DENISON, Texas (April 27, 2009) Billy Cline of Grapevine, Texas, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Cowboy Division tournament on Lake Texoma
DENISON, Texas (April 27, 2009) Billy Cline of Grapevine, Texas, won the Walmart Bass Fishing League® Cowboy Division tournament on Lake Texoma Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces. The victory earned Cline $2,694 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the DeGray Lake Regional Championship in Arkadelphia, Ark., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
It was a good day overall, Cline said. The wind made it difficult at times but the fishing was really good. There was a lot of boat traffic and if you could get away from the other boats you were in good shape.
Cline caught his limit at the lower end of the lake sight-fishing throwing a Texas-rigged white Zoom Speed Craw.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas (five bass, 18-15, $1,347); Ken Smith of Dallas, Texas (five bass, 16-1, $898); Mike Michelson of Altus, Okla. (five bass, 15-13, $629) and Spencer McAlester of Denison, Texas (five bass, 15-4, $539).
Cline took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $290 for a 8-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught on a white Zoom Speed Craw.
Rick Pritchard of Huntsville, Texas, earned $1,347 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five- bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces that he caught on a Big Bite creature bait in 8-10 feet of water.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Luke Roberts of Longview, Texas (five bass, 11-7, $674); Ryan Cohlmeyer of Fort Worth, Texas (five bass, 10-11, $449); Cody Cox of Cabin Creek, Texas (five bass, 10-9, $314); and Jeff Heaton of Hot Springs, Ark. (five bass, 10-3, $269).
Pete Hollar of Pilot Point, Texas earned $145 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass.
The next Cowboy Division event will be held on Cedar Creek in Log Cabin, Texas, May 16.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFLs 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 $2.5 million 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 nations 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 fishings 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 Players 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 Players Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
