Ball wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Lake Douglas

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. – Boater Eddie Ball of Newport earned $4,840 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mountain Division event on Lake Douglas. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Mountain Division events and featured 166 boaters vying for the win, which earned Ball 200 points in the Boater Division.

Ball’s winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces. Ball earned an additional $1,000 as winner of the Garmin Grand award.

Finishing second was Bobby Ferguson of Chuckey with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 4 ounces that earned him $2,420. Marty Shelley of Byrdstown claimed $1,582 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces. In fourth was Rex Huff of Corbin, Ky., with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces worth $1,232, and finishing fifth and earning $1,012 was Donnie Claywell of East Bernstadt, Ky., with five bass weighing 13 pounds.

Gary Smith of Clinton took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $830 for a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass.

Eric Stonecypher of Columbia, Ky., earned $2,345 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 12 pounds. Stonecypher earned an additional $395 as winner of the co-angler big-bass award with a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Gary Stamper of Grayson, Ky. (five bass, 11 pounds, $1,173); Barry Dick of Somerset, Ky. (five bass, 9 pounds, 15 ounces, $768); Kibbee McCoy of Crossville (five bass, 9 pounds, 8 ounces, $597); and Bobby Abbott of Kodak (four bass, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, $490).

The Mountain Division’s next event will be held May 14 on Dale Hollow Lake near Byrdstown, followed by an event on the Barren River near Scottsville, Ky., June 18. The Mountain Division will wrap up its regular season Oct. 1-2 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Cherokee near Morristown.

Following the regular season, the Mountain 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 Mountain Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Kerr Lake Regional near Henerson, N.C., Oct. 18-22 where they will compete against Empire, Northeast and Music City 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.