Lowen Wins on the Ohio WMBFL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOWEN WINS WAL-MART BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON THE OHIO RIVER

LAWRENCBURG, Ind. (Aug. 21, 2006) - Boater Bill Lowen of North Bend, Ohio., earned $3,679 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division event on the Ohio River. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Buckeye Division events and earned Lowen 200 points in the Boater Division.
Lowen's winning catch of five bass weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rounding out the top five boaters are George Jones of Cincinnati, Ohio (five bass, 8 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,840); Dennis Magoto of Waynesville, Ohio (four bass, 7 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,225); B J Baxter of Elida, Ohio., (four bass, 5 pounds, 15 ounces, $859) and John Viox of Hebron, Ky. (four bass, 5 pounds, 14 ounces, $736).
Magoto also won the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award with a 3-pound, 8-ounce bass earning him an additional $480. Magoto also took home an additional $500 for being the highest placing Ranger Cup participant.
Louis Bowen of Hilliard, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and earned $1,840 thanks to three bass weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Bowen also earned $240 as the co-angler Snickers Big Bass winner with a 3-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Michael Kennedy of Batavia, Ohio. (five bass, 5 pounds, 8 ounces, $920); Jeremy Barker of Middletown, Ohio. (three bass, 4 pounds, 9 ounces, $612); Steven Fant of Burlington, Ky. (three bass, 3 pounds, 14 ounces, $429); and Jeremy Henson of Hilliard, Ohio and Marion Martin of Aurora, Ind., tied for fifth (two bass, 3 pounds, 4 ounces, $352).
The Buckeye Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 16-17 with a two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, on Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.
The top 40 Buckeye Division boaters and co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the no-entry-fee Kentucky Lake Regional Championship near Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 19-21, where they will compete against Bama, Hoosier and Mountain anglers for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck in the Boater Division plus six slots in the no-entry-fee 2007 Wal-Mart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.
The Buckeye Division boater with the most points who advances the farthest at the All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha "Be the Best" points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances the farthest will earn $5,000 as the Yamaha "Be the Best" points champion in the Co-angler Division.
Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on.
The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.