Harris takes top honors at Super Tournament on Kerr Lake

HENDERSON, N.C. – Boater Todd Harris of Pfafftown earned $6,033 Sunday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division Super Tournament event on Kerr Lake. Harris also caught a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass to win an additional $1,170 as the Boater Division big-bass winner.

Harris’ winning catch of nine bass weighed 27 pounds, 1 ounce. He used a Gambler worm along shoreline structure to catch his bass.

Finishing second was Dan Jackson of Youngsville, with nine bass weighing 20 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $2,944. Chris Bullock of Fountain claimed $1,436 as the third-place finisher thanks to 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was Tony Fox of Timberlake, with 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces worth $1,293, and finishing fifth and earning $1,149 was David Mullins of Mount Carmel, Tenn., with eight bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces.

Jackson earned $500 as the Ranger Cup winner.

Anthony Roberts of Bahama earned $3,016 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a Zoom Brush Hog.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Gerry Burchfield of Thomasville (four bass, 11 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,472); Greg Scott of Wytheville, Va., (six bass, 11 pounds, 1 ounce, $718); Anthony Mencome of Raleigh (four bass, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, $646); and Tim Gardner of Goldsboro (three bass, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, $575).

Burchfield earned an additional $585 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a crankbait.

Carl Ward of Durham earned $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” Boater Division points champion in the Piedmont Division. Frank Buccialia Jr. of Littleton earned $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

The top 40 Piedmont Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Cherokee Regional near Morristown, Tenn., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Buckeye, Illini and LBL 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 FLWOutdoors.com.

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.