Cordell, Salers tie for BFL wins on Ross Barnett

Boaters Jason Cordell (left) of Pelahatchie, Miss., and Dudley Salers of Jackson, Miss., each earned $4,278 March 4 for tying for the win of the BFL Mississippi Division event on Ross Barnett Reservoir. Anglers: Jason Cordell, Dudley Salers.

March 4, 2006 • MLF • Archives

JACKSON, Miss. – Boater Jason Cordell of Pelahatchie, Miss., and Dudley Salers of Jackson, Miss., each earned $4,278 Saturday for tying for the win of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division event on Ross Barnett Reservoir. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Mississippi Division events and featured 186 boaters vying for the win, which earned both winners 200 points in the Boater Division.

Cordell caught four bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. He was fishing stumps and grass in the main lake area with a junebug worm. One of his bass, a 10-pound, 14-ouncer, earned him $930 for the big-bass award. He also earned $1,000 for the Bombardier Bonus award.

Salers caught five bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. He was fishing a black and blue worm around shallow stumps in the Cane Creek area.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Steve Jones of Moss Point, Miss., (four bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,901); William McKay Jr. of Brandon, Miss. (three bass, 13 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,331); and Jeff Roberts of Brandon, Miss. (three bass, 13 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,141).

Jones earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Joel Ross of Brandon, Miss., earned $2,744 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces that he caught while fishing a Rippler jig.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Joe Chisolm of Jackson (three bass, 8 pounds, 4 ounces, $1,372); Mark Sullivan of Collinsville, Miss., (three bass, 8 pounds, 2 ounces, $917) D.J. Hammock of Corinth, Miss., (three bass, 7 pounds, 14 ounces, $640) and David Hug of Collierville, Tenn. (three bass, 7 pounds, 13 ounces, $549).

Ben Hand of Memphis, Tenn., earned $440 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 6-pound bass he caught on while flipping a jig.

The Mississippi Division’s next event will be held April 1 on Lake Pickwick near Florence, Ala., followed by an event on the Columbus Pool near Columbus, Miss., May 6. The fourth event will be held June 17 on the Mississippi River near Greenville, Miss., and the Mississippi Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 16-17 with a two-day Super Tournament on Ross Barnett near Brandon.

Following the regular season, the Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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 Seminole 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.