Woods wins blustery April BFLon Toledo Bend
By DONALD GERVAIS Lakecaster Correspondent

Outdoors photo/Donald Gervais VAUGH PHILLIPS shows the Toledo Bend bass (6-pounds and 3-ounces) that earned him big bass honors of the coangler division at the April 14 BFLtournament. Phillip's three fish earned him 5th place overall and valuable points in the 2007 season standings.

Charlie Woods brought in a five-fish limit weighing 14-pounds and 15 ounces to the scales at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy division's April 14 tournament on Toledo Bend and claimed top honors in the boater division.

Mark Scogin's four fish weighing 12-pounds and 13-ounces were enough to claim the victory in the coboater division.

Mother Nature was not kind to the 202 anglers who competed in the April 14 BFLtournament on Toledo Bend. First she dumped up to four inches of rain across the area the night before the take off, muddying many areas.

Next the anglers were subjected to a North cold front that barreled into the area at midmorning. The cold winds sent the temperature tumbling from 64 at take off at 7 a.m. down to 51 at the weigh in time of 3 p.m.

The 15-25 mph wind also produced 4-6 foot white caps across the lake, producing a treacherous ride for any boat who ventured far from mid lake. It was the second cold front to hit the lake area in as many weekends.

Outdoors photo/Donald Gervais BFLTOLEDO BEND champion Charlie Woods holds up two of the five fish that earned him the win at the April 14 tournament.

The attire of the anglers returning to the marina at weigh-in told the story of a difficult day on the lake. Some wore insulated rain suits, a few were in shorts, many wet from their ride back.

All appeared worn down from a hard day on the lake. Not many smiles were seen on the anglers' faces. 23 boaters brought limits to the scales. Seven non-boaters had five-fish limits.

"I think I'm a little underdressed, it's getting cold," said Woods of Houston, fishing his first year in the boating division and one of the few wearing shorts at the weigh-in. "I caught my fish in mid lake areas using a Senko's and wacky worms in 2-4 feet of water. There was no culling today."

Besides the $3,333 first place check, Woods received $1,000 bonus checks from Ranger Boats and Evinrude for using his Ranger boat/Evinrude motor.

Hemphill angler Andrew Upshaw was but two ounces behind Woods with his five-fish limit but had to settle for runner up spot and the $1,902 check. Uphill chose mid lake to target fish in 7-9 feet of water with Senko's and wacky worms rigged Texas style.

Rods and reels used by Upshaw included Kisler rods and Shimano reels, spooled with Bass Pro Shop Fluorocarbon line in 10-17- pound test.

Royce City angler Jeff Kirkwood claimed the third place finish and a check for $1.267 with 13-pounds and 11-ounces. Kirkwood chose to fish in the southern part of the lake.

He targeted fish in the Texas-side of the lake with a _ ounces red Rat-l-Trap in 2- 5 feet of water.

Rounding out the top six finishers in the boater division were: Bobby Feazel of Hemphill fourth place ($888) with 13-pounds and 6 ounces; Dicky Newberry of Houston in fifth place ($761) and big bass winner ($505) with a 7-pound 11-ounce fish, taking home sixth place ($697) was Allen Mathis of Doucette.

"Real rough out there," said the co-angler champion Scogin, as he accepted his winning trophy and check for $1,902 from tournament director Mike Hill. The Huntsville angler told those at the weigh in that he had caught his fish using a Carolina rigged French fry in deep grass at mid lake n depths of 12-15 feet.

Scott Landon of Houston claimed runner-up in the co-angler division with a five-fish limit weighing 12- 6.

Robert Farmer of Killeen took third place with a limit weighing 11-pounds and 11- ounces. Robert Moffett of Silsbee took fourth place with 11-pounds and 5- ounces. Vaugh Phillips took home fifth place with 10- pounds and 6-ounces including the big bas for his division weighing 6-pounds and 3-ounces. Steven Kasper Sr. of Spring, Tex. rounded out the top six with 9-14.

This was the fourth of five tournaments in the 2007 BFLCowboy Division season. The final is a two-day event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir on Sept. 29-30. The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL's 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat.

Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee 2008 Wal- Mart BFLAll-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division.

Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total field of 48 boaters and 48 coanglers.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American advance to the no-entry-fee $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing.

In all, the BFLoffers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3 million.

Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFLdivision may move up to the Stren Series for 2008 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Wal- Mart FLW Tour.

Cowboy Division standings and the complete tournament results can be found at: http://bfl.flwoutdoors. com/