Bossier City’s Bass Pro Shops to Showcase Saturday’s Championship Weigh-In, Two Ranger Boats up for Grabs
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) is set for a return to the Red River, Oct. 19-21, for one of six BFL Regional Tournaments. The three-day event, presented by Quaker State, is expected to feature 400 anglers – the top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers from each of the Arkie, Cowboy, Mississippi, and Okie BFL divisions.
The winning boater will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and a check for $20,000, while the winning co-angler will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard. The top six boaters and co-anglers at each regional will advance to one of the longest-running championships in bass fishing – the 2018 BFL All-American, which will be held May 31-June 2 on Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A three-day cumulative total of 15 bass approaching the 36-pound mark will likely be needed to take top honors in this tournament. Anglers will likely be seen targeting submerged timber in the main-river channel or fishing drop-offs with frogs and crankbaits. Other competitors may opt for focusing on main-river rocks and sandbars with Carolina-rigged soft-plastics.
Anglers will take off from Red River South Marina, located at 250 Red River South Marina Road in Bossier City, Louisiana, at 7:30 a.m. CDT each day. Weigh-ins on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 19-20, will be held at the marina beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s final championship weigh-in, Oct. 21, will be held at Bass Pro Shops located at 100 Bass Pro Drive in Bossier City, and will be begin at 4:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The T-H Marine BFL Regional Tournament on the Red River is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission.
The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 BFL All-American. The 2018 All-American will be held on Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, May 31-June 2 and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission and the Red River Waterway Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
