Walmart BFL tournament preview
Mississippi, Music City, Okie, Piedmont and South Carolina division events set for April 26
The 2014 Walmart BFL season continues with five tournaments on Saturday, April 26. The Mississippi Division is slated to fish at Ross Barnett Reservoir, the Music City Division will take on Center Hill Lake, the Okie Division will compete on Fort Gibson Lake, the Piedmont Division will continue their season on Kerr Lake and the South Carolina Division heads to Clarks Hill Lake. 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 26
Where: Mississippi Division
Ross Barnett Reservoir
Tommy’s Trading Post
4238 Highway 43 N.
Brandon, Miss.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Ross Barnett should be very good. The anglers will likely catch a mix of prespawn, spawning and postspawn bass and that means that they will be spread out all over the lake. Pad fields, wood cover and docks will probably attract the most attention from both the bass and the anglers. Productive baits should range from classic bed-fishing baits to swimjigs, spinnerbaits, soft plastics and crankbaits. The winner is likely to bring about 20 pounds of bass to the scales.
Where: Music City Division
Center Hill Lake
Ragland Bottom Recreation Area
1423 Ragland Bottom Road
Sparta, Tenn.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Center Hill is expected to be good. With spring finally making an appearance across much of the country, the bass should be biting well and in a mix of typical springtime patterns. Anglers could catch fish on beds, or in both prespawn and postspawn stages. Crankbaits, umbrella rigs, jigs, soft plastics and spinnerbaits should all prove productive. It is expected to take about 20 pounds to win this event.
Where: Okie Division
Fort Gibson Lake
Taylor Ferry Marina & Resort
334179 Marina Drive
Wagoner, Okla.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Fort Gibson is likely to be good but could very much depend on the water level of the lake. The fish are expected to be spawning and with clearer and stable water tournament anglers will likely catch a lot of fish off of beds. If the water levels are high and muddy fishing around shallow cover will be one of the primary patterns. A variety of baits could be productive, such as soft plastics, swimjigs, spinnerbaits, jigs, crankbaits and topwater baits. The winner is expected to being a five-fish limit weighing around 18 pounds to the scales.
Where: Piedmont Division
Kerr Lake
New Nutbush Park
115 Jack Wade Farm Road
Henderson, N.C.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Kerr is expected to be very good. The late spring means that the bass will be in all three stages of the spawn and that a variety of tactics could prove productive. If the water level is high, flipping bushes will be popular. If the water level is low tournament anglers will primarily target fish around grass. Lipless crankbaits, soft plastics, jigs, Carolina-rigs and crankbaits will be popular baits. The winning weight is projected to be around 18 pounds.
Where: South Carolina Division
Clarks Hill Lake
Dorn Fishing Facility
Highway 378 W.
McCormick, S.C.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Clarks Hill should be excellent. Fish are likely to be in both spawn and postspawn patterns all over the lake. Competitors will probably target coves, pockets, and grass while searching for beds or nearby postspawn fish. Productive baits are likely to be spinnerbaits, topwater baits, soft plastics, jigs and bed-fishing baits. Clarks Hill has been fishing very well this spring and the winner might very well bring in around 20 pounds of bass.
Walmart BFL overview
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 at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
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 and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter and Facebook.