Windham top boater on Lake Lanier

James takes top honors in Co-angler Division

GAINSVILLE, Ga. – Boater Jim Windham of Bonaire, Ga., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division tournament on Lake Lanier Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces. The victory earned Windham $5,100 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 25-27, where he could ultimately win a new 519VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

Windham also won the Snickers Big Bass award in the Boater Division with a 6-pound, 6-ounce bass that earned him $1,000. He also was the highest-placing Ranger Cup participant, which also earned him an additional $1,000.

Windham was throwing a combination of soft-plastics and jigs targeting bedding bass to catch his quality-sized tournament-limit if bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Roger Vinson of Flowery Branch, Ga., (five bass, 17-14, $3,000); Trent Gober of Pendergrass, Ga. (five bass, 17-10, $2,000); Terry Stevens of Marianna, Fla. (five bass, 17-2, $1,400); and Howard Harris of Hillsboro, Ga., (five bass, 16-12, $1,200).

William James of Lawrenceville, Ga., earned $3,000 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught while fishing a shaky-head worm in 8 to 10 feet of water.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Michael Wright of Covington, Ga. (five bass, 14-2, $1,500); Gerald Bunn of Mansfield, Ga. (five bass, 13-12, $1,000); James Murphy of Phoenix City, Ala. (five bass, 13-11, $700); and Joseph Renfroe of Jasper, Ga. (five bass, 13-7, $600).

Ron Lane of Flagler Beach, Fla., earned $500 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass.

The Bulldog Division’s next event will be May 19 on West Point Lake in Lanette, Ala., followed by a tournament Sept. 8-9 on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala., for the division’s final event of the regular season a two-day Super Tournament.

Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on year-end points standings in the division will advance to the no-entry-fee Lake Seminole Regional Championship where they will compete against top qualifiers from three other BFL divisions. At the Regional Championship boaters will fish for a new Ranger boat and Chevy truck and co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger boat. The top six boaters and top six co-anglers at the Regional Championship will also advance to the 2008 All-American presented by Chevy. With a total purse of $1 million, a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and as much as $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing. The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American also advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the sport’s biggest championship.

The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired. Boaters supply the boat and fish from the front deck against other boaters while co-anglers compete 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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, 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 will offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.

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.

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