Month: July 2019

VIRGINIA’S CROWDER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON POTOMAC RIVER PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

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Post date July 29, 2019
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Noraas Earns Co-Angler Title

MARBURY, Md. (July 29, 2019) – Boater Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Virginia, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the Potomac River presented by Navionics after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces. For his day on the water, Crowder earned $4,454.

“I fished a mile or so of a main-river grass line. It was mid-river, about 15 minutes from the boat ramp and was the only place I went,” said Crowder, who earned his fifth career win on the Potomac River in BFL competition – second as a boater. “I just went back and forth all day. Most of the fish were on the edge, dropped off in 4 to 6 feet of water, and I was sitting 6 to 7 of water. It doesn’t fall off really steep – it’s more of a flat. The hydrilla is so thick that when the tide gets low it moves the fish to the edge.

“I had about seven keeper bites. There were 17 or 18 boats on the stretch, but I got the right bites,” continued Crowder. “I caught them on a variety of baits – one on a topwater, one of the big ones on a jig and flipping a couple of different creature baits.”

Crowder’s key baits included a black-colored Spro 65 Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog, a 3/8-ounce, green pumpkin Sooper Bait jig with a 3-inch Mud Puppy craw, and a Texas-rigged, green-pumpkin Mud Puppy creature bait.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., five bass, 13-12, $2,454 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd: Barton Wines, Marshall, Va., five bass, 13-7, $1,227

3^rd: Thomas Svec, Chesapeake, Va., five bass, 12-15, $750

4^th: Derik Hudson, Concord, Va., five bass, 12-14, $1,076

5^th: Joe Dixon, Bel Alton, Md., five bass, 12-10, $451

6^th: Travis Lugar, McGaheysville, Va., five bass, 12-3, $413

7^th: Brandon Stapleton, Temperanceville, Va., five bass, 12-2, $357

7^th: Ryan Ingalls, Fairfax, Va., five bass, 12-2, $357

9^th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 11-13

10^th: Josh Willard, Carrollton, Va., five bass, 11-12

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

John Bitter of Maitland, Florida, caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $215.

Matthew Noraas of Pamplin, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,227 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Matthew Noraas, Pamplin, Va., five bass, 11-3, $1,227

2^nd: J.C. Miller, Washington, Pa., five bass, 9-8, $613

3^rd: Shawn Huwar, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 9-6, $319

3^rd: Jeff Mellott, Warfordsburg, Pa., five bass, 9-6, $319

5^th: Jamie Newton, Falls Church, Va., five bass, 9-2, $225

6^th: Brad Melton, Manassas, Va., five bass, 8-12, $207

7^th: Chris Jackson, Front Royal, Va., five bass, 8-10, $188

8^th: Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., four bass, 8-8, $169

9^th: Keith Allen, Sumerduck, Va., five bass, 8-4

10^th: Jerry Comperatore, Tarentum, Pa., five bass, 8-1

John Castro of Lorton, Virginia, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $107.

The tournament was hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visitFLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outletsat Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

MLF BIG-5 Uncategorized

ILLINIOS’ KELLER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON OHIO RIVER AT GOLCONDA

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 29, 2019
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Walnut Hill’s Arning Takes Co-Angler Title

GOLCONDA, Ill. (July 29, 2019) – Boater Mike Keller of Metropolis, Illinois, took top honors at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament on the Ohio River at Golconda Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces. For his efforts, Keller pocketed $3,083.

“I fished all the way up the Tennessee River. I worked rock piles along a 30-yard stretch, and the fish were in about 7 feet of water,” said Keller, who notched his second win on the Ohio River in BFL competition. “My Bass Cat helped me beat everyone to my first spot and I ended up staying there all day.”

Keller said he used a ½-ounce, War Eagle spinnerbait and a Neko-rigged 5-inch, green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko to catch his fish. He said he caught around eight keepers on the day, and weighed all largemouth.

“I worked the spinnerbait slow. The bite got better around 9 a.m. when the sun came up,” said Keller. “I caught my biggest fish – a 4-pounder – on a Neko rig at about 9:30 (a.m.).

