BATES WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE MISSISSIPPI DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE FERGUSON

                                                                                          

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GREENVILLE, Miss. (June 29, 2015) – Matthew Bates of Greenville, Mississippi, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds even Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Ferguson. For his victory, Bates earned $3,963.

“It’s really exciting to come out on top after a great day of fishing,” said Bates of his first career win in FLW competition. “Hopefully I can carry this momentum into the next tournament.

“It was raining and cloudy Saturday so I had to fish shallow,” continued Bates. “I flipped trees using a green-pumpkin football-head jig with a watermelon-candy-colored Berkley Chigger Craw trailer about a mile from the boat ramp where there was a lot of shad. I focused on a sand ridge with willow trees and ironwood bushes. I also cycled through four different humps.

“I caught my first fish around 8:30 a.m. – a small 1½-pounder,” said Bates. “At 10:45 I brought in a 4-pound fish in 12 feet of water. After that I did another run through the humps, lost one, and started to get a little frustrated.”

Bates said that after he lost the fish near the humps he switched his strategy in order to reach a limit.

“I made a run to the north end of the lake after the sun came out,” said Bates. “I pulled up to a spot and on the second cast I reeled in a 5-pound bass in 15 feet of water on the football jig. Three casts later I caught another 4-pounder.”

Bates went on to say that he got his final bite of the day at 12:30 p.m. on a Powder-Blue Back-Chartreuse-colored Strike King Pro Model 6XD Crankbait.

“I also weighed in two fish from a Carolina-rigged Zoom Brush Hog,” Bates said. “Everything seemed to fall into place as the day went on. I couldn’t have asked for a better tournament.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Matthew Bates, Greenville, Miss., five bass, 20-0, $3,963

2^nd:         David Dove, Steens, Miss., five bass, 15-14, $1,981

3^rd:          Tim McDaniel, Grenada, Miss., five bass, 13-12, $1,322

4^th:          Gene Bishop, Ridgeland, Miss., five bass, 11-14, $925

5^th:          Jonathan Sultan, Grenada, Miss., five bass, 11-2, $793

6^th:          Buzz Gallo, Moselle, Miss., five bass, 10-0, $727

7^th:          Wayne Parish, Amory, Miss., five bass, 9-10, $660

8^th:          Tim Swann, New Albany, Miss., four bass, 8-11, $594

9^th:          Philip Atkins, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 8-8, $528

10^th:        Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., two bass, 8-1, $462

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Bates also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $535.

Jimmy Tisdale of Ellisville, Mississippi, weighed in four bass totaling 8 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win $1,981 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Jimmy Tisdale, Ellisville, Miss., four bass, 8-3, $1,981

2^nd:         Bernard Crump, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 6-14, $991

3^rd:          Jennings Earnest, Guin, Ala., five bass, 6-8, $662

4^th:          Lance Jackson, Starkville, Miss., three bass, 6-6, $462

5^th:          Donnie Miller, Florence, Ala., two bass, 5-2, $396

6^th:          Jason Mitchell, Hamilton, Miss., three bass, 4-6, $363

7^th:          Bill Robilio, Germantown, Tenn., three bass, 4-1, $330

8^th:          John Swords, Collierville, Tenn., two bass, 3-14, $297

9^th:          Jeremy Duke, Gautier, Miss., two bass, 3-7, $247

9^th:          Charles Knowles, Canton, Miss., three bass, 3-7, $247

Elton Bryant of Lisman, Alabama, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $267.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. 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.