Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tenn. won the biggest title in grassroots tournament fishing on Saturday when he won the BFL All-American at the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa. He caught 11-05 on the final day to boost his 3-day, 14-fish total to 36-08 and he blew the field away by a margin of more than 11 pounds.
He pocketed $100,000 for the win, plus another $20,000 in contingency monies, as well as a berth in this summer's Forrest Wood Cup and an option to fish the 2010 FLW Tour.
"I'm ready to go to the Forrest Wood Cup," Wagner said. "This is giving me a shot to go on the FLW Tour. This has been my dream my whole life – to be a professional fisherman – since I was 6 years old.
"I've had a good year winning two BFLs prior to this year. My birthday was yesterday, so it's been a good week. I said in my mind that I was going to win everything that I fished this year. I came here to win. It was in my mind that I was going to win. When I got here, I didn't know how I was going to win, but that was the plan and it just worked out.
"I took the gamble each day and locked through to (Pool) 13," he added. "I got lucky and found two fish in Pool 14. I had about 40 minutes in 14 before I had to lock through and was able to catch two of my key fish this week there."
He said he targeted grass and wood with a Gary Yamamoto Senko. The full details of his winning pattern will be posted soon. The final Top 10 standings from the event appear below.
Final Standings
1. Adam Wagner -- Cookeville, TN -- 5, 15-09 -- 5, 9-10 -- 4, 11-05 -- 14, 36-08 -- $100,000 + $20,000
2. Steve Wagner -- New Kent, VA -- 4, 9-04 -- 5, 10-02 -- 4, 7-10 -- 13, 27-00 -- $25,000 +
3. Chris Baldwin -- Lexington, NC -- 3, 6-07 -- 5, 9-00 -- 3, 7-08 -- 11, 22-15 -- $14,000 + $9,000
4. Mike Devere -- Berea, KY -- 5, 8-14 -- 3, 7-00 -- 4, 7-00 -- 12, 22-14 -- $13,000 + $8,000
5. Russ Moran -- Manchester, TN -- 4, 10-02 -- 4, 7-07 -- 1, 1-10 -- 9, 19-03 -- $12,000 + $7,000
6. Jeff Holder -- Bossier City, LA -- 2, 6-08 -- 3, 8-06 -- 2, 4-01 -- 7, 18-15 -- $11,000 + $6,000
7. Edward Gettys -- Scottsboro, AL -- 5, 13-10 -- 1, 1-08 -- 1, 2-06 -- 7, 17-08 -- $10,000 + $5,000
8. Larry Neal -- Piney Flats, TN -- 4, 7-02 -- 3, 7-10 -- 1, 1-06 -- 8, 16-02 -- $9,000 +
9. Gary Edwards -- Milton, KY -- 5, 12-05 -- 2, 3-06 -- 0, 0-00 -- 7, 15-11 -- $8,000 +
10. David Lowery -- Milledgeville, GA -- 3, 5-14 -- 4, 9-04 -- 0, 0-00 -- 7, 15-02 -- $7,000 + $7,000
