WALTERS WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT ON LAKE WATEREE PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE

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CAMDEN, S.C. (Oct. 19, 2015) – Todd Walters of Kernersville, North Carolina, weighed five bass totaling 17 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional on Lake Wateree presented by Evinrude with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 4 ounces. For his win, Walters earned $20,000, a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth into the 2016 BFL All-American Championship.

On the first two days of competition, Walters primarily targeted fish in dirty water near rock cover in the Wateree River. He used a Rapala DT6 crankbait and a homemade green-pumpkin jig rigged with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer.

“I caught a few keepers in the river and then went looking for fish in other areas,” said Walters, who earned his fourth career win in FLW competition.

As the tournament progressed, Walters moved to the south end of Lake Wateree where the water was clearer and the bass were becoming increasingly active in brush piles. He flipped a Texas-rigged black neon-colored tube and switched to the homemade jig when necessary. Three of Walters’ final-day keepers came from the lower-lake brush piles while the remaining two came from the Wateree River areas.

“I knew that Lake Wateree was going to fish small and that it would be important to find fish in different areas and to be able to catch them in different ways,” said Walters. “By Saturday, I didn’t hold anything back.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2016 BFL All-American were:

               1^st:          Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., 15 bass, 47-4, $20,000 + Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard

               2^nd:         Russell Corry, Shelby, N.C., 12 bass, 36-4, $5,000

               3^rd:          Tim Smiley, White Pine, Tenn., 13 bass, 35-2, $4,000

               4^th:          Dearal Rodgers, Camden, S.C., 12 bass, 32-6, $3,000

               5^th:          Klaus Hadschin, Granite Falls, N.C., 10 bass, 30-6, $2,000

               6^th:          Donald Hinson, Lugoff, S.C., 10 bass, 28-6, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

               7^th:          Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., nine bass, 27-6, $1,600

               8^th:          Shane Burns, Durham, N.C., 11 bass, 26-10, $1,400

               9^th:          Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 26-6, $1,200

               10^th:        Wayne King, Sumter, S.C., nine bass, 25-5, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

William Hearn of Mount Holly, North Carolina, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard with a three-day total of 11 bass totaling 22 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top six co-angers that qualified for the 2016 BFL All-American were:

               1^st:          William Hearn, Mount Holly, N.C., 11 bass, 22-7, Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard

               2^nd:         John Farmer, Mooresville, N.C., seven bass, 20-5, $2,500

               3^rd:          Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., seven bass, 15-11, $2,000

               4^th:          Hunter Altice, Glade Hill, Va., five bass, 14-7, $1,500

               5^th:          Doug File, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $1,000

               6^th:          Tim Whitaker, Fairview, N.C., four bass, 12-13, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

               7^th:          Matt Redd, Greer, S.C., six bass, 12-10, $800

               8^th:          Louis Kraft, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 11-10, $700

               9^th:          Paul Smith, Ninety Six, S.C., four bass, 10-12, $600

               10^th:        Luis Garcia, Woodbridge, Va., four bass, 10-3, $500

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

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.