The Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) is headed to Neely Henry Lake Oct. 22-24 for one of six BFL regional championships. The three-day tournament, presented by Ranger Boats, will feature the top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers from each of the Bulldog, Choo Choo, LBL and Mississippi divisions.
Anglers will take to the water to compete for the top prize of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard and $20,000 in the Boater Division and a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard in the Co-angler division. The top six boaters and co-anglers will also qualify for the 2016 Walmart BFL All-American – one of the longest running championships in competitive bass fishing.
“This is going to be a great tournament for both the competitors and the fans,” said Quaker State pro of Scott Canterbury of Springville, Alabama, a seven-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “Neely Henry has a lot of good-sized fish in it right now and many different ways to catch them.
“The lake is located on the Coosa River which means competitors will be picking apart current breaks in larger areas,” said Canterbury. “It’s all about power fishing on the Coosa, so I’d bet there will be a lot of anglers flipping a big jig or throwing a spinnerbait in those locations.
“On the lower end of the lake, the patterns will be different,” Canterbury continued. “We’ll likely see anglers flipping or swimming a jig near grass – especially since the lake levels has remained steady. Flipping a jig to docks could also be a player, but I’d imagine they will have heavy boat traffic. If those areas aren’t firing, there are many seawalls and brush piles to focus on as well.”
Canterbury predicted a three-day catch nearing 50 pounds should be enough to win the event.
“I don’t think that everyone will catch big limits, but there will definitely be some impressive stringers brought to the scale,” said Canterbury.
Anglers will take off from Coosa Landing located at 200 Lake St. in Gadsden at 7 a.m. CST each day. Weigh-ins on Thursday and Friday will be held at the landing beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart, located at 340 E. Meighan Blvd. in Gadsden at 3:45 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The BFL Regional Championship event on Neely Henry Lake is being hosted by the City of Gadsden.
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.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
