Smith brings winning bag at Lake Eufaula - Major League Fishing

Smith brings winning bag at Lake Eufaula

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Boater Eddie Smith of Box Springs, Ga., earned $5,304 May 6 as winner of the BFL Bulldog Division event on Lake Eufaula. Angler: Eddie Smith.
May 6, 2006 • MLF • Archives

EFAULA, Ala. – Eddie Smith of Box Springs, Ga., earned $5,304 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division event on Lake Eufaula. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Bulldog Division events and featured 167 boaters vying for the win, which earned Smith 200 points in the Boater Division.

Smith’s winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds. He threw a Pop R around points to catch his bass. Smith also took home an additional $835 for big-bass honors with a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Derrick Millirons of Seale, Ala. (five bass, 14 pounds, 13 ounces, $2,652); Jerry McClure of Conyers, Ga. (five bass, 14 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,768); Mike Cavender of Phenix City, Ala. (five bass, 14 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,238) and Mike York of Jackson, Ga. (five bass, 13 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,061).

Mike Blackshear of Macon, Ga. won $1,000 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.

Todd Classon of Albany, Ga., won the Co-angler Division to earn $2,652, thanks to three bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught while throwing Texas-rigged worms and Rapala DT-10 in and around grass beds in 7 feet of water. Classon also took home an additional $208.50 for winning the big-bass award.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Steve Graziano of Phenix City, Ala. (five bass, 12 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,326); Mike Chester of Warner Robins, Ga., (five bass, 11 pounds, 11 ounces, $887) Bradley Enfinger of Colquitt, Ga., (four bass, 11 pounds, 4 ounces, $619) and Randy Hill of Jonesboro, Ga. (five bass, 10 pounds, 14 ounces, $530).

The Bulldog Division’s next event will be held June 3 on West Point Lake near Lanette, Ala., followed by the two-day Super Tournament on Lake Oconee near Buckhead, Ga.

Following the regular season, the Bulldog 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 Bulldog Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Chickamauga Regional Championship near Hixson, Tenn., Oct. 12-14 where they will compete against Dixie, LBL and Music City 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.