Armstrong wins Walmart BFL event on Lake Guntersville - Major League Fishing

Armstrong wins Walmart BFL event on Lake Guntersville

D’Angelo tops co-anglers
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Boater Rick Armstrong of Owens Cross Roads, Ala., won the Feb. 28 BFL Choo Choo Division tournament on Lake Guntersville to earn $6,000. Angler: Rick Armstrong.
February 28, 2009 • MLF • Archives

SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Rick Armstrong of Owens Cross Roads, Ala., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division tournament on Lake Guntersville Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 26 pounds, 6 ounces. The victory earned Armstrong $6,000 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Clarks Hill Lake Regional Championship in Appling, Ga., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“I practiced two or three days when it was sunny and did very well,” Armstrong said. “The day of the tournament, it turned out rainy and cloudy. I prefer it to be sunny weather, but it seems I did alright.”

Armstrong fished the upper part of Lake Guntersville in 4 to 8 feet of water around grass and stumps throwing an Excalibur Xr-75.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Tim Gore of Albertville, Ala. (five bass, 25-4, $3,000); Bill Day of Frankfort, Ky. (five bass, 24-13, $2,000); Danny Bishop of Buchanan, Ga. (five bass, 24-3, $1,400) and James Johnson of Hartselle, Ala. (five bass, 23-10, $1,200).

Bill Day took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $1,000 for a 10-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught.

Mike D’Angelo of Remlap, Ala., earned $3,000 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 33 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught on a Rat-L-Trap.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jackie Teat of Brookwood, Ala. (five bass, 21-15, $1,500); David Eyrse of Collinsville, Ala. (five bass, 19-15, $1,000); Wayne Garner of Sherwood, Tenn. (five bass, 18-12, $700); and Ernie Gamble of Stevenson, Ala. (five bass, 18-5, $600).

Mike D’Angelo earned $500 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching an 8-pound, 8-ounce bass.

The next Choo Choo Division event will be held on the Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Ala., March 28.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee 2010 Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.

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For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.