Jackson earns win at BFL event on St. Johns River

Boater Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla., earned $3,386 as winner of the Feb. 11 BFL Seminole Division event on the St. Johns River. Angler: Mike Jackson.

February 11, 2006 • MLF • Archives

PALATKA, Fla. – Boater Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla., earned $3,386 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Seminole Division event on the St. Johns River. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Seminole Division events and earned Jackson 200 points in the Boater Division.

Jackson’s winning catch of four bass weighed 22 pounds, 12 ounces. Jackson threw a Carolina rig to catch his bass. One of his fish, an 8-pound, 5-ounce largemouth, earned him an additional $425 as winner of the big-bass award in the Boater Division.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Jerry Stalvey Jr. of St. Augustine, Fla. (five bass, 18 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,693); David Burch of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. (five bass, 16 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,129); Ryan Worthington of Middleburg, Fla. (five bass, 13 pounds, 1 ounce, $790) and Larry Cahan of East Palatka, Fla. (five bass, 10 pounds, 8 ounces, $677).

Heath Annin of Tallahassee, Fla., earned $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Rusty Berry of Lake City, Fla., earned $1,623 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a Yamamoto Senko.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Leon J. Roy III of Tallahassee, Fla. (four bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces, $812); Joseph Hetu II of Middleburg, Fla., (four bass, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, $541) Kenneth Henry of Monticello, Fla., (three bass, 7 pounds, $379) Everette Back of East Palatka and Chad Cox of Jacksonville tied for fifth place. Back caught four bass weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces and Cox caught five bass weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Both anglers earned $311.

Michael Wiles of Perry, Fla., earned $195 as the co-angler big-bass award winner thanks to a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a Rat-L-Trap.

The Seminole Division’s next event will be held March 18 on the Harris Chain of Lakes near Tavares, Fla., followed by an event on the Apalachicola River near Wewahitchka, Fla., April 8. The fourth event will be held April 29 on Lake Seminole near Snead, Fla., and the Seminole Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 23-24 with a two-day Super Tournament on the St. Johns River near Palatka.

Following the regular season, the Seminole Division boater with the most points who advances farthest in the Wal-Mart BFL All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances farthest will earn $5,000 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 Seminole Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Demopolis Regional Championship near Demopolis, Ala., Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Choo-Choo, Everglades and Mississippi division anglers for one of six slots in the 2007 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 $8.8 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, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

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.