Devere best boater at BFL event on Lake Cumberland - Major League Fishing

Devere best boater at BFL event on Lake Cumberland

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Boater Mike Devere of Berea, Ky., earned $6,000 March 11 as winner of the BFL Mountain Division event on Lake Cumberland. Angler: Mike Devere.
March 11, 2006 • MLF • Archives

MONTICELLO, Ky. – Boater Mike Devere of Berea, Ky., earned $6,000 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Mountain Division event on Lake Cumberland. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Mountain Division events and featured 200 boaters vying for the win, which earned Devere 200 points in the Boater Division.

Devere’s winning catch of four bass weighed 18 pounds, 7 ounces. He was throwing a jig around deep points near the Jamestown area. Devere took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $1,000 for a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass. He won another $2,000 as winner of the Bombardier and Ranger Cup bonus awards.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Carl Maxfield of Bristol Tenn., (five bass, 16 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,000); Carl Prater of Caryville, Tenn. (five bass, 16 pounds, 4 ounces, $2,000); Jarrod Hembree of Berea,Ky. (four bass, 15 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,400); and Michael Boggs of Lily, Ky. (five bass, 15 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,200).

Herman Moore of Seymour, Tenn., bested 200 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $3,000 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught casting a float and fly in the Fall Creek area around secondary points.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Orville Cope of Treadway, Tenn. (four bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,500); Luke Stevenson of Nancy, Ky., (three bass, 9 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,000); Kelly Barrett of Richmond, Ky., (four bass, 9 pounds, 6 ounces, $700); and Billy Brock of Corbin, Ky., (two bass, 8 pounds, 6 ounces, $600).

Ronald Hiles of McDermott, Ohio, earned $500 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught on a blade bait on the lower end of the lake.

The Mountain Division’s next event will be held April, 8 on Dale Hollow Lake near Byrdstown, Tenn., followed by an event on Lake Douglas near Sevierville, Tenn., April 29. The fourth event will be held May 20 on Lake Cherokee near Morristown, Tenn., and the Mountain Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 23-24 with a two-day Super Tournament on the Barren River near Glasgow, Ky.

Following the regular season, the Mountain Division boater with the most points who advances farthest in the Wal-Mart BFL All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances farthest will earn $5,000 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 Mountain Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Kentucky Lake Regional Championship near Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Buckeye, Hoosier and Bama division anglers for one of six slots in the 2007 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 $8.8 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, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

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.