Hailstone wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Ohio River

Boater James Hailstones of Fairfield, Ohio, earned $3,230 July 30 as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on the Ohio River near Maysville, Ky. Angler: James Hailstones.

July 30, 2005 • MLF • Archives

MAYSVILLE, Ky. – Boater James Hailstone of Fairfield, Ohio, earned $3,230 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on the Ohio River near Maysville. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Buckeye Division events and earned Hailstone 200 points in the Boater Division.

Hailstone’s winning catch of four bass weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Hailstone threw a watermelon tube and a jig around wood cover to catch his bass. Hailstone also earned big-bass award honors in the boater division for a 2-pound, 14-ounce bass, worth $475.

Finishing second was Kevin Spears of New Boston, Ohio, with four bass weighing 6 pounds that earned him $1,615. Dan Moran of London, Ohio, claimed $1,058 as the third-place finisher thanks to three bass weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces. In fourth was David Spivey of Hamilton, Ohio, with four bass weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce worth $882, and finishing fifth and earning $675 was Michael Moore of Uhrichsville, Ohio, with three bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

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

Don Wiggins of Cincinnati, Ohio, earned $1,615 as the co-angler winner, thanks to one bass weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces that he caught on a brown and gold with purple-flake tube. Wiggins’ bass also earned the co-angler big bass award, worth another $238.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Roy Lester of Hamilton, Ohio (two bass, 3 pounds, 9 ounces, $808); Brandon Good of Fort Jennings, Ohio, and Jack Landsaw Jr. of Mayslick tied for third place. Each co-angler caught two bass weighing 3 pounds, 8 ounces worth $469, and finishing in fifth place was Gary Vanover of Cincinnati, Ohio (one bass, 3 pounds, 5 ounces, $338).

The Buckeye Division’s next event will be held Aug. 20 on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio. The division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 10-11 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Erie near Sandusky.

Following the regular season, the Buckeye 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 Buckeye Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Lake Cherokee Regional near Morristown, Tenn., Oct. 4-8 where they will compete against Illini, LBL and Piedmont 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 FLWOutdoors.com.

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.