Kentucky, Barkley lakes to host Walmart BFL Regional

The weather may be sunny, but a near-record cold chilled the Kentucky Lake region the night before the tournament began. Photo by Jennifer Simmons.

September 19, 2008 • MLF • Archives

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League will visit Kentucky and Barkley lakes near Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 2-4 for one of seven no-entry-fee Regional Championships. During the tournament, hosted by Marshall County Tourist Commission, top Arkie, Buckeye, Great Lakes and Illini division anglers will compete for a $60,000 prize package that includes a new Chevy truck and Ranger 198VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha in the Boater Division and a $40,000 Ranger 198VX powered by Evinrude or Yamaha in the Co-angler Division.

Boater Dennis Bean of Hot Springs, Ark., and co-angler Johnny Manning of Arkadelphia, Ark., will lead the Arkie qualifiers on Kentucky-Barkley while boater Dan Fry of Marysville, Ohio, and co-angler Don Wiggins of Cincinnati, Ohio, lead the Buckeye-division contingent. Boater Joshua Duggan of Lodi, Wis., and co-angler Ben Due of Mauston, Wis., are the No. 1 qualifiers from the Great Lakes division, and boater Toby Corn of West Frankfort, Ill., and co-angler Aaron Wehmeyer of Bloomington, Ill., are the top qualifiers from the Illini division.

Overall, 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers qualified from each of these divisions for a total field of 160 boats on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. The anglers qualified for the Regional Championship through a series of four one-day tournaments and a two-day Super Tournament in each of their respective divisions.

Kentucky Dam Marina located at 466 Marina Drive in Gilbertsville will host daily takeoffs at 7 a.m. Kentucky Dam Marina will also host Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in featuring the top six boaters and six co-anglers will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 310 W. 5th St. in Benton beginning at 4 p.m. The winners will be determined by the heaviest total catch from all three days of competition.

Boaters and co-anglers who finish in the top six at the Kentucky-Barkley Regional Championship will also advance to the $1 million no-entry-fee 2009 All-American championship presented by Chevy where they will fish for as much as $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will also advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing.

In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3 million. Additionally, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2009 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing, FLW Outdoors offered anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.