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:
1st: Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., 15 bass, 47-4, $20,000 + Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Russell Corry, Shelby, N.C., 12 bass, 36-4, $5,000
3rd: Tim Smiley, White Pine, Tenn., 13 bass, 35-2, $4,000
4th: Dearal Rodgers, Camden, S.C., 12 bass, 32-6, $3,000
5th: Klaus Hadschin, Granite Falls, N.C., 10 bass, 30-6, $2,000
6th: Donald Hinson, Lugoff, S.C., 10 bass, 28-6, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., nine bass, 27-6, $1,600
8th: Shane Burns, Durham, N.C., 11 bass, 26-10, $1,400
9th: Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 26-6, $1,200
10th: Wayne King, Sumter, S.C., nine bass, 25-5, $1,000
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:
1st: William Hearn, Mount Holly, N.C., 11 bass, 22-7, Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: John Farmer, Mooresville, N.C., seven bass, 20-5, $2,500
3rd: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., seven bass, 15-11, $2,000
4th: Hunter Altice, Glade Hill, Va., five bass, 14-7, $1,500
5th: Doug File, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $1,000
6th: Tim Whitaker, Fairview, N.C., four bass, 12-13, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Matt Redd, Greer, S.C., six bass, 12-10, $800
8th: Louis Kraft, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 11-10, $700
9th: Paul Smith, Ninety Six, S.C., four bass, 10-12, $600
10th: 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.
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
