Williams wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Lay Lake

CLANTON, Ala. – Boater Timothy Williams of Auburn earned $5,142 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Dixie Division event on Lay Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Dixie Division events and featured 181 boaters vying for the win, which earned Williams 200 points in the Boater Division.

William’s winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 13 ounces. Williams was fishing a Bandit crankbait on the south end of the lake when he caught his bass.

Williams also earned an additional $1,000 as the Ranger Cup award winner.

Finishing second was Jeromey Mason of Columbiana with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces that earned him $2,571. Blake Lewis of Pace, Fla., claimed $1,684 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces. In fourth was Glenn Carter of Rockwood, Tenn., with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces worth $1,309, and finishing fifth and earning $1,075 was Charles Cummings of Leeds with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces.

Adam Roberts of Jasper took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $905 for a 7-pound, 8-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Red Bug finesse worm.

Mike Keith of Remlap bested 181 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,571 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce that he caught on a spinnerbait.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mike Dodson of Northport (four bass, 11 pounds, $1,286); Joseph Casey of Hueytown (five bass, 9 pounds, 13 ounces, $839); Harold Cotton of West Point, Ga., and Shawn Wikoff of Phenix City tied for fourth place, earning $596 each. Cotton caught four bass weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces and Wikoff caught three bass weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces.

In addition, Wikoff earned $453 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.

The Dixie Division’s next event will be held April 23 on West Point Lake near Lanette, followed by an event on Lake Eufaula near Eufaula June 4. The Dixie Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Logan Martin Lake near Pell City.

Following the regular season, the Dixie 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 Dixie 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, Shenandoah, and North Carolina 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.