Rogillio wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on D’arbonne

FARMERVILLE, La. – Boater Raymond Rogillio of Farmerville earned $3,698 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Louisiana Division event on Lake D’arbonne. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Louisiana Division events and featured 115 boaters vying for the win, which earned Rogillio 200 points in the Boater Division.

Rogillio’s winning catch of five bass weighed 16 pounds, 15 ounces. He caught his bass while fishing around cypress trees with a 7/16-ounce Texas-rigged crawdad. Rogillio earned an additional $575 as the Boater Division big bass award winner, thanks to a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass.

Finishing second was Ron Festavan of Downsville with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 5 ounces that earned him $1,849. Festavan earned an additional $500 as the Ranger Cup award winner. Rocky Roussel of Morgan City claimed $1,211 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces. In fourth was Kevin Voisin of Morgan City with three bass weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces worth $941, and finishing fifth and earning $773 was Donald Braud of Woodville, Miss., with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

Gary Fields of Donaldsonville bested 115 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $1,849 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught on a junebug tube.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jordan Picou of Chauvin (three bass, 6 pounds, 7 ounces, $924); Chris Matise of Independence (one bass, 6 pounds, 2 ounces, $605); Joseph Smith of West Monroe (one bass, 5 pounds, 15 ounces, $471); and Kevin King of Gonzales (three bass, 5 pounds, $387).

Matise earned an additional $288 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with his 6-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a jig.

The Louisiana Division’s next event will be held April 16 on Bayou Black near Gibson, followed by an event on the Red River near Natchitoches May 21. The Louisiana Division will wrap up its regular season Oct. 1-2 with a two-day Super Tournament on the Atchafalaya Basin near Belle River.

Following the regular season, the Louisiana 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 Louisiana Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Ouachita Regional near Hot Springs, Ark., where they will compete against Cowboy, Okie and Ozark 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 website.

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.