Jenkins outfishes field at Lake Palestine

FLINT, Texas – Boater Scott Jenkins of Tyler, Texas, earned $3,386 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division event on Lake Palestine. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Cowboy Division events, which earned Jenkins 200 points in the Boater Division.

Jenkins’ winning catch of four bass weighed 19 pounds. He was throwing a white Paul Ferguson spinnerbait in 2 feet of water on the edge of creek channel drop-offs to catch his bass.

Jenkins also took home an additional $425 for winning the Boater Division big-bass award with a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters were Scott Mandile of Kilgore, Texas (four bass, 15 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,693); Dicky Newberry of Houston (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,129); Russell Lee of Ennis, Texas (five bass, 14 pounds, 8 ounces, $790); Patrick Fuller of Tyler, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 13 ounces, $677) and Jerry Evans of Pottsboro, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 10 ounces, $621).

Newberry also took home $500 for being the highest-placing Ranger Cup participant.

Jesse Fry of College Station, Texas, won the Co-angler Division to earn $1,693 thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces that he caught while throwing a watermelon-red Senko in 3 feet of water around submerged stumps and hydrilla.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Paul Grove of Krum, Texas (five bass, 11 pounds, 1 ounce, $846); Clint Bridges of Round Rock, Texas, (five bass, 10 pounds, 15 ounces, $564) Duane Hill of Port Arthur, Texas, (four bass, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, $395); and Joe Barringer of Houston, Texas, tied for fifth with Rick Schroeder of Fayetteville, Texas (three bass, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, $324).

Barringer also earned an additional $212 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound 10-ounce bass.

The Cowboy Division’s next event will be held Sept. 30- Oct. 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Jasper, Texas, for the divisions two-day Super Tournament, the divisions fifth and final event.

Following the regular season, the Cowboy 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 Cowboy Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Wright Patman Regional Championship near Texarkana, Texas., Oct. 19-21 where they will compete against Arkie, Louisiana and Okie 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.