Breshears wins Wal-Mart BFL event on DeGray Lake - Major League Fishing

Breshears wins Wal-Mart BFL event on DeGray Lake

Bryant joins female FLW Outdoors elite with co-angler win
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Boater Stanley Breshears of Rogers, Ark., earned $3,711 as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Arkie Division event on DeGray Lake.
April 9, 2005 • MLF • Archives

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Boater Stanley Breshears of Rogers earned $3,711 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Arkie Division event on DeGray Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Akie Division events and earned Breshears 200 points in the Boater Division.

Breshears’ winning catch of five bass weighed 15 pounds, 1 ounce. Breshears concentrated on catching bedding bass with a jig.

Finishing second was Erik Ambort of Mabelvale with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 5 ounces that earned him $1,855. Paul C. Helton of Russellville claimed $1,215 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces. In fourth was Joe Dorr of Waldron with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces worth $945, and finishing fifth and earning $776 was Brandon Rhoden of Sheridan with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

Helton earned an additional $750 as winner of the Ranger Cup and Powered by Yamaha awards.

Gabe Herrington of Malvern took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $570 for a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a grey ghost-colored Horny Toad.

Kristy Bryant of Mount Ida earned $1,823 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces that she caught on a Zara Spook.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Michael Blackwell of Cordova, Tenn. (three bass, 8 pounds, 3 ounces, $911); Russell Richmond of Benton (five bass, 7 pounds, 14 ounces, $596); Steele Jones of Maumelle (five bass, 7 pounds, 12 ounces, $464); and J. Brandon Guice of Conway (four bass, 7 pounds, 9 ounces, $381).

Randy Crites of Plainview earned $280 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught on a Carolina-rigged lizard.

The Arkie Division’s next event will be held May 7 on Greers Ferry Lake near Greers Ferry, followed by an event on Lake Dardanelle near Russellville June 18. The Arkie Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Hamilton near Hot Springs.

Following the regular season, the Arkie 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 Arkie Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Ohio River Regional near Paducah, Ky., Oct. 11-15 where they will compete against Hoosier, Great Lakes, and Michigan 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.