Rigsby wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Weiss Lake

CEDAR BLUFF, Ala. – Boater Ryan Rigsby of Hixson, Tenn., earned $2,702 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division event on Weiss Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Choo Choo Division events, and the win earned Rigsby 200 points in the Boater Division.

Rigsby’s winning catch of five bass weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces. Rigsby fished shallow docks and grass with a Zoom Horny Toad and a Yamamoto Senko in Yellow Creek and the Cowan area of the lake.

Finishing second was Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $1,351. Johnny Belyeu of Gadsden, Ala., claimed $884 for his third-place finish plus an additional $750 for being the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant and meeting the Powered by Yamaha guidelines. His five bass weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces. In fourth was Robert Boyd of Russellville, Ala., with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces worth $688, and finishing fifth and earning $565 was Travis Smith of Fort Payne, Ala., with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces.

Watkins took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $360 for a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a green pumpkin Senko.

Roger Hicks of Rocky Face, Ga., bested the rest of the Co-angler Division competitors to earn $1,351 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jett Loach of Ringgold, Ga. (thre bass, 11 pounds, 14 ounces, $675); Danny Moss of Glencoe, Ala. (five bass, 11 pounds, 2 ounces, $444); Denny Cole of Rockwood, Tenn. (five bass, 11 pounds, $313); and Jason Owens of Attalla, Ala. (five bass, 11 pounds, $313).

Jessie Hall of Sweetwater, Tenn., earned $180 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Baby Brush Hog.

The Choo Choo Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 10-11 with a two-day Super Tournament on Watts Barr Lake near Rockwood, Tenn.

Following the regular season, the Choo Choo Division boater with the most points will earn $1,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler amassing the most points will earn $500 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. The top 40 Choo Choo Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Clarks Hill Lake Regional near Augusta, Ga., Oct. 11-15 where they will compete against Dixie, North Carolina, and Shenandoah division anglers for one of six slots in the 2006 All-American. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.

The $8.4 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse this Web site.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.