Hedrick wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on Ohio River

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Boater Ernie Hedrick of North Bend, Ohio, earned $5,342 Sunday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division Super Tournament event on the Ohio River. The tournament earned Hendrick 300 points in the Boater Division.

Hendrick’s winning catch of nine bass weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces. He was flipping a jig and throwing a spinnerbait on flats in the Indiana creeks.

Finishing second was Kenneth Bortlein of West Harrison, with eight bass weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces that earned him $2,607. Derek Schreiber of Hamilton, Ohio, claimed $1,272 as the third-place finisher thanks to six bass weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces. In fourth was Kaoru O’Bryan of Crestwood, Ky., with five bass weighing 8 pounds worth $1,145, and finishing fifth and earning $1,017 was Tim Vanmatre of New Castle, with six bass weighing 8 pounds.

Bortlein received an additional $500 as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup program.

Steven Taylor of Cox’s Creek, Ky., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $940 for a 3-pound, 7-ounce bass. He caught his big bass flipping a Prowler Ring Creature in Tanners Creek.

Timothy McCue of Indianapolis bested the other Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,607 as the co-angler winner, thanks to six bass weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught on a fishing a Texas-rigged worm real slow.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Robert Hayes of Galloway, Ohio (four bass, 6 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,272); Dave Sandage of Cannelton (four bass, 6 pounds, 7 ounces, $621); Jim Krider of North Vernon (four bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces, $559); and Aaron Sisk of Evansville (three bass, 4 pounds, 14 ounces, $497).

Danny Robinson of Fairland, earned $450 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 3-pound, 1-ounce bass he caught on a buzzbait.

Phil Hunt of Connersville earned $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Hoosier Boater Division. Jim Krider of North Vernon earned $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Hoosier Co-angler Division.

The top 40 Hoosier Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Ohio River Regional near Paducah, Ky., Oct. 11-15 where they will compete against Arkie, Great Lakes and Michigan 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.