Gorrell gets Walmart BFL win on Potomac River

Brown best co-angler

MARBURY, Md. – Dale Gorrell of Quakertown, Pa., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Northeast Division tournament on the Potomac River Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned Gorrell $4,948 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Potomac River Regional Championship in Marbury, Md., Oct. 8-10, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

Gorrell said he caught the majority of his bass throwing a ChatterBait-type lure near grass and rocks.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Kevin Waterman of La Plata, Md. (five bass, 20-13, $2,474); Michael McNicholas of Whitehall, Pa. (five bass, 18-13, $1,649); Richard Haber Jr. of Severn, Md. (five bass, 18-11, $1,155); and Art Vengels of Bensalem, Pa. (five bass, 17-5, $990).

Haber and David Wright of Red Lion, Pa., shared the Boater Division Big Bass award, each earning $377.50 for a pair of 5-pound, 14-ounce bass they caught.

Gilbert Brown of Fredericksburg, Va., earned $2,490 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces. Brown said he, too, caught the majority of his bass throwing a chatter-type bait near grass and rocks.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brad Eccleston of Aston, Pa. (five bass, 14-10, $1,245); Randy Edgar of Columbia, Pa. (five bass, 14-5, $705); William Higgins Jr. of Monroe Township, N.J. (five bass, 14-5, $705); and Justin Largen of Centreville, Va. (five bass, 14-0, $498).

Charles Stewart of New Berlin, Pa., earned $380 as the co-angler Big Bass winner with a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass he caught on a Rat-L-Trap.

The next Northeast Division event will be held on the Potomac River in Marbury, Md., June 13.

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.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

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.