Pacella gets BFL win on Oneida Lake

Batur best co-angler

BREWERTON, N.Y. – Dean Pacella of Quakertown, Pa., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Empire Division tournament on Oneida Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce. The victory earned Pacella $3,917 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Potomac River Regional Championship in Marbury, Md., Oct. 8-10, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

Pacella said he caught his entire limit flipping on the south side of the Oneida Lake.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Joe Zombek II of Scranton, Pa. (five bass, 14-13, $1,958); Jamie Hartman of Poland, N.Y. (five bass, 14-12, $1,307); Jim Sweeney of West Dover, Vt. (five bass, 14-8, $914); and David Brill of Hanover Township, Pa. (five bass, 14-2, $783).

Dean Pacella also took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $520 for a 4-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught.

Mark Batur of Boonville, N.Y., earned $1,921 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught on a Keitech jig.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brian Dauberman of Mifflinburg, Pa. (five bass, 14-1, $960); Bryan Keith of Schenectady, N.Y. (five bass, 13-15, $641); Roxanne Przelski of Poland, N.Y. (five bass, 13-10, $448); and Richard Platt of Oneonta, N.Y. (five bass, 13-0, $384).

Robert Osterhout of Vestal, N.Y., earned $255 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass.

The next Empire Division event will be held on Lake Champlain in Ticonderoga, N.Y., Aug. 22.

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.

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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.