SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Boater William Ledbetter of Grant earned $4,999 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Bama Division event on Guntersville Lake. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Bama Division events and featured 173 boaters vying for the win, which earned Ledbetter 200 points in the Boater Division.
Ledbetter’s winning catch of five bass weighed 21 pounds, 14 ounces. He was fishing a spinnerbait and a watermelon lizard over grass in 2-10 feet of water when he caught his bass.
Ledbetter earned an additional $1,000 as winner of the Garmin Grand award.
Finishing second was Tim Buckner of Scottsboro with five bass weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces that earned him $2,500. Chris McCollum of New Hope claimed $1,635 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 21 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was Terry Mann of Cullman with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces worth $1,273, and finishing fifth and earning $1,045 was Jim Pitts of Hollywood with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces.
Pitts took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $865 for a 7-pound, 9-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a crankbait.
Buckner earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.
Ted Fuehner of Independence, Ky., bested 173 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,500 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a spinnerbait.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Chris Walters of Chattanooga, Tenn. (five bass, 18 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,250); Stanley Morris of Boaz (five bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce, $818); Jett Loach of Ringgold, Ga. (five bass, 17 pounds, 2 ounces, $636); and John Hawkins of Henagar (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $523).
Evan Cooper of Rainsville earned $433 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with an 8-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.
The Bama Division’s next event will be held June 4 on Neely Henry Lake near Gadsden. The Bama Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on Guntersville Lake near Sept. 17-18.
Following the regular season, the Bama 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 Bama Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Toho Regional near Kissimmee, Fla., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Bulldog, Seminole, and South 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 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.