Walmart BFL Tournament Preview
Arkie, Bama, LBL, Ozark, Piedmont and Savannah River division tournaments set for April 11
The 2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League season will continue with six tournaments on Saturday, April 11. The Arkie Division will take on Lake Dardanelle, the Bama Division stops on Lake Martin, the LBL Division heads to Kentucky Lake, the Ozark Division competes on Lake of the Ozarks, the Piedmont Division opens their season on Kerr Lake and the Savannah River Division continues on Lake Hartwell. Up to 400 boaters and co-anglers will be competing for top awards of up to $8,000 and $3,000 respectively in the one-day events.
To register for any of these tournaments, click here.
When: Saturday, April 11, 2015
Arkie Division
Lake Dardanelle
Lake Dardanelle State Park
2428 Marina Road
Russellville, Ark.
Notes: Bass fishing on Lake Dardanelle has been very good recently and bass are currently being found in their prespawn phase. They can be caught deep on Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits, and jigs, but as the water temperature begins to rise, many bass will begin transition to shallow flats to spawn. Spawning bass can be targeted with crankbaits and soft plastics. Anglers will need to bring in a five-bass limit nearing 20 pounds to win the event.
Bama Division
Lake Martin
Wind Creek State Park
4325 Alabama Highway 128
Alexander City, Ala.
Notes: With more than 39,000 fishable acres and 750 miles of shoreline, Lake Martin always makes for a great tournament-fishing destination. This deep, clear-water impoundment has thriving populations of both largemouth and spotted bass. Anglers will need to make the decision to target the numerous spotted bass or fish for the bigger sized largemouth. Some bass may still be found in a prespawn pattern and can be targeted with a jerkbait or spinnerbait. Fish will be spawning on shallow flats or around boat docks and can be caught with jigs and tubes. Winning weights this time of year have ranged anywhere from 15 to 20 pounds
LBL Division
Kentucky Lake
Moors Resort & Marina
570 Moors Road
Gilbertsville, Ky.
Notes: Bass fishing on the renowned Kentucky Lake is always good. Anglers will likely find a majority of bass beginning to move to bays, coves, and creek arms to find an area to bed and spawn. A wide variety of strategies have won tournaments this time of year in the past. Some have found success slowing down and targeting bedding areas with tubes and jigs. Other anglers decide to cover more water and catch fish with crankbaits, umbrella rigs, or topwater baits. Whatever strategy an angler chooses, it will need to produce upwards of 20 pounds in order to have a chance at bringing home the title on Kentucky Lake.
Ozark Division
Lake of the Ozarks
Public Beach #2
711 Public Beach Road
Osage Beach, Mo.
Notes: Lake of the Ozarks is a very popular bass fishing destination in the spring. Bass will likely still be found in a prespawn pattern. Those bass can be found on main- and secondary-lake points and targeted with crankbaits and jigs. Others will be found relating to deep timber, biting on spinnerbaits, umbrella rigs and swimbaits. Five-bass limits weighing in the upper teens are common winning weights this time of year.
Piedmont Division
Kerr Lake
New Nutbush Park
115 Jack Wade Farm Road
Henderson, N.C.
Notes: Kerr Lake often produces big bags in the spring. Flipping and pitching is a dominant strategy on the lake among tournament anglers. Competitors will be targeting the lake’s abundant flooded bushes with jigs and Texas-rigged soft plastics. Bass will also be caught on a variety of moving baits such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and umbrella rigs as well. Winning weights range from the mid- to high=teens for a five-bass limit on Kerr.
Savannah River Division
Lake Hartwell
Green Pond Landing
470 Green Pond Road
Anderson, S.C.
Notes: Lake Hartwell is a very popular fishery this time of year. Anglers will need to figure out how to catch bass during the high fishing pressure period. Finding a main- or secondary-lake point with the right kind of cover is key to catching a winning weight. Once found, bass can be targeted with jigs, Rat-L-Traps, and crankbaits. Herring imitators like flukes and topwater baits will also be popular lures. A 20-pound stringer of bass will put anglers in contention to take home the title.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. The 2015 BFL All-American is being held June 18-20 on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tennessee. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour