Hall wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Pickwick Lake

PICKWICK DAM, Tenn. – Boater Chad Hall of Pinson, Ala., earned $4,368 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division event on Pickwick Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Mississippi Division events and featured 143 boaters vying for the win, which earned Hall 200 points in the Boater Division.

Hall’s winning catch of five bass weighed 13 pounds, 15 ounces. Hall was fishing primary and secondary points in the Bay Springs area with a pumpkin-seed lizard. He was also winner of the Boater Division big-bass award, earning an additional $715 for a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass.

Finishing second was Jeff Roberts of Brandon, Miss., with two bass weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces that earned him $2,184. Keith Moore of Olive Branch, Miss., claimed $1,427 as the third-place finisher thanks to three bass weighing 9 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was Mark Logan of Memphis with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces worth $1,112, and finishing fifth and earning $913 was Justin Arnold of Tuscumbia, Ala., with two bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

Logan earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Jimmy Stallins Sr. of Byhalia, Miss., bested 143 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,184 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a yellow Lucky Craft lure.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Michael Dennis of Cuba, Ala., (five bass, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,092); Curtis Seale of Madison, Miss., and Shane Patterson of Alexander City, Ala., tied for third place with two bass weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces and three bass weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces respectively, earning each co-angler $635. Brad Letchworth of Madison, Miss., and Daniel Stover of Lake Cormorant, Miss., tied for fifth place. Both co-anglers caught two bass weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces worth $417.

Patterson earned an additional $358 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a Lucky Craft CB 100.

The Mississippi Division’s next event will be held April 30 on the Columbus Pool of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway near Columbus, Miss., followed by another event on Columbus Pool near Columbus, Miss., June 25. The Mississippi Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on Ross Barnett Lake near Brandon, Miss.

Following the regular season, the Mississippi 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 Mississippi Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Martin Regional near Alexander City, Ala., where they will compete against Everglades, Gator and Savannah River 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.

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.