Iles best boater on Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Lacewell earns co-angler title

JASPER, Texas – Danny Iles of Hemphill, Texas, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Louisiana-Texas Division two-day Super Tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Sunday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 39 pounds even. The victory earned Iles $5,831.

Iles said he caught his keepers by targeting grass in various spots with a 1-ounce jig.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas (10 bass, 36-1, $2,915); Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas (10 bass, 31-10, $1,945); Matt Byrd of Kingwood, Texas (nine bass, 29-12, $1,361); and Bradley Stringer of Huntington, Texas (10 bass, 29-9, $1,166).

Bobby Barreraz of Center, Texas, took home the Boater Division Folgers Big Bass award, earning $787 for a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught.

Larry Lacewell of Henderson, Texas, earned $2,788 as the co-angler winner Sunday thanks to a two-day catch of nine bass weighing 29 pounds, 2 ounces that he caught fishing a soft-plastic frog near the middle of the lake.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ronald Milton of Maurepas, La. (10 bass, 23-4, $1,394); Stacey McCalister of Benton, La. (eight bass, 21-1, $929); Andrew Peters of Nederland, Texas (10 bass, 20-05, $650); and Bill McCarty of Morgan City, La. (10 bass, 19-14, $558).

Lacewell and Murphy Downing of Hernando, Miss., each earned $182 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winners after catching a pair of 7-pound bass.

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 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.

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 has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports. Sign up for Player’s Advantage 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.