GRIFFIN WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE MISSISSIPPI DIVISION OPENER ON ROSS BARNETT RESERVOIR

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BRANDON, Miss. (March 23, 2015) – Jason Griffin of Benton, Mississippi, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Mississippi Division tournament of 2015 on Ross Barnett Reservoir. For his victory, Griffin earned $5,349.

“It feels good to win a tournament like this,” said Griffin. “I know some of the competitors in this tournament fish Ross Barnett two or three times a week and are a lot more experienced than I am, so this is pretty special.”

Griffin started off his day by flipping and pitching clumps of grass in the main lake area using a black and blue-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver. After just 45 minutes on the water, Griffin said he had put five bass in the livewell. From there he worked his way down the banks, where he found other boaters fishing.

“I had to play a little bit of defense with all of those boaters out there. I made sure to stay out of their water,” Griffin said.

As his bite slowed, Griffin made the decision to follow shad that were being pushed by the wind out onto the flats.

“I let off the trolling motor and drifted out to where the shad were,” said Griffin. “As soon as I did that I caught a 5-pounder.”

Out on the flats, Griffin used a junebug-colored Zoom Mag Lizard and said he could see the fish he was targeting in the pad stem holes.

“I really concentrated on those spots,” said Griffin. “I would sometimes catch three or four in a row.”

As his weigh-in time approached, Griffin worked his way out of the pads throwing a swimbait and ended up catching a 6-pound kicker around 3:45 p.m. to cap off his stringer.

“I knew I had to have more than 20 pounds of fish to have a shot,” said Griffin. “After I caught the kicker at the end of the day I was feeling pretty comfortable about my chances of winning.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Jason Griffin, Benton, Miss., five bass, 23-2, $5,349

               2nd:         Corey Glenn, Smithville, Miss., five bass, 22-1, $2,675

               3rd:          John Bailey, Terry, Miss., five bass, 21-5, $1,782

               4th:          Eddie Armstrong,  West Point, Miss., five bass, 20-3, $1,248

               5th:          Ray King, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 19-6, $1,070

               6th:          Marty Torrence, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 19-2, $981

               7th:          Justin Sylvester, Bailey, Miss., five bass, 18-7, $892

               8th:          Robert Keifer, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 17-13, $802

               9th:          Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 17-10, $713

               10th:        Michael McCollum, Morton, Miss., five bass, 17-0, $624

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Jeff Johnston of Marion, Arkansas caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $850.

Chad Corley of Pearl, Mississippi, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win $2,631 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

           1st:          Chad Corley, Pearl, Miss., five bass, 18-2, $2,631

           2nd:         Charles Knowles, Canton, Miss., five bass, 16-3, $1,315

           3rd:          Don Meyerett, Southaven, Miss., five bass, 15-1, $877

           4th:          Josh Hamilton, Maben, Miss., five bass, 14-11, $614

           5th:          Farley Fondren, Maben, Miss., five bass, 14-10, $526

           6th:          Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., five bass, 13-13, $482

           7th:          Joel Ross, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 13-12, $438

           8th:          Kenneth Underwood, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 13-7, $395

           9th:          Jason Mitchell, Hamilton, Miss., five bass, 13-4, $351

           10th:        Joe Henderson, Memphis, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $307

Henderson caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $410.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

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