NATCHITOCHES, La. – Boater Clyde “Bojack” Anderson of St. Gabriel, La., earned $4,271 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Louisiana Division event on the Red River. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Louisiana Division events and earned Anderson 200 points in the Boater Division.
Anderson’s winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 9 ounces. He caught them in 13 feet of water on a spinnerbait in Pool 3.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Thomas Cheaney of Montgomery, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 12 ounces, $2,136); Chris Morgan of Farmerville, La. (five bass, 13 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,424); Alex Manitzas of Deridder, La. (five bass, 12 pounds, 11 ounces, $997) and Paul Rossi of Gonzales, La. (five bass, 12 pounds, 10 ounces, $854).
Dwayne Dunlap of Pineville, La., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $590 for a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass.
Vernon Silver of Boutte, La., earned $2,136 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Roger Seal of Montgomery, La. (five bass, 15 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,068); Richard Hooter of Natchitoches (five bass, 10 pounds, 4 ounces, $712) Alex Falcon of Morgan City, La. (four bass, 9 pounds, 12 ounces, $498) and Derek Hudnall of Baton Rouge, La. (three bass, 9 pounds, 7 ounces, $427).
Vernon Silver of Boutte, La., earned $297 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass.
The Louisiana Division’s next event will be held March 18 on the Atchafalaya Basin near Berwick, La., followed by an event on Bayou Black near Gibson, La., April 29. The fourth event will be held June 10 on the Red River near Shreveport, La., and the Louisiana Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 23-24 with a two-day Super Tournament on the Atchafalaya Basin near Berwick.
Following the regular season, the Louisiana 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 Louisiana Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Wright Patman Regional Championship near Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Arkie, Cowboy and Okie 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.