FLORENCE, Ala. (April 3, 2006) - Boater Leon Tidwell of Muscle Shoals, Ala., earned $5,627 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division bass fishing tournament on Pickwick Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Mississippi Division events and featured 182 boaters vying for the win, which earned Tidwell 200 points in the Boater Division.
Tidwell's winning catch of five bass weighed 15 pounds even. He was fishing a tube in the Kroger Island area around river humps and shell mounds to catch his bass.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Danny Gray of Sheffield, Ala. (five bass, 14 pounds, 7 ounces, $2,813); Ken Romain of Northport, Ala. (five bass, 13 pounds, 4 ounces, $1,877); Darrel Moon of Corinth, Miss. (three bass, 13 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,313) and Andrew Lambert of Muscle Shoals, (five bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces, $1,125).
Mike Heard of Meridian, Miss., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $910 for a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Jimmy Tisdale of Ellisville, Miss., won the Co-angler Division to earn $2,675, thanks to five bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught while fishing a spinnerbait and worm in shallow grass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerry Riddle of Jayess, Miss. (four bass, 8 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,337); Justin Jolly of Oakland, Tenn., (three bass, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, $891) Time Beale of Hernando, Miss., (two bass, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, $624) and William Jones of Kosciusko, Miss. (three bass, 6 pounds, 10 ounces, $535).
Michael Roppolo of Avondale, La., earned $425 as the co-angler big-bass award winner.
The Mississippi Division's next event will be held May 6 on Columbus Pool near Columbus, Miss., followed by an event on the Mississippi River near Greenville, Miss., June 17. The Mississippi Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 16-17 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Ross Barnett near Jackson, Miss.