Blaylock wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Super Tournament on Lake Hamilton

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Boater Stetson Blaylock of Benton earned $5,013 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Arkie Division Super Tournament event on Lake Hamilton. The tournament earned Blaylock 300 points in the Boater Division.

Blaylock’s two-day winning catch of nine bass weighed 17 pounds, 7 ounces. He covered a lot of water with a yellow Zoom Horny Toad to catch his bass. He earned an additional $1,500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award and Powered by Yamaha awards.

One of the youngest anglers on any Wal-Mart FLW Outdoors tournament circuit, Blaylock turned 18 on August 27.

Finishing second was Monte Griffin of Hot Springs with nine bass weighing 17 pounds that earned him $2,447. Clinton Mayfield of Hot Springs claimed $1,194 as the third-place finisher thanks to seven bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces. In fourth was Barrett Moss of Somerset, Ky., with 10 bass weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces worth $1,074, and finishing fifth and earning $955 was Matt Mitchell of Hot Springs with 10 bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces.

Ron Barnes of Bentonville took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $830 for a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass.

Billy Littleton of Batesville earned $2,507 as the co-angler winner, thanks to seven bass weighing 11 pounds that he caught on a Zoom Fluke and a plastic crawdad.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kenney Holland of Cabot (nine bass, 9 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,223); Brad Orr of Texarkana (eight bass, 9 pounds, 6 ounces, $597); Robert Bogard Jr. of Conway (eight bass, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, $537); and Chris Rice of Dyersburg, Tenn. (seven bass, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, $477).

Richard Griffin of El Dorado earned $415 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 3-pound, 10-ounce bass.

Following the regular season, the Arkie 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 Arkie Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Ohio River Regional near Paducah, Ky., Oct. 11-15 where they will compete against Hoosier, Great Lakes and Michigan 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.