Best lives up to name at Super Tournament on Shelbyville Lake

Boater Eldon Best of Taylorsville, Ill., earned $4,554 Sept. 11 as winner of the Wal-Mart BFL Illini Division Super Tournament event on Shelbyville Lake. Angler: Eldon Best.

September 11, 2005 • MLF • Archives

FINDLAY, Ill. – Boater Eldon Best of Taylorsville earned $4,554 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Illini Division Super Tournament event on Shelbyville Lake. The tournament earned Best 300 points in the Boater Division.

Best’s winning catch of 10 bass weighed 21 pounds, 14 ounces. He threw Berkley tequila sunrise Power Worms around shallow stumps to catch his bass.

Finishing second was Michael Black of Toledo with six bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces that earned him $2,223. John Wagner Jr. of Belleville claimed $1,084 as the third-place finisher thanks to six bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces. In fourth was Jeff Henson of Bloomington with eight bass weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces worth $976, and finishing fifth and earning $867 was Donnie Dill of Effingham with seven bass weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces.

Dill took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $720 for a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass.

Jim Pound of Decatur earned $2,277 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces that he caught on a 10-inch worm.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ryan Varner of Alhambra (three bass, 10 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,111); George Estes of Mahomet (five bass, 9 pounds, 8 ounces, $542); Robert McWhorter of Belleville (two bass, 7 pounds, 8 ounces, $488); and Jeff Motter of Springfield (four bass, 7 pounds, 5 ounces, $434).

McWhorter earned $360 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 4-pound, 4-ounce bass.

Following the regular season, the Illini 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.

The top 40 Illini 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 Buckeye, 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.