Dillon outfishes field on Ohio River
Krider on top of Co-angler Division
TELL CITY, Ind. – Terry Dillon of Danville, Ind., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division tournament on the Ohio River Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned Dillon $4,037 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Kentucky-Barkley Lakes Regional Championship in Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
“It was an extremely windy day. The weather was a huge factor that made it hard to find places to fish,” Dillon said. “I fished an area for three hours without a bite and went back to that area later and caught some fish. Never during the tournament did I feel like I would win.”
Dillon caught his limit fishing lily pads, wood and rocks throwing a ¼-ounce spinnerbait.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Marty Sisk of Evansville, Ind. (five bass, 7-5, $2,019); Kevin Meunier of Lamar, Ind. (five bass, 7-2, $1,345); Stu Moyer of Indianapolis, Ind. (three bass, 6-4, $942); and Gary Wagner of Martinsville, Ind. (two bass, 5-14, $807).
Steve Coffey of Anderson, Ind., took home the Folgers Big Bass award in the Boater Division, earning $545 for a 3-pound, 10-ounce bass he caught.
Jim Krider of North Vernon, Ind., earned $2,019 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to three bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Daniel Fromme of Jasper, Ind. (two bass, 5-6, $1,009); Lewis Mallory of Martinsville, Ind. (three bass, 4-15, $675); Daniel Day of New Albany, Ind. (three bass, 4-1, $471); and Tom Schrader of Greenwood, Ind. (two bass, 3-6, $404).
Fromme earned $272 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winner after catching a 3-pound, 5-ounce bass.
The next Hoosier Division event will be held on Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Ind., June 6.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.
The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee 2010 Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. 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 $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.
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.
Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.