, Norwood, N.C., five bass, 14-15, $778
7th: Keith Hutto, Martinez, Ga., five bass, 14-13, $707
8th: Steven James, Easley, S.C., five bass, 14-11, $637
9th: Steve Harwood, Weaverville, N.C., five bass, 14-3, $566
10th: Keith Porter, Chester, S.C., five bass, 14-2, $495
Cook winning co-angler
John Cook of Matthews, N.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces to win $2,122 in the Co-angler Division. He was using a Zoom Speedworm in the river to catch his limit.
Rounding out the remaining top 10 co-anglers:
2nd: Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., five bass, 13-11, $1,061
3rd: Marvin Godard, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 11-15, $707
4th: Hallam Cottingham, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 11-9, $495
5th: Mark Murphy, Lexington, N.C., four bass, 10-13, $424
6th: Roger Toler, Gilbert, W.Va., five bass, 10-11, $389
7th: Randy Coleman, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 10-10, $354
8th: George Boyce, Fuquay Varina, N.C., five bass, 10-4, $300
8th: Bobby Smith, Asheville, N.C., five bass, 10-4, $300
10th: Todd Lawrence, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 10-2, $248
Coming up
The next BFL North Carolina Division tournament is scheduled for May 7 on Kerr Lake in Henderson, N.C. After the fifth North Carolina Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Nov. 3-5 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, S.C. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy pick-up, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger 198VX.
Bass Fishing League competition is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers offering bigger prizes to those who qualify for the regional championships and those who make it to one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/BassFishingLeague and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the largest tournament-fishing organization in the world, offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing at FantasyFishing.com, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.