Hennigan takes top honors at BFL event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Boater Phil Hennigan of Center, Texas, earned $4,350 March 4 as winner of the BFL Cowboy Division event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Angler: Phil Hennigan.

March 4, 2006 • MLF • Archives

JASPER, Texas – Boater Phil Hennigan of Center, Texas, earned $4,350 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Cowboy Division events and earned Hennigan 200 points in the Boater Division.

Hennigan’s winning catch of five bass weighed 21 pounds, 15 ounces. He caught his bass by sight-fishing with a ReAction Lures U-99 jerkbait and a 1/4-ounce jig. One of Hennigan’s bass weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and earned him $615 as winner of the big-bass award.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Scott David of Goodrich, Texas (five bass, 20 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,813); Glen Freeman of Converse, La. (five bass, 20 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,813); Mark Allen of Lindale, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,015) and Mark Martin of Beaumont, Texas (four bass, 19 pounds, 1 ounce, $870).

David earned an additional $750 for the Ranger Cup and Powered by Yamaha awards.

Gilbert Herald of Pittsburg, Texas, earned $2,136 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces that he caught while fishing a spinnerbait around shallow buckbrush.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brandon Wells of Spring, Texas (five bass, 16 pounds, 8 ounces, $1,068); Ted Robbins of Longview, Texas (five bass, 15 pounds, 10 ounces, $712) Charles Womack of Grand Prairie, Texas (five bass, 14 pounds, 5 ounces, $498) and Jesse Fry of College Station, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 15 ounces, $427).

Wells earned $297 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 6-pounder he caught on a spinnerbait.

Cowboy Division anglers will next visit Cedar Creek in Log Cabin, Texas, April 8 for their third regular-season event, followed by an event on Lake Palestine in Flint, Texas, April 29. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper Sept. 30-31. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse FLWOutdoors.com.

Following the regular season, the Cowboy 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 Cowboy Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Wright Patman Regional Championship near Texarkana, Texas, Oct. 19-21 and will compete against anglers from the Arkie, Louisiana and Okie divisions for an All-American slot. The top 40 anglers from each division may also advance to the Stren Series in 2007.

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.

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.