Lowe Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division on Bayou Black
OutdoorHub 06.11.12
Pete Lowe of Woodworth, La., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division event on Bayou Black. For his victory, Lowe earned $2,350 plus a $2,000 Ranger Cup bonus.
“I really enjoyed this win,” said Lowe. “My daughter is having a baby that is due any day, and my mother is battling cancer, so I almost didn’t fish the tournament, but I am glad I did. This was a nice win.
“Originally I was going to make a 60-mile run, but during practice I saw that the Bass Federation was having a tournament on the same area that I wanted to fish, and the fish were pretty beaten up. I only caught about two 3-pounders there, so decided to stay closer to the takeoff point despite what most everyone said against it.”
Lowe had his first two fish, one of them a 5-pounder, within the first hour of the tournament and started to feel confident in his decision to stay closer to the marina and avoiding the long 60-mile run that included going through a lock system.
“I was targeting water hyacinth in about 4 to 6 feet of water,” Lowe said. “I could see a grass line about 10 feet away. When the cloud cover came the bass would come out on the porch to play, and that’s when I got my fish. The big ones came on a swim jig. I was also using (Xcite) Raptor Tail Jr. craw baits and XCalibur poppers.
“If you do the same thing everyone else is doing, you’ll have the same results,” Lowe continued. “I wasn’t here for second place and decided to go for broke.”
Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:
2nd: Brooke Morrison, Youngsville, La., five bass, 13-6, $1,175
3rd: Jason Pourciau, Denham Springs, La., five bass, 13-1, $784
4th: Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., five bass, 13-0, $548
5th: Glenn Robertson, Shreveport, La., five bass, 12-14, $470 plus $1,000 Evinrude bonus
6th: Randy Deaver, Blanchard, La., four bass, 11-13, $431
7th: Jeremy Guidry, Opelousas, La., five bass, 11-11, $392
8th: Randy Durand, Saint Martinville, La., five bass, 11-10, $352
9th: Ronnie Green, Keithville, La., five bass, 11-9, $31310th: Alex Manitzas, Deridder, La., five bass, 11-8
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Joe Nance of Pearland, Texas, weighed four bass totaling 10 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win $1,175 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Bill McCarty, Morgan City, La., five bass, 10-3, $587
3rd: John Semken, Tyler, Texas, three bass, 8-7, $393
4th: Tony Kemp, Youngsville, La., four bass, 8-1, $274
5th: Wilson Burton, Groves, Texas, three bass, 7-7, $235
6th: Ted Robbins, Longview, Texas, three bass, 5-11, $215
7th: Dennis Jones, Oakdale, La., three bass, 5-9, $196
8th: Ronnie Talbot, Mexia, Texas, two bass, 4-8, $176
9th: Gene Sharbono, Montgomery, La., two bass, 4-1, $157
10th: Keith Melton, Coushatta, La., two bass, 4-0
The next BFL Cowboy Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 29-30 on Lake of the Pines in Longview, Texas. After the fifth Cowboy Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 18-20 Regional Championship on the Red River in Natchitoches, La. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 40 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 presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
