King rules BFL event on Richland Chambers Lake - Major League Fishing

King rules BFL event on Richland Chambers Lake

Co-angler winner outfishes full field by nearly 5 pounds
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Boater Brant King of Winnsboro, Texas, earned $2,788 as winner of the Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division event on Richland Chambers Lake. Angler: Brant King.
May 7, 2005 • MLF • Archives

CORSICANA, Texas – Boater Brant King of Winnsboro earned $2,788 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division event on Richland Chambers Lake. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Cowboy Division events and earned King 200 points in the Boater Division.

King’s winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 15 ounces. King was fishing around clumps of grass with a Carolina rig when he caught his bass.

Finishing second was Rick Edwards of Groves with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces that earned him $1,394. Jimmy Vann of Cameron claimed $912 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces. In fourth was Charles Simmons of Waco with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 1 ounce worth $710. In a fifth-place tie were Glen Freeman of Converse, La., with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces and Andy Gaia of Tomball with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces. Each angler earned $532.

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

James McKee of Houston took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $380 for a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a spinnerbait.

James Werkmeister of Fort Worth earned $1,394 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 23 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught on a Zoom super fluke. Werkmeister earned an additional $190 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 6-pound, 6-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Cox of Austin (four bass, 15 pounds, 6 ounces, $697); Dave Settle of Mineola (five bass, 11 pounds, 15 ounces, $457); Dennis Smith of Jasper (four bass, 10 pounds, 14 ounces, $355); and Brian Allen of Katy (five bass, 10 pounds, 9 ounces, $291).

The Cowboy Division’s next event will be held June 18 on Toledo Bend Lake near Shelbyville. The Cowboy Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Sam Rayburn Lake near Sam Rayburn.

Following the regular season, the Cowboy 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 Cowboy Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Ouachita Regional near Hot Springs, Ark., Oct. 18-22 where they will compete against Louisiana, Okie, and Ozark 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.