Muir wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Potomac River

Boater Donald Muir of Nottingham, Md., earned $4,119 June 10 as winner of the BFL Northeast Division event on the Potomac River. Angler: Don Muir.

June 10, 2006 • MLF • Archives

LAPLATA, Md. – Boater Donald Muir of Nottingham, Md., earned $4,119 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Northeast Division event on the Potomac River. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Northeast Division events and earned Muir 200 points in the Boater Division.

Muir’s winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 7 ounces. He was throwing an array of soft plastics to catch his bass in the shallows of the Potomac River.

Muir also took home Boater Division Big Bass honors with a 6-pound, 1-ounce beauty earning him an additional $565.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Todd Schaff of Hume, Va. (five bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce, $2,059); Bryan Schmitt of Columbia, Md. (five bass, 15 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,374); Terry Roberson of Williamstown, N.J. (five bass, 14 pounds, 14 ounces, $961) and Brian Stack of Nanjemoy, Md. (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $824).

Steve Cram of Atco, N.J., won the Co-angler Division and earned $2,019 thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces that he caught on a Mann’s Baby One Minus Crankbait.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kevin Semrau of Lititz, Pa. (four bass, 12 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,009); Brent McNeal of Todd, Pa. (four bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces, $675); Richard Windsor of Huntingtown, Md. (four bass, 11 pounds, 15 ounces, $471); and Paul Ford of Exeter, N.H. (four bass, 11 pounds, 6 ounces, $404).

Greg Fernandez of Wheaton, Md., earned $272 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass.

The Northeast Division’s next event will be held June 24 on Chesapeake Bay near Elkton, Md., followed by an event on the Hudson River near Catskill, N.Y., July 22. The division’s fourth event will be held again on Chesapeake Bay near Elkton, Md., Aug. 19. The Northeast Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 9-10 with a two-day Super Tournament on the Potomac River near LaPlata, Md.

Following the regular season, the Northeast 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 Northeast Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Smith Mountain Regional near Moneta, Va., Oct. 19-21, where they will compete against Empire, North Carolina, and Piedmont 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 FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.