Christie wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Lake Eufaula

Boater Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., earned $3,880 as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Okie Division event on Lake Eufaula. Angler: Jason Christie.

April 9, 2005 • MLF • Archives

EUFAULA, Okla. – Boater Jason Christie of Park Hill earned $3,880 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Okie Division event on Lake Eufaula. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Okie Division events and featured 122 boaters vying for the win, which earned Christie 200 points in the Boater Division.

Christie’s winning catch of five bass weighed 21 pounds, 3 ounces. Christie was slow-rolling a spinnerbait along rocky points to catch his bass. Christie earned an additional $1,000 for the Garmin contingency award and another $1,000 for the Ranger Cup award.

Finishing second was Wade Ramsey of Midwest City with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces that earned him $1,940. Seth Valentine of Edmond claimed $1,268 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was Andy Carroll of Ft. Smith, Ark., with four bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces worth $988, and finishing fifth and earning $811 was Nick Frakes of Gravette, Ark., with four bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces.

Steve Dowty of Claremore took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $610 for a 7-pound, 2-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Carolina-rig.

Mike Leland of Collinsville earned $1,855 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a Wiggle Wart crawdad. Leland won an additional $285 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with 5-pound, 15-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ron Cheshier of Owasso (three bass, 8 pounds, 8 ounces, $928); Chris Wall of Bentonville, Ark., (three bass, 8 pounds, 6 ounces, $608); Jerry Corbett of Chouteau (three bass, 6 pounds, 11 ounces, $472); and Thomas C. Hill of Dallas, Texas (one bass, 5 pounds, 6 ounces, $388).

The Okie Division’s next event will be held May 7 on Ft. Gibson Lake near Sequoyah, followed by an event on Grand Lake near Monkey Island June 4. The Okie Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on Grand Lake near Grove.

Following the regular season, the Okie 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 Okie Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Ouachita Regional near Hot Springs, Ark., Oct. 18-22 where they will compete against Cowboy, Louisiana 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 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.