Rochelle Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division on Ross Barnett Reservoir
OutdoorHub 04.28.14
Larry Rochelle of Canton, Miss., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds even Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division tournament of 2014 on Ross Barnett Reservoir. For his victory, Rochelle earned $4,127.
“I caught one here and there all day long,” said Rochelle. “I was just hitting a lot of spots. The better fish came between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. I lost one big fish around 9:30 that morning that kind of messed me up, but I ended up catching about 12 keepers throughout the day.
“I was fishing up the river,” Rochelle explained. “It’s tough to fish up there because of all the boat traffic. I’ve fished this lake a long time and I have a ton of places on it that I like to run. I was mostly targeting shallow grass with a spinnerbait around the edges and a lizard in the middle, where the grass was too thick to fish the spinnerbait.
“I used to fish these FLW events when it was still known as the Red Man Trail, but I don’t think I have fished a BFL in 10 or 15 years,” finished Rochelle. “My fishing partner and I decided to fish the BFL this year and I’m sure glad they chose to come to Barnett.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Jason Forman, Philadelphia, Miss., five bass, 15-0, $2,064
3rd: Gene Bishop, Ridgeland, Miss., five bass, 13-15, $1,377
4th: Scott Hardin, Eads, Tenn., five bass, 13-13, $963
5th: Jason Cordell, Pelahatchie, Miss., five bass, 13-11, $825
6th: Shannon Denson, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-9, $757
7th: Philip Atkins, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-8, $688
8th: Chuck Koski, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-1, $584
8th: Adam Shirley, Meridian, Miss., five bass, 13-1, $584
10th: Marty Torrence, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 12-14, $482
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Mike Allen of Crystal Springs, Miss., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $2,064 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Gary Peacock, Pearl, Miss., five bass, 11-14, $1,032
3rd: Shane Cade, Clinton, Miss., five bass, 9-14, $688
4th: Quentin Bremenkamp, Gulfport, Miss., five bass, 9-13, $482
5th: Mitchell Bond, Collins, Miss., three bass, 9-5, $395
5th: John Goul, Philadelphia, Miss., three bass, 9-5, $395
7th: Bobby Bullock, Florence, Miss., five bass, 9-4, $344
8th: Jimmy Tisdale, Ellisville, Miss., five bass, 9-3, $310
9th: Scott Brown, Lucedale, Miss., five bass, 9-2, $275
10th: Daniel Goodman, Meridian, Miss., five bass, 8-15, $241
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 16-18 Regional Championship on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C 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 Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
