BARNES WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE BAMA DIVISION OPENER ON LAKE EUFAULA

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EUFAULA, Ala. (March 2, 2015) – Will Barnes of Headland, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Bama Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Eufaula. For his victory, Barnes earned $4,938.

Will Barnes of Headland, Ala., won the Feb. 28 Bama Division event on Lake Eufaula with a 22-pound, 7-ounce limit which earned him a nearly $5,000 check. (FLW)

“I’m very thrilled,” said Barnes of his first BFL win. “There were a lot of great fishermen in this tournament and I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Citing recent success in practice, Barnes headed south intending to fish in deeper water. He ended up finding the bite shallow, at a spot near Thomas Mill Creek.

“If I wasn’t around wood, I didn’t get a bite,” said Barnes. “I fished docks, bluff walls – basically everything as long as it was around wood structure and within 50 yards of the deep water.”

Around 8:45 a.m., Barnes reeled in a 6-pound, 11-ounce behemoth near a tree. The Alabama angler boated another 6-pounder around 10 o’clock and he knew that he had put himself into serious contention for the win.

“I’ve never really caught a lot of fish when it’s been that cold. But for some reason they were actively feeding that morning,” said Barnes.

Barnes said that he managed to catch nine keepers throughout the day on a black and blue-colored Lunker Lure Rattleback Jig with a black crawfish trailer.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Will Barnes, Headland, Ala., five bass, 22-7, $4,938

2^nd:         Ronnie Ray, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 22-0, $2,469

3^rd:          Scott Montgomery, Eufaula, Ala., five bass, 21-5, $1,646

4^th:          Rodger Beaver, Dawson, Ga., five bass, 20-13, $1,152

5^th:          Ryan Ingram, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 19-0, $988

6^th:          Anthony Goggins, Auburn, Ala., five bass, 17-6, $905

7^th:          Samuel Fish, Calera, Ala., four bass, 16-12, $823

8^th:          Jack White, Vance, Ala., four bass, 16-6, $741

9^th:          Carl Hayes III, Sharpsburg, Ga., four bass, 15-8, $658

10^th:        Matt Lipscomb, Springville, Ala., four bass, 14-10, $576

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Montgomery caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $745.

Wesley Rushing of Abbeville, Alabama, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 1 ounces Saturday to win $2,469 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Wesley Rushing, Abbeville, Ala., five bass, 17-1, $2,469

2^nd:         Brandon Ray, Phenix City, Ala., two bass, 12-3, $1,235

3^rd:          Radney Atchison, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 9-11, $823

4^th:          Todd Radney, Oxford, Ala., two bass, 9-6, $576

5^th:          Slaton Jemison, Mathews, Ala., two bass, 8-8, $494

6^th:          Cory Johnson, Crane Hill, Ala., two bass, 7-11, $453

7^th:          Frank Shatterly, Hillsboro, Ga., three bass, 7-9, $412

8^th:          Keith Lynch, River Falls, Ala., two bass, 7-3, $370

9^th:          Howard Avery, Newnan, Ga., three bass, 6-14, $329

10^th:        Wayne Haynes, Ohatchee, Ala., two bass, 6-6, $288

Ray caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $372.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Millegeville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

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 compete 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.