Jeffcoat wins Wal-Mart BFL tournament on Lake Murray

Boater Wayne Jeffcoat of Chapin, S.C., earned $4,493 as winner of the Wal-Mart BFL South Carolina Division event on Lake Murray. He won an additional $1,500 as the Ranger Cup and the Powered by Yamaha awards recipient. Angler: Wayne Jeffcoat.

February 26, 2005 • MLF • Archives

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Boater Wayne Jeffcoat of Chapin earned $4,493 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League South Carolina Division event on Lake Murray. The tournament was the first of five regular-season South Carolina Division events and featured 150 boaters vying for the win, which earned Jeffcoat 200 points in the Boater Division.

Jeffcoat’s winning catch of five bass weighed 28 pounds, 14 ounces. He won an additional $1,500 as the Ranger Cup and the Powered by Yamaha awards recipient.

Finishing second was Dave Malin of Ladson with five bass weighing 27 pounds, 2 ounces that earned him $2,247. Billy Garner of Ridgeville and Wayne King of Sumter tied for third place with three and four bass, respectively, weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces, earning each angler $1,307. Finishing fifth and earning $940 was Thomas M. King of Hartsville with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 11 ounces.

Thomas King and Bo Chappell of Olanta both caught 9-pound, 12-ounce bass and tied for the Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $375 each.

Jeff Bailey of Inman bested 150 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,247 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Orlando C. Giles of Lexington, N.C. (five bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,123); Ray Youngblood of Jonesville (two bass, 9 pounds, 12 ounces, $734); Bob Kramer of Columbia (three bass, 9 pounds, 8 ounces, $572); and Jeff Routch of Sumter (two bass, 9 pounds, 3 ounces, $470).

Wesley Story of Grovetown, Ga., earned $375 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass.

The South Carolina Division’s next event will be held April 2 on the Santee Cooper Lakes near Manning, followed by an event on Clarks Hill Lake near Augusta, Ga., April 30. The fourth event will be held on Lake Hartwell near Seneca May 21. The South Carolina Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Wylie near York.

Following the regular season, the South Carolina Division boater with the most points will earn $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler amassing the most points will earn $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. The top 40 South Carolina Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Toho Regional near Kissimmee, Fla., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Bama, Bulldog and Seminole Division anglers for one of six slots in the 2006 All-American. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.

The $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 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.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.