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SHAFFER WINS WAL-MART
BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON
PATOKA
LAKE
JASPER, Ind. (May 19, 2008) – Boater Dick Shaffer of Rockford,
Ohio, won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League®
Hoosier Division tournament on Patoka Lake Saturday with a
five-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned
Shaffer $3,531 plus a $623 Ranger contingency bonus and placed
him one step closer to qualifying for the Cherokee Lake Regional
Championship in
Morristown, Tenn.,
Oct. 16-18, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger
boat and a Chevy truck.
“I was at the
right place at the right time,” said Shaffer, who has amassed
more than $278,500 in career earnings and has 36 top-10 finishes
with FLW Outdoors. “I was just hoping to catch a few fish. I had
a few key spots in mind that I wanted to go to from past
tournaments so I stuck with that.”
Shaffer caught
his limit only two miles from Newton Stewart South Marina.“I
caught four keepers in the first hour but I didn’t think that I
would have enough weight to win,” Shaffer added. “Winning this
tournament never crossed my mind.”
Shaffer
caught his limit fishing shallow on a tube and lizard.
Rounding out the
top five boaters are Tony Young of
Depauw, Ind.
(five bass, 11-14, $2,078); Brad Stogsdill of Nashville, Ind.
(five bass, 10-15, $1,383); Matt McCoy of Indianapolis, Ind.
(five bass, 10-04, $970) and Jason Rigdon of Louisville, Ky.
(four bass, 9-14, $831).
Ryan Deal of
Haubstadt,
Ind., took home the Boater
Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $570 for a 4-pound,
7-ounce bass he caught fishing the main lake on a brown jig.
Timothy Clark of
Muncie,
Ind., earned $2,078 as the
co-angler
winner Saturday thanks to two bass weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces
that he caught on a green-pumpkin Zoom Centipede fishing shallow
in bushes.
Rounding out the
top five co-anglers
are Kevin Alvey of
Taylorsville,
Ky. (three bass, 7-08, $1,039);
Larry Kitchel of Monticello, Ind. (three bass, 6-04, $691);
Lawrence Spicher of Boonville, Ind. (two bass, 5-14, $485)
and
Shawn Conner of Nineveh, Ind. (one bass, 4-13, $416).
Clark
earned $285 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a
5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
Hoosier Division
anglers will visit Lake
Monroe in
Bloomington,
Ind., June 7 for their second regular-season
event, followed by an event on the Ohio River in
Tell City, Ind.,
June 28. The division’s fourth qualifying event will be held on
the Ohio River in
Evansville,
Ind., July 26. A two-day Super
Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held
on the Ohio River in
Tell City,
Sept. 6-7.
Following the
end of regular-season competition, the top 40 boaters
and
40 co-anglers based on year-end points standings
in the division will advance to the no-entry-fee Cherokee Lake
Regional Championship where they will compete against top
qualifiers from three other BFL divisions. At the Regional
Championship boaters will fish for a new Ranger boat and Chevy
truck and co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger boat. The top
six boaters and top six co-anglers at the Regional Championship
will also advance to the All-American presented by Chevy. With a
total purse of $1 million, a potential $140,000 cash prize going
to the winning boater and
as much as $70,000 going to the winning
co-angler, the All-American is one of the most
prestigious and
lucrative events in bass fishing.
The winning boater
and winning co-angler at the All-American also
advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million Forrest Wood Cup. This
event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the sport’s
biggest championship.
Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season.
With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW
Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for
their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the
opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can
become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s
Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information
that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart
FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s
Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and
increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will
be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner.
Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for
Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart
gift card.
The $8.8 million
Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide.
In BFL competition, boaters and
co-anglers are randomly paired. Boaters supply
the boat and fish from the front deck against other boaters
while co-anglers compete from the back deck against other
co-anglers.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder
of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization
in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more
than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through
230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish,
kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing
mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of
fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
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.
Total awards are
based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.
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