Forshee wins BFL Mountain Division tournament

Jim Forshee (left) of Lexington, Ky., topped 128 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League competitors Saturday on Cumberland Lake with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him $3,612 and 200 points in the Boater Division. Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky., claimed first place and $1,806 in the 128-competitor Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Anglers: Beecher Strunk, Jim Forshee.

April 27, 2002 • MLF • Archives

SOMERSET, Ky. – Jim Forshee of Lexington, Ky., topped 128 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League competitors Saturday on Cumberland Lake with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him $3,612 and 200 points in the Boater Division.

Forshee, who also earned a $1,000 bonus from Ranger Boats as the highest finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program and a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN for using a fixed-mount GARMIN GPS/Sounder, caught his limit on a Zoom tube while fishing the lake’s south fork. The catch, which earned Forshee a total of $5,612, topped second-place boater Michael Discepoli of Cincinnati, Ohio, by 2 pounds, 3 ounces. Discepoli finished the one-day tournament with a five-bass catch weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces worth $1,806. He also earned big bass honors and $640 with a 4-pound, 9-ounce bass that he caught on a fluke.

Tim McDonald of Hagerhill, Ky. (five bass, 11 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,084); Mark Jackson of Spring City, Tenn. (five bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces, $867); and Doyle Epperson of Nancy, Ky., (five bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces, $795) rounded out the top five boaters.

Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky., claimed first place and $1,806 in the 128-competitor Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce. He surpassed second-place co-angler Teddy Willett of Greeneville, Tenn., by 1 pound, 8 ounces. Willett finished with a four-bass catch weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces worth $903.

Ralph Feldman of Lancaster, Ky. (three bass, 6 pounds, 6 ounces, $542); Grant Drook of Indianapolis, Ind. (two bass, 4 pounds, 11 ounces, $433); and Kenneth Fieler of Cincinnati, Ohio, (two bass, 4 pounds, 9 ounces, $397) rounded out the top five co-anglers.

Co-angler Steven Byrd of Strawberry Plains, Tenn., earned big bass honors and $320 in his division with a 4-pound, 1-ounce bass. He finished seventh thanks to the one fish.

Overall, 13 five-bass limits were caught during the tournament.

The Wal-Mart BFL will visit Cherokee Lake June 1 for the fourth of five Mountain Division events. The boater with the most points after the division’s season finale, a two-day Super Tournament Sept. 14-15 on Cherokee Lake, will be declared the Yamaha “Be the Best” Points Leader and awarded $1,000. The co-angler amassing the most points by the end of the season will receive $500.

The top 30 Mountain Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to regional competition Oct. 15-19 on Kerr Lake near Henderson, N.C., where they will go up against top competitors from the Buckeye, Northeast and Savannah River divisions for a shot at qualifying for the Wal-Mart BFL All-American – one of the most lucrative post-season tournaments in competitive angling.

2002 BFL awards could reach $7 million based on full fields.