CENTRE, Ala. (March 26, 2007) - Boater Edward Gettys of Stevenson, Ala., won the Bass Fishing League Bama Division bass fishing tournament on Weiss Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce. The victory earned Gettys $4,390 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Fort-Loudon-Tellico Lakes Regional Championship in Lenoir City, Tenn., Oct. 18-20, where he could ultimately win a new 519VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Gettys was throwing a combination of crankbaits and soft-plastics around stumps and flats in shallow water to catch his bass. Rounding out the top five boaters are Craig Daniel of Cullman, Ala. (five bass, 20-00, $2,582); Terry Goggans of Fort Payne, Ala. (five bass, 17-2, $1,722); Andy Chappell of Warrior, Ala. (five bass, 16-2, $1,205) and Jason Grape of Rainbow City, Ala. (five bass, 16-00, $1,033).
Goggans also took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $805 for a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass.
Daniel also took home and additional $500 for being the highest-placing Ranger Cup participant in the boater division. Keith Henderson of Fort Payne, Ala., earned $2,577 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces that he caught while fishing a Texas-rigged Zoom Brush Hog around submerged stumps in the lower part of the lake. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jared McMillon of Ooltewah, Tenn., (five bass, 13-6, $1,288); Wayne Kilgore of Attalla, Ala. (five bass, 12-13, $858); Wayne Whisonant of Hayden, Ala. (five bass, 11-12, $601) and Jeff Benefield of Arab, Ala. (four bass, 9-15, $515).
Lester Jacobs of Rome, Ga. earned $397 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass. The Bama Division's next event will be May 12 on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., followed by a tournament June 30 on Lake Neely Henry in Gadsden, Ala. The division's final event of the regular season will be a two-day Super Tournament held Sept. 15-16 on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Ala.