Gray wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on Kerr Lake

HENDERSON, N.C. – Boater Brandon Gray of Bullock, N.C., earned 300 points and $7,695 Sunday as the winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division Super Tournament on Kerr Lake.

Gray’s two-day winning catch of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds where caught in the Nut Bush area on crankbaits.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Anthony Fofi of Spring Lake, N.C. (eight bass, 20 pounds, 15 ounces, $3,848); Dan Treadaway of Rocky Mount, N.C. (nine bass, 19 pounds, 8 ounces, $2,565); Wayne Smelser of Rural Retreat, Va. (seven bass, 18 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,796); and Jeff Gafford of Pamplin, Va. (seven bass, 16 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,539).

Treadaway also took home $500 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.

Jeffrey Emmons of Asheboro, N.C., won the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award with a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass that earned him $1,200.

Vic Riveras of Newport News, Va., earned $3,848 as the co-angler winner thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught on a Texas-rigged Zoom Centipede on the Roanoke River.

Riveras also earned $600 as the co-angler Snickers Big Bass winner with a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brian Clark of South Boston, Va. (six bass, 13 pounds, $1,924); Kurt Koedyker of Hopewell, Va. (six bass, 12 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,281); Travis Padgett of Wake Forrest, N.C. (five bass, 11 pounds, 12 ounces, $898); and Jack Markham III of Stem, N.C. (six bass, 11 pounds, 10 ounces, $770).

The top 40 Piedmont Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will now advance to the no-entry-fee Smith Mountain Lake Regional Championship near Moneta, Va., Oct. 19-21, where they will compete against Empire, North Carolina and Northeast Division anglers for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck in the Boater Division plus six slots in the no-entry-fee 2007 Wal-Mart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash 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 Boater Division points champion who advances the farthest at the All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances the farthest will earn $5,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

For complete Piedmont Division standings, browse FLWOutdoors.com.

The $8.8 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.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse FLWOutdoors.com.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.