Frazier levels field en route to West Point Lake win, BFL record - Major League Fishing

Frazier levels field en route to West Point Lake win, BFL record

16-year-old becomes youngest boater to win BFL event with nearly 6 pounds to spare
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Sixteen-year-old boater Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga., earned $4,368 as winner of the BFL Dixie Division event on West Point Lake. Frazier is the youngest boater ever to win a tournament in BFL history. Angler: Micah Frazier.
April 23, 2005 • MLF • Archives

LANETTE, Ala. – Sixteen-year-old Boater Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga., earned $4,368 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Dixie Division event on West Point Lake. Frazier is the youngest boater ever to win a tournament in BFL history. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Dixie Division events and featured 143 boaters vying for the win, which earned Frazier 200 points in the Boater Division.

Frazier’s winning catch of five bass weighed 20 pounds, 9 ounces. Frazier said he caught one limit early that morning on a spinnerbait, and then culled all but one of them for larger fish he later caught on a Carolina rig.

Frazier earned an additional $1,000 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Finishing second was Hoyt Ivie of Thomaston, Ga., with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces that earned him $2,184. Kevin Benefield of Fayetteville, Ga., claimed $1,427 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds. In fourth was Tim Norris of Alexandria with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces worth $1,112, and finishing fifth and earning $913 was Roger Sorrell of Lanett with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces.

Sorrell took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $715 for a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass.

Dennis Hudson of Fortson, Ga., bested 143 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,184 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught on a Carolina rig.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Hal Murk of Sharpsburg, Ga. with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces worth $1,092. Robert Hayes of Elmore, John Knight of Shelby and Brian Roszell of Anniston all tied for third place. Each co-angler caught five bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces worth $576.

Murk earned $358 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.

The Dixie Division’s next event will be held June 4 on Lake Eufaula near Eufaula. 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, North Carolina, and Shenandoah 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.