Greene wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Event on Grand River

Boater Norm Greene Jr. of Grand Haven, Mich., earned $3,466 as winner of the BFL Michigan Division event on the Grand River. Angler: Norman Greene Jr.

July 29, 2006 • MLF • Archives

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – Boater Norm Greene Jr. of Grand Haven, Mich., earned $3,466 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Michigan Division event on the Grand River. The tournament was the third of five regular-season Michigan Division events and earned Greene 200 points in the Boater Division.

Greene’s winning catch of five bass weighed 16 pounds, 8 ounces.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Eric Bond of Ferndale, Mich. (five bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,733); Don Watts of Gowen, Mich. (five bass, 14 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,155); Heath Wagner of Angola, Ind. (five bass, 12 pounds, 12 ounces, $809) and Eric Jennings of Muskegon, Mich. (five bass, 12 pounds, 10 ounces, $693).

Watts also won the Boater Division Big Bass Award with a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass earning him an additional $435.

Mark Modrak of Chesterfield, Mich., took home $500 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.

Steve Lewis of Marcellus, Mich., won the Co-angler Division to earn $1,733 thanks to five bass weighing 10 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Joshua Kolodzaike of Toledo, Ohio (five bass, 10 pounds, 3 ounces, $866); Troy Stokes of Grand Ledge, Mich. (five bass, 9 pounds, 10 ounces, $577); Philip Borsa of Redford, Mich. (five bass, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, $404); and Steve Pennington of Delton, Mich. (four bass, 7 pounds, 14 ounces, $347).

Paul Grove of Elkhart, Ind. and Scott Davis of Coloma, Mich., both earned $108 as they tied for the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 4-pound bass.

The Michigan Division’s next event will take place on the Detroit River near Trenton, Mich., Aug. 26. The Michigan Division will wrap up its regular season Sep. 9-10 with a two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, on the Detroit river near Trenton.

Following the regular season, the 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 Michigan Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the Fort Madison Regional near Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 5-7, where they will compete against Great Lakes, Illini and Ozark 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 FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 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 an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.