GAINSVILLE, Ga. (April 16, 2007) - Boater Jim Windham of Bonaire, Ga., won the Bass Fishing League Bulldog Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Lanier Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces. The victory earned Windham $5,100 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 25-27, where he could ultimately win a new 519VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Windham also won the Big Bass award in the Boater Division with a 6 pound, 6 ounce bass that earned him $1,000. He also was the highest placing Ranger Cup participant which also earned him an additional $1,000.
Windham was throwing a combination of soft-plastics and jigs targeting bedding bass to catch his quality-sized tournament-limit if bass.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Roger Vinson of Flowery Branch, Ga., (five bass, 17-14, $3,000); Trent Gober of Pendergrass, Ga. (five bass, 17-10, $2,000); Terry Stevens of Marianna, Fla. (five bass, 17-2, $1,400) and Howard Harris of Hillsboro, Ga., (five bass, 16-12, $1,200).
William James of Lawrenceville, Ga., earned $3,000 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught while fishing a shaky head worm in eight to 10 feet of water.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Michael Wright of Covington, Ga. (five bass, 14-2, $1,500); Gerald Bunn of Mansfield, Ga. (five bass, 13-12, $1,000); James Murphy of Phoenix City, Ala. (five bass, 13-11, $700) and Joseph Renfroe of Jasper, Ga. (five bass, 13-7, $600).
Ron Lane of Flagler Beach, Fla., earned $500 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass. The Bulldog Division's next event will be May 19 on West Point Lake in Lanette, Ala., followed by a tournament Sept. 8-9 on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala., for the division's final event of the regular season a two-day Super Tournament.