Lynch lands win at BFL event on Kentucky, Barkley lakes

Boater Drew Lynch of Paducah, Ky., earned $3,381 May 21 as winner of the BFL Music City Division event on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. Angler: Drew Lynch.

May 21, 2005 • MLF • Archives

PARIS, Tenn. – Boater Drew Lynch of Paducah, Ky., earned $3,381 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Music City Division event on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes. Lynch earned an additional $1,500 for being the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant and meeting the Powered by Yamaha guidelines. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Music City Division events which earned Lynch 200 points in the Boater Division.

Lynch’s winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces. Lynch fished jigs on ledges in 8 to 12 feet of water between the 68 bridge and the dam to catch his winning limit.

Finishing second was Eric White of Anderson, Ala., with five bass weighing 19 pounds that earned him $1,690. Jason Sain of Beechgrove claimed $1,106 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces. In fourth was George Beeler Jr. of Mount Juliet with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces worth $861, and finishing fifth and earning $707 was Jeremy Damron of Tullahoma with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces.

Frank Fisher of Clarksville took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $505 for a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Carolina-rigged Zoom Brush Hog.

Kevin Lamb of Gallatin bested the Co-angler Division competitors to earn $1,615 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a floating worm around shallow buck brush.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brandon Perkins of Counce (five bass, 12 pounds, 13 ounces, $808); Ken Mayes of Cookeville (three bass, 12 pounds, 2 ounces, $527); Shane Winchester of Cave City, Ky. (five bass, 11 pounds, 1 ounce, $411); and Curtis Cline of Westmoreland (five bass, 10 pounds, 3 ounces, $338).

Lamb earned $238 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Ol’ Monster worm.

The Music City Division’s next event will be held June 18 on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin. The Music City Division will wrap up its regular season Oct. 1-2 with a two-day Super Tournament on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin.

Following the regular season, the Music City 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 Music City Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Kerr Lake Regional near Henderson, N.C., Oct. 18-22 where they will compete against Empire, Mountain, and Northeast 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.