Fyffe wins BFL event on Ohio River

Boater Dave Fyffe of Heath, Ohio, earned $4,119 June 17 as winner of the BFL Buckeye Division event on the Ohio River. Angler: Dave Fyffe.

June 17, 2006 • MLF • Archives

UNION, Ky. – Boater Dave Fyffe of Heath, Ohio, earned $4,119 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on the Ohio River. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Buckeye Division events and earned Fyffe 200 points in the Boater Division.

Fyffe’s winning catch of five bass weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Gary Becker of Saint Mary’s, Ohio (five bass, 8 pounds, 4 ounces, $2,059); Jason Elrod of Miamisburg, Ohio (five bass, 7 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,374); Dennis Akers of Garrison, Ky., (three bass, 7 pounds, 8 ounces, $961) and Larry Davis Jr. of New Lebanon, Ohio (five bass, 7 pounds, 7 ounces, $824).

Becker also took home an additional $500 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.

Ernie Hedrick of North Bend, Ohio, took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $565 for a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass.

Roy Lester of Hamilton, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and earned $1,981 thanks to five bass weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces that he caught on a finesse worm in 2 feet of water.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Rodney Mitchell of Morrow, Ohio (three bass, 5 pounds, 9 ounces, $991); J.R. Corbin of Xenia, Ohio (two bass, 5 pounds, 8 ounces, $662); Daniel Shuga of Botkins, Ohio (three bass, 4 pounds, 12 ounces, $462); and Duane Fry of Bellefontaine, Ohio (three bass, 4 pounds, 6 ounces, $396).

Corbin also earned $267 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 4-pound, 2-ounce bass.

The Buckeye Division’s next event will be held July 22 on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio, followed by an event on the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Ind., Aug 19. The Buckeye Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 16-17 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.

Following the regular season, the Buckeye 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 Buckeye Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Kentucky Lake Regional near Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 19-21, where they will compete against Bama, Hoosier and Mountain 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 visit FLWOutdoors.com.

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.

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.