Allen wins BFL event on Lake Patoka

Leistner top co-angler

JASPER, Ind. – Boater Ron Allen of Huntingburg, Ind., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division tournament on Lake Patoka Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 21 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned Allen $3,205 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Kentucky Lake Regional Championship in Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“I felt it would take at least 20 pounds to win this tournament from what I had seen guys catching earlier in the week,” said Allen. “We got hit by a bad storm heading in to the weigh-in. You couldn’t even see the end of the boat because of the rain.”

Allen had caught 15 pounds of his limit by 7:30 a.m., finishing out his winning weight by 1:30 p.m., before the storm rolled in. He had been fishing mid-lake with a Texas rigged 10-inch worm with a 1/2-ounce sinker on a 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Tom Forrester of Bloomington, Ind. (five bass, 17-9, $1,603); Mark Dove of North Vernon, Ind. (five bass, 15-8, $1,068); Frank McClain of Scottsburg, Ind. (four bass, 14-10, $748); and Travis Edgar of North Webster, Ind. (four bass, 14-8, $641).

Ron Allen also took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $385 for a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught.

Michael Leistner of Camby, Ind., earned $1,603 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to four bass weighing 11 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught on a Zoom Super Hog with 1/2-ounce sinker.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Eric Herbert of Madison, Ind. (three bass, 8-4, $801); Richard Kirkland of Indianapolis, Ind. (three bass, 7-15, $533); Erich Hartman of Lebanon, Ind. (three bass, 6-10, $374); and Larry Kitchel of Monticello, Ind. (two bass, 6-2, $321).

Kevin Keltner of Pekin, Ind., earned $192 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass.

The next Hoosier Division event, a two-day Super Tournament, will be held on the Ohio River in Tell City, Ind., Sept. 19-20.

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.