Borne bags BFL win on Atchafalaya Basin

Boater Jeremy Borne (left) of Pierre Part, La., earned $4,119 March 18 as winner of the Wal-Mart BFL Louisiana Division event on the Atchafalaya Basin. Troy West of Prairieville, La., earned $2,059 as the co-angler winner. Anglers: Jeremy Borne, Troy West.

March 18, 2006 • MLF • Archives

BERWICK, La. – Boater Jeremy Borne of Pierre Part, La., earned $4,119 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Louisiana Division event on the Atchafalaya Basin. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Louisiana Division events and earned Borne 200 points in the Boater Division.

Borne’s winning catch of five bass weighed 17 pounds, 4 ounces. He threw a spinnerbait and soft plastics around cypress trees to catch his bass. Borne earned an additional $565 as winner of the big bass award, thanks to a 9-pound, 3-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters are James Edwards of Port Allen, La. (five bass, 14 pounds, 1 ounce, $2,059); Beau Fitch of Walker, La. (five bass, 14 pounds, $1,374); Bill England of Denham Springs, La. (five bass, 13 pounds, 14 ounces, $961) and Christopher Fontenot of Ville Platte, La. (five bass, 13 pounds, 10 ounces, $824).

John Lemaire of Abbeville, La., earned $750 as winner of the Ranger Cup and Powered by Yamaha awards.

Troy West of Prairieville, La., earned $2,059 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 10 pounds, 6 ounces that he caught on a jig and spinnerbait.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Christopher Thornton of Morgan City, La. (four bass, 9 pounds, 6 ounces, $858); Durrell Verrette of Houma, La., (four bass, 9 pounds, 6 ounces, $858) Chad Estep of Baton Rouge, La., (five bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces, $480) and Bill Fussell of Thibodaux, La. (four bass, 9 pounds, 4 ounces, $412).

Thornton earned $282 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 3-pound, 15-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.

Louisiana Division anglers will next visit Bayou Black in Gibson, La., April 29 for their third regular-season event, followed by an event on the Red River in Shreveport, La., June 10. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on the Atchafalaya Basin in Berwick Sept. 23-24. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse FLWOutdoors.com.

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.

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.