Little wins big at North Carolina Division tournament on Kerr Lake

Boater Tommy Little of Chester, Va., earned $2,909 as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division event on Kerr Lake. Angler: Tommy Little.

March 12, 2005 • MLF • Archives

HENDERSON, N.C. – Boater Tommy Little of Chester, Va., earned $2,909 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division event on Kerr Lake. The tournament was the first of five regular-season North Carolina Division events and featured 81 boaters vying for the win, which earned Little 200 points in the Boater Division.

Little’s winning catch of five bass weighed 17 pounds, 15 ounces. Little caught his bass on a Shad Rap while fishing rocky main lake points.

Finishing second was Dennis Gilbert of Nathalie, Va., with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces that earned him $1,455. Gilbert won an additional $500 as the Ranger Cup award winner. Charles L. Bowman II of Kernersville claimed $951 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces. In fourth was Anthony Fofi of Spring Lake with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces worth $741, and finishing fifth and earning $608 was Larry Inman of Greensboro with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces.

Gene Borgeau of Frametown, W.Va., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $405 for a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a spinnerbait.

Butch Zadlo of Boone bested 81 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $1,455 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces that he caught on a Shad Rap.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Zach Gooch of Troy (three bass, 10 pounds, 12 ounces, $727); Andy Bailey of Beckley, W.Va. (two bass, 8 pounds, 4 ounces, $478); Brian Smith of Winston Salem (three bass, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, $370); and Ricky Byrd of Independence, Va. (three bass, 6 pounds, 13 ounces, $304).

In addition, Gooch earned $203 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass he caught on a jerkbait.

The North Carolina Division’s next event will be held April 2 on Lake Norman near Terrell, followed by an event on Lake Gaston near Littleton April 30. The fourth-qualifying event will be held on High Rock Lake near Salisbury June 4. The North Carolina Division will wrap up its regular season Oct. 1-2 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Wylie near Lake Wylie, S.C.

Following the regular season, the North 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 North Carolina Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Clarks Hill Lake Regional near Augusta, Ga., Oct. 11-15 where they will compete against Choo Choo, Dixie and Shenandoah 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.