Coming up in the Walmart BFL Competition
The 2014 Walmart BFL season continues with six tournaments on Saturday, June 28. The Buckeye Division will ply the waters of the Ohio River, the Bulldog Division will head to Lake Eufaula, the Michigan Division will open their season on Lake St. Clair, the Mississippi Division will compete on Lake Ferguson, the Music City division is set to fish Old Hickory Lake and the North Carolina Division will visit High Rock 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, June 28, 2014
Where: Buckeye Division
Ohio River
Lawrenceburg City Ramp
Tanner’s Creek Drive off Highway 50
Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Notes: The bass fishing on the Ohio River is expected to be good. The fish are likely to be hanging around shallow cover and main-river current. Some bass will be in postspawn patters and many will be in their regular summer patterns. Drop-shot rigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, buzzbaits, shaky-head rigs and topwater baits will be popular choices. The winner is expected to bring in a five-bass limit weighing about 10 pounds.
Where: Bulldog Division
Lake Eufaula
Lakepoint Resort State Park
104 Lakepoint Drive
Eufaula, Ala.
Notes: The bass fishing on Lake Eufaula should be very good. Summer will be in full swing and bass should be found hanging around shallow shade and grass as well as on offshore drops and near deep standing timber. Crankbaits, jigs, big plastic worms, Carolina rigs and umbrella rigs will be in the hands of many of the competitors. It is expected to take about 20 pounds of bass to win this tournament.
Where: Michigan Division
Lake St. Clair
Harley Ensign DNR Memorial Boat Launch
32995 S. River Road
Harrison Township, Mich.
Notes: The bass fishing on Lake St. Clair should be excellent. Anglers will have to decide whether to run into Lake Erie or fish in St. Clair – either decision could be a good one. Most of the bass will be caught offshore around grass clumps, humps and rock piles. Productive baits will include drop-shot rigs, swimbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits and soft plastics. The winner is likely to weigh a five-bass limit weighing around 22 pounds.
Where: Mississippi Division
Lake Ferguson
Greenville Waterfront Park
Central Ave.
Greenville, Miss.
Notes: The bass fishing on Lake Ferguson and the adjoining Mississippi River is expected to be good. Anglers are likely to find fish relating to current, shade and around deep cover and structure. The water level will be a key factor in this event as rising or falling water could reposition the fish. Baits such as crankbaits, Carolina rigs, jigs, topwater baits and spinnerbaits are expected to be productive. The winning weight is predicted to be right around 20 pounds.
Where: Music City Division
Old Hickory Lake
Bulls Creek Access (Flipper’s)
200 Odoms Bend Road
Gallatin, Tenn.
Notes: The bass fishing on Old Hickory Lake should be good. Summertime ledge fishing is expected to prevail. Most of the field will probably target deep drops on the main channel with rocks or wood cover on them. Baits like Carolina rigs, Texas-rigged worms, jigs, swimbaits and crankbaits will be every popular. The winner figures to bring a five-bass limit weighing around 17 pounds to the scale.
Where: North Carolina Division
High Rock Lake
Tamarac Marina & Campground
9120 Bringle Ferry Road
Salisbury, N.C.
Notes: The bass fishing on High Rock Lake is expected to be excellent. Summer patterns will be the order of the day and many anglers will key on the lake’s plentiful docks or offshore structure. The BFL Piedmont division tournament held the weekend prior will give the competitors insight as to how best to approach the lake. Jigs, shaky heads and crankbaits should be successful baits. The winning weight is expected to be about 20 pounds.
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. 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. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.