Walmart BFL tournament preview
Cowboy, Mountain, North Carolina and Savannah River division events slated for April 5
The 2014 Walmart BFL season continues with four tournaments on Saturday, April 5. The Cowboy Division will take on Toledo Bend, the Mountain Division heads back to Dale Hollow Lake, the North Carolina Division is set to fish Lake Wylie and the Savannah River Division will compete on Lake Russell. Up to 400 boaters and co-anglers will be competing in each event for top awards up to $8,000 and $3,000 respectively.
When: Saturday, April 5, 2014
Where: Cowboy Division
Toledo Bend Lake
San Miguel Park
381 San Miguel Road
Zwolle, La.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Toledo Bend is likely to be excellent. Anglers will probably target both spawning and post-spawn fish in and around the lake’s abundant grass. Topwater baits, Texas rigs, jigs, jerkbaits and swimbaits will all be in the hands of competitors. The proportion of anglers fishing for spawning bass versus those targeting post-spawn fish is likely to be very weather dependent. The winner of this event will probably bring about 20 pounds to the scales.
Where: Mountain Division
Dale Hollow Lake
Star Point Resort
4490 Star Point Road
Byrdstown, Tenn.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Dale Hollow Lake should be good. With warm weather, fish could be spawning but it is more likely that the fish will still be in the pre-spawn stage. Anglers are likely to employ jigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits and umbrella rigs for the pre-spawn fish, but may mix in some tried and true bed-fishing baits if spawning fish are present. The winner is likely to have right around 20 pounds.
Where: North Carolina Division
Lake Wylie
Buster Boyd’s Landing
3990 Charlotte Highway
Lake Wylie, S.C.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The springtime bite is likely to be on in earnest for the Lake Wylie BFL event. Most of the fish are expected to be in a pre-spawn pattern and jigs and crankbaits will be in heavy rotation. Secondary points, rip rap banks and pockets will receive a lot of attention from tournament anglers looking for the fat pre-spawn largemouth bass. The winning weight is expected to be around 17 pounds.
Where: Savannah River Division
Lake Russell
Richard B. Russell State Park
2650 Russell State Park Road
Elberton, Ga.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on the Lake Russell should be good. Fish will be working their way into spawning locations and should be solidly in the pre-spawn phase. Competitors will likely find fish in main-lake pockets, on secondary points and around shallow cover. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs and umbrella rigs are likely to be strong players. The winner will probably bring a five-bass limit weighing around 19 pounds to the scales.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. The 2014 BFL All-American is being held June 5-7 on Wilson Lake in Florence, Ala. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook and on Twitter.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
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