“My MotorGuide X5 trolling motor kept me locked on my spot which ended up being huge for me,” Keller went on to say. “I didn’t have to worry about drifting off or losing my spot when I retied. I had a lot of boats around me, but I could relax and just fish when it was on.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Mike Keller, Metropolis, Ill., five bass, 16-14, $3,083

2^nd: Nathan Murphy, Harrisburg, Ill., five bass, 13-5, $1,442

3^rd: Jeremy Mull, Pawnee, Ill., five bass, 12-2, $1,310

4^th: Brennon McCord, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 11-15, $673

5^th: Riley Walk, Neoga, Ill., five bass, 11-9, $577

6^th: Toby Corn, Calvert City, Ky., five bass, 10-7, $679

7^th: Hilton Jones, Westfield, Ill., five bass, 9-12, $481

8^th: Robert Neff, Roodhouse, Ill., five bass, 9-11, $408

8^th: Matt Weber, Glen Carbon, Ill., four bass, 9-11, $408

10^th: Mike Barnes, Mackinaw, Ill., five bass, 9-6, $636

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Terry Marucco of Sullivan, Illinois, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds even – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $320.

Aaron Arning of Walnut Hill, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $1,642 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., four bass, 11-5, $1,642

2^nd: Lewis Mallory, Martinsville, Ind., five bass, 10-15, $721

3^rd: Nathan Day, Jewett, Ill., four bass, 8-13, $409

3^rd: Dale Renth, Mascoutah, Ill., five bass, 8-13, $459

5^th: Jacob Greco, Edwardsville, Ill., three bass, 6-14, $288

6^th: Matt Chumbler, Carbondale, Ill., three bass, 6-12, $264

7^th: Jason Piper, Collinsville, Ill., four bass, 6-9, $240

8^th: Dave Dobill, Royalton, Ill., three bass, 5-13, $216

9^th: Ryan Fancher, Olney, Ill., four bass, 5-4, $192

10^th: Ryan Cain, Decatur, Ill., one bass, 5-3, $328

Cain caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $160.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 24-26 BFL Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

MLF BIG-5 Uncategorized

OHIO’S GALLAGHER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON INDIAN LAKE

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 29, 2019
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Co-Angler Title Goes to Russells Point’s Scales

LAKEVIEW, Ohio (July 29, 2019) – Boater Darrell Gallagher of Maplewood, Ohio, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Division tournament on Indian Lake Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces. Gallagher earned $3,553 his win.

“I started the morning fishing open pads on the main lake, at the mouth of the game reserve,” said Gallagher, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “There was also grass in the area with a little bit of a sandy bottom. It was a small area – maybe a 10-yard stretch on both sides of the pocket – where the pads and the grass met.”

Gallagher said he lost a good fish in the area in the morning, but also caught three using a 3/16-ounce, green-pumpkin-colored jig with a Watermelon-colored Zoom Super Chunk Jr.

“Later in the day I went into the game reserve to a big area called Long Island. I punched matted grass and pads with a tube,” said Gallagher. “I focused on the thickest part of the pad clumps and caught four fish. I probably hit 25 spots.

Gallagher said he punched the grass mats with a 4-inch, Pumpkin Seed-colored Right Bite Baits tube with a dyed chartreuse tip on a ¾-ounce weight. He used 50-pound-test PowerPro braided line and 7-foot, 6-inch Daiwa Tatula Flipping Rods.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Darrell Gallagher, Maplewood, Ohio, five bass, 10-14, $3,553

2^nd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 10-1, $1,977

3^rd: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 10-0, $1,285

4^th: Ronald Nutter, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 9-6, $829

5^th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $931

5^th: Clint Bissonett, Beavercreek, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $681

7^th: Nitro pro Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, five bass, 8-14, $592

8^th: Michael McCoy, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, five bass, 8-7, $533

9^th: B.J. Baxter, Willshire, Ohio, five bass, 8-0, $624

10^th: Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 7-11, $415

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Scott Manson of Covington, Ohio, caught a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455.

Jordan Scales of Russells Point, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,773 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Jordan Scales, Russells Point, Ohio, five bass, 5-13, $1,773

2^nd: Melvin McNeal, Circleville, Ohio, five bass, 5-11, $886

3^rd: Greg Marshall, Paris, Ky., five bass, 5-7, $602

3^rd: Casey Neff, Miamisburg, Ohio, four bass, 5-7, $502

5^th: Jacob Crawmer, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 5-6, $355

6^th: Chris McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., three bass, 5-3, $375

7^th: Carter Mox, Minster, Ohio, three bass, 4-15, $295

8^th: Jonathon Willis, Ironton, Ohio, three bass, 4-5, $266

9^th: Daniel Shuga, Botkins, Ohio, two bass, 4-2, $236

10^th: Ryan McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., two bass, 4-1, $207

Zach Smith of Flatwoods, Kentucky, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $222.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

MIKE IACONELLI CLINCHES VICTORY AT BASSMASTER EASTERN OPEN ON JAMES RIVