EUFAULA, Okla. (April 28, 2008) - Boater Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Okla., won the Bass Fishing League Okie Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Eufaula Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned Goodwin $3,469 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"The weather was great; it was sunny with 10-15 mph winds," said Goodwin, who has won four BFL tournaments and amassed over $133,000 with FLW Outdoors. "It was the first time it hadn't blown 40 mph in Oklahoma in about a month."
Goodwin caught his bass on a green-pumpkin tube and Red River jig, flipping bushes and spawning coves.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Kelly Coble of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 15-09, $2,041); Edward Broaddrick of Tulsa, Okla. (five bass, 14-11, $1,362); Michael Fergerson of Tulsa, Okla. (five bass, 12-14, $952) and Matthew Emmons of Tulsa, Okla. (four bass, 11-00, $816).
Goodwin took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $560 for a 7-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught in the dam area.
Troy Pilcher of Kansas, Okla., earned $2,041 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to four bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces that he caught on a jig with a chunk trailer.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Anderson of Barnsdall, Okla. (five bass, 9-10, $852); Jim Hargrave of Cushing, Okla. (three bass, 9-10, $852); Walt Guthrie of Elk City, Okla. (three bass, 8-11, $476) and Scott Anderson of Garfield, Ark. (three bass, 8-04, $408).
Pilcher earned $280 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass.
Okie Division anglers will visit the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Okla., June 14 for their fourth regular-season event. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., Sept. 6-7.