Fox earns Wal-Mart BFL win on Table Rock Lake

BRANSON WEST, Mo. – Boater Travis Fox of Springdale, Ark., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Ozark Division tournament on Table Rock Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned Fox $4,012 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“I started off right across from take-off, where my co-angler caught a keeper right off the bat; I was worried all of my other spots were taken, so I ran up to the Indian Creek area, and I think all 137 other boats in the tournament were up there,” Fox said. “I tried to start off on my best spot, but there was a boat sitting there, so I basically just hopped around and fished some other spots with limited success. Then, I picked a spot I did not fish in practice, but wanted to check out; there weren’t any other boats there, and it was just too good. It was basically the mouth of what looked like a spawning cove.”

Fox caught his best fish, a 7-pound, 11-ounce keeper on his third cast in that cove. He continued to move around, fishing the trees with a spinnerbait and trying to hit the banks other people hadn’t fished yet.

Fox only had four keepers at 2:30 p.m., and was still a half-hour boat ride away.

“I didn’t know if I could catch that fifth one or not,” Fox said. “A friend in practice told me about a dock where he could catch a keeper every single cast. He and his co-angler planned to go there to catch their limits, but said they’d leave it alone after that so I could go there, too, if I needed to. With a half hour left, I ran up there and caught a keeper on my second cast, then hurried back in.”

Rounding out the top five boaters are Gene Purdy of Bentonville, Ark. (five bass, 17-5, $2,360); Chris Burgess of Webb City, Mo. (five bass, 16-7, $1,574); Joe Dickey of Rogers, Ark. (five bass, 16-0, $1,022); and Wes Endicott of Joplin, Mo. (five bass, 16-0, $1,022).

Gene Lineberry of O’Fallon, Mo., took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $695 for an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught on spinnerbait.

Blase Frick of St. Louis earned $2,360 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces that he caught fishing bushes slowly with a spinnerbait.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Scott Parsons of Bentonville, Ark. (three bass, 14-8, $1,180); Kelly Phillips of Hindsville, Ark. (four bass, 13-11, $787); Jeremy Huddleston of Jefferson City, Mo. (four bass, 13-10, $551); and Timmy Burt of Blue Springs, Mo. (five bass, 13-4, $472).

Parsons earned $347 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.

Ozark Division anglers will visit Truman Lake in Clinton, Mo., May 10 for their third regular-season event, followed by an event on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., June 21. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo., Sept. 27-28.

Following the end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on year-end points standings in the division will advance to the no-entry-fee Lake Ouachita Regional Championship where they will compete against top qualifiers from three other BFL divisions. At the Regional Championship boaters will fish for a new Ranger boat and Chevy truck and co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger boat. The top six boaters and top six co-anglers at the Regional Championship will also advance to the All-American presented by Chevy. With a total purse of $1 million, a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and as much as $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing. The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American also advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the sport’s biggest championship.

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing, FLW Outdoors offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.

The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired. Boaters supply the boat and fish from the front deck against other boaters while co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.