Hunter wins BFL Super Tournament on Sam Rayburn

JASPER, Texas – Boater Darryl Hunter of Spring earned $7,586 Sunday as winner of the two-day, season-ending Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division Super Tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. His two-day total of 32 pounds, 14 ounces topped 139 fellow competitors in the Boater Division.

Hunter caught 19 pounds, 16 ounces Saturday to advance to Sunday’s competition, where he caught 13 pounds, 8 ounces to post the heaviest two-day weight and claim the win. He caught his tournament-winning bass on a Zoom Horny Toad. Hunter has two career BFL victories, and both wins have come on Sam Rayburn.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Greg Fleming of Big Sandy (30 pounds, $3,793); David Truax of Beaumont (29 pounds, 6 ounces, $2,055); Bud Pruitt of Spring (29 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,739); and John Lemaire of Abbeville, La. (28 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,422).

Truax earned a $500 bonus from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and he earned another $250 from Yamaha because his boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Pruitt earned $1,390 as the Boater Division big-bass winner, thanks to a 6-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught on a Berkley Power Tube.

Slade Dearman of Sam Rayburn earned $3,711 as winner of the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 22 pounds, 5 ounces. He caught his bass on a Pop-R in shallow submerged grass. Dearman was the 2002 Cowboy Division co-angler points champion, and he has seven career top-10 finishes in the Cowboy Division.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Allan Shivers of Vidor (16 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,856); John Peebles of Seabrook (15 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,005); Bret Myers of Keller (15 pounds, 1 ounce, $851); and Darrell Noster of Houston (15 pounds, $696).

Chance Havard of Simsboro, La., claimed co-angler big-bass honors with an 8-pound, 3-ounce bass he caught on a Fluke. He earned $680 for his big bass.

Each of the BFL’s 24 nationwide divisions features four one-day tournaments and one two-day Super Tournament within the regular season. In Super Tournament competition, the entire field competes on day one and the top 20 percent advances to day two, with the winners determined by the heaviest two-day catch weights. More money is awarded at Super Tournaments as well as more points that count toward year-end angler standings. In a Super Tournament, 300 points are awarded for first place, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on.

The top 30 boaters and co-anglers in the Cowboy Division will advance to the Columbus Pool regional, which will be held Oct. 19-23 in Columbus, Miss. There they will compete against qualifying anglers from the Illini, Music City and Seminole divisions for one of six slots in the 2005 All-American. The All-American awards a $100,000 cash prize to the winning boater and $50,000 to the winning co-angler, making it one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in competitive bass fishing.

Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to regional competition are eligible to fish the Chevy Trucks Wild Card for an All-American berth. Six nationwide regionals plus the Wild Card will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total field of 84 competitors.

The $6.3 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 24 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse this Web site.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com’s sponsor page.