Pemberton picks up BFL win on Lake Okeechobee

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Boater John Pemberton Jr. of Blairsville, Ga., earned $3,804 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Everglades Division event on Lake Okeechobee. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Everglades Division events and earned Pemberton 200 points in the Boater Division.

Pemberton’s winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 8 ounces. He flipped a Gambler 4-inch craw in the of Tin House Cove area and landed eight keepers before 8:30 a.m.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Jim Hurlock Jr. of Lake Worth, Fla., (five bass, 15 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,902); Mark Lamb of West Palm Beach, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,077); Robert Moore of Pinellas Park, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,077) and Ronald Roker of Naples, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 8 ounces, $761).

Hurlock took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $505 for a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass.

Barry Scott of North Ft. Myers, Fla., earned $1,902 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught while fishing a shallow-diving crankbait in Moonshine Bay.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Anthony Valachovic of Coral Springs, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 15 ounces, $951); Troy Woodham of Okeechobee (five bass, 14 pounds, 13 ounces, $634); Alan Retter of Margate, Fla., (two bass, 14 pounds, 6 ounces, $444) and David Sterling of Okeechobee (five bass, 14 pounds, 4 ounces, $380).

Bart Brown of Indialantic, Fla., earned $252 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to an 8-pound, 10-ounce bass.

The Everglades Division’s final event of the regular season will be a two-day Super Tournament held Sept. 30 on Lake Okeechobee launching out of Okee-Tantie Resort.

Following the regular season, the Everglades 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 Everglades Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Demopolis Regional Championship held in Demopolis, Ala., Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Choo-Choo, Mississippi 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.