Porto lands win at BFL Super Tournament on Red River

Boater Chad Porto of Donaldsonville, La., earned $4,327 as winner of the BFL Louisiana Division Super Tournament event on the Red River. Angler: Chad Porto.

October 2, 2005 • MLF • Archives

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Boater Chad Porto of Donaldsonville earned $4,327 Sunday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Louisiana Division Super Tournament event on the Red River. The tournament earned Porto 300 points in the Boater Division.

Porto’s two-day winning catch of 10 bass weighed 21 pounds, 13 ounces.

Rounding out the top five pros are Bill Hardman of Metairie (10 bass, 21 pounds, 1 ounce, $2,112); Conrad Picou of Scott (10 bass, 19 pounds, 8 ounces, $1,030); Roger Hudnall of Denham Springs (10 bass, 18 pounds, 9 ounces, $927); and Wayne Tucker of Lafayette (10 bass, 17 pounds, 7 ounces, $824).

Picou earned $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Hardman took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $650 for a 4-pound, 4-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Colorado-blade spinnerbait.

Drew Ratley of Clewiston, Fla., earned $2,163 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces that he caught while flipping a Baby Paca Craw.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Derek Hudnall of Denham Springs (10 bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,056); Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss. (10 bass, 16 pounds, 2 ounces, $515); Bill McCarty of Morgan City (10 bass, 15 pounds, 1 ounce, $464); and Steve Morgan of Grand Bay, Ala. (10 bass, 14 pounds, 8 ounces, $412).

Burns earned $325 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound bass he caught on a Colorado-blade spinnerbait.

Following the regular season, the Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Cowboy, 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 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.