WHAT: The 2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League season will continue with four tournaments on Saturday, June 13. The Great Lakes division will take on the Mississippi River, the Illini division will head to the Ohio River, the Music City division will compete on Kentucky Lake, and the Piedmont division will stop at High Rock Lake. Up to 400 boaters and co-anglers will be competing for top awards of up to $8,000 and $3,000 respectively in the one-day event.
WHEN: Saturday, June 13, 2015
Great Lakes Division
Mississippi River
W. Copeland & Clinton Ramp
Clinton St.
La Crosse, Wis.
Hosted by the La Crosse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
NOTES: The bass fishing on the Mississippi River is expected to be good. Local anglers report bass are now being found in the postspawn phase. Fishing weeds and matted vegetation will be a favorite pattern for tournament anglers. Popular baits this time of year include frogs and Texas-rigged soft plastics. Swimbaits around the weedlines will also play a role in this tournament. A five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds is expected to take top honors.
Illini Division
Ohio River
Golconda Marina
RR 1 Highway 146 N.
Golconda, Ill.
NOTES: The Ohio River is a great location for bass fishing this time of year. Fans following the tournament can expect to see anglers searching for bass on the main river and targeting creek mouths with jigs, crankbaits and spoons. Anglers will also be targeting weed beds, rock banks and isolated wood in search of baitfish that bass actively feed on this time of the season. A 15-pound, five-bass stringer will most likely be needed to win this tournament.
Music City Division
Kentucky Lake
Birdsong Marina
255 Marina Road
Camden, Tenn.
NOTES: Kentucky Lake is expected to produce some sizeable stringers of bass this tournament. Local anglers report that the water temperature is hovering around 74 degrees and there are bites being found in brush piles and near stumps. Competitors will also be fishing ledges using swimbaits, jigs, worms, and deep-diving crankbaits. Five bass totaling 20 pounds will most likely be enough to bring home the victory.
Piedmont Division
High Rock Lake
Tamarac Marina & Campground
9120 Bringle Ferry Road
Salisbury, N.C.
NOTES: The bass fishing should be exciting for tournament anglers in this event at High Rock Lake. Recent reports from the area indicate the water temperature is 68 degrees and baitfish are very active. Competing anglers will be seen casting spinnerbaits near fallen tree or docks. Topwaters, crankbaits and swimbaits will also be key factors in catching bass at this event. Previous winners have needed five bass weighing close to 20 pounds to win this tournament.
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. The 2015 BFL All-American is being held June 18-20 on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tennessee. 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
