Walmart Bass Fishing League Preview For Saturday, April 18

WHAT: The 2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League season will continue with five tournaments on Saturday, April 18. The Choo Choo division will take on Lake Guntersville, the Gator division heads to Lake Okeechobee, the Illini division opens their season on Rend Lake, the South Carolina division competes on Lake Wateree and the Volunteer division will tackle Lake Chickamauga. Up to 400 boaters and co-anglers will be competing for top awards of up to $8,000 and $3,000 respectively in the one-day events.

 

WHEN: Saturday, April 18, 2015

 

Civitan Park

1130 Sunset Drive

Guntersville, Ala.  

 

NOTES: The tournament on Lake Guntersville is going to be a slugfest. Anglers will be able to find fish in all three phases of the spawn. Some bass will be caught shallow off of beds with creature baits or jigs. Other fish will be found on deeper spots such as main-lake points, humps, or bridge pilings. Those fish can be caught using swimbaits, crankbaits, and umbrella rigs. It will likely take a five-bass limit upwards of 30 pounds to win the tournament.

 

C. Scott Driver Park

10100 W. Highway 78

Okeechobee, Fla.

 

NOTES: Lake Okeechobee is a great spring time fishery. The bass spawn will be in full swing this time of year. Tournaments in the past have been won using a wide variety of strategies. Bass can be caught in the south end of the lake on crankbaits. Flipping the abundant Lake Okeechobee grass is always a strong pattern for tournament anglers. Many bass will still be in coves on beds and can be caught with creature baits or other soft plastic lures. The lake is home to many giant bass and the potential for a monster five-bass limit is there. Average winning weights in mid-April are usually around 25 pounds on the Big “O”.

 

Wayne Fitzgerald Sailboat Landing

11094 Ranger Road

Whittington, Ill.

 

NOTES:  Anglers will need to dial in the pre-spawn bass bite in order to find success this time of year. Fish will likely be focused around the lake’s many bushes and brush piles. In shallow water, anglers should choose to target bass with a jig. Bass holding to deeper brush found on main- and secondary-lake points will often bite on spinnerbaits. If warmer weather persists, some bass may begin to bed and can be caught with soft plastics. A five-bass limit weighing in the high teens will give anglers a shot at the win.

 

Clear Water Cove Marina

2029 Baron DeKalb Road

Camden, S.C.

 

NOTES: According to recent Lake Wateree fishing reports, the largemouth bass fishing is excellent right now. Both prespawn and spawning fish can be found all over the lake. Come tournament time, a majority of the fish should be on beds. Traditional spawning pockets with shallow cover will be holding big fish. Large numbers of fish can be caught using a variety of soft plastics, such as shaky-head rigs, worms and tubes. Bigger fish baits include jigs and spinnerbaits. A five-bass limit nearing 20 pounds will give an angler a good chance to take home the victory.

 

Chester Frost Park

2318 Gold Point Circle N.  

Hixson, Tenn.

 

NOTES:  This tournament is timed perfectly for anglers to catch giant Lake Chickamauga bass. If the water remains clear, many anglers will be sight-fishing for spawning bass. Any shallow cover such as boat docks, riprap and laydowns will attract fish. These fish can be caught using soft plastics and jigs. If the water muddies up and visibility is less than a foot, anglers will need to search for bass using spinnerbaits or swimjigs. If the correct conditions line up, the winning angler’s five-bass limit could weigh as much as 30 pounds.

 

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. The 2015 BFL All-American is being held June 18-20 on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tennessee. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

 

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

 

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

 

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