CEDAR BLUFF, Ala. (April 11, 2005) - Boater Brian Horton of Ft. Payne earned $4,942 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Bama Division bass fishing tournament on Weiss Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Bama Division events and featured 171 boaters vying for the win, which earned Horton 200 points in the Boater Division.
Horton's winning catch of five bass weighed 20 pounds, 3 ounces. Horton fished shallow flats with a Rat-L-Trap and a Texas-rigged lizard to catch his bass.
Finishing second was Phillip Dukes of Rainsville with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces that earned him $2,471. Wayne Naramore of Lincoln claimed $1,614 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces. In fourth was Johnny Belyeu of Gadsen with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces worth $1,258, and finishing fifth and earning $1,033 was Terry Goggans of Ft. Payne with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces.
Belyeu earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award. Keith Braden of Adairsville, Ga., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $855 for a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Zoom lizard.
Gerald Thompson of Bridgeport bested 171 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,471 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces that he caught on a Carolina rig.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Robbie Evans of Adairsville, Ga., (five bass, 12 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,235); Beaver Potterfield of Hollywood and Nick Chinuntdet of Powder Springs, Ga., tied for third place with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces and four bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces, respectively. Both co-anglers earned $717. Tim Cummings of Waynesboro, Tenn., finished in fifth (four bass, 11 pounds, 15 ounces, $517).
Steve Briscoe of Odenville earned $428 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 7-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.
The Bama Division's next event will be held May 7 on Guntersville Lake near Scottsboro, followed by an event on Neely Henry Lake near Gadsen June 4. The Bama Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on Guntersville Lake near Scottsboro.