Walmart BFL tournament preview
Bulldog, Hoosier, Northeast and Volunteer division events set for May 10
The 2014 Walmart BFL season continues with four tournaments on Saturday, May 10. The Bulldog Division will meet at Lake Sinclair, the Hoosier Division will hit Lake Monroe, the Northeast Division will start their season on the Potomac River and the Volunteer Division will take on South Holston Reservoir. 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, May 10
Where: Bulldog Division
Lake Sinclair
Little River Park
3069 N. Columbia St.
Milledgeville, Ga.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Lake Sinclair should be good. Anglers may find some fish spawning but the majority of the fish will be in postspawn patterns and many could be relating to the shad spawn. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, topwaters, swimjigs, soft-plastic jerkbaits and a variety of other shad-imitating baits could come into play. Additionally, some anglers might choose to target fish around shallow grass and wood with soft plastics, jigs and topwater frogs. The winner is predicted to weigh over 20 pounds of largemouth.
Where: Hoosier Division
Lake Monroe
Cutwright Ramp
4850 S. State Road
Bloomington, Ind.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on Lake Monroe is expected to very good. If the water stays high due to continued spring rains many fish will be found shallow, around the newly flooded cover in the backs of the major creeks. Flipping jigs and soft plastics as well as fishing spinnerbaits, ChatterBaits and swimjigs around the shallow cover will be popular methods. The winner is expected to bring more than 20 pounds of bass to the scale.
Where: Northeast Division
Potomac River
Smallwood State Park
2750 Sweden Point Road
Marbury, Md.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: The bass fishing on the Potomac River should be excellent. The bass are likely to be shallow and in all stages of the spawn. Despite that, the winner will probably not win the tournament by sight-fishing. Most of the field will target the river’s plentiful grass, pads, rip rap and shallow wood cover. Moving baits like spinnerbaits, swimjigs and ChatterBaits as well as jigs, stick worms and a variety of other soft plastics will be popular choices. The winner is expected to bring in about 19 pounds of bass from this prolific tidal fishery.
Where: Volunteer Division
South Holston Reservoir
Observation Knob Park
553 Knob Park Road
Bristol, Tenn.
To sign up and fish this event, click here.
Notes: Rising water and warmer weather should make the bass fishing on South Holston very good, and the big largemouth and smallmouth the lake is known for are likely to come to the scale. Though some bass will still be spawning, the majority will be in postspawn patterns. Jigs, swimbaits, drop-shot and shaky-head rigs, big worms and crankbaits will all be popular baits among the competitors. The winner is expected to bring in a five-bass limit weighing right around 19 pounds.
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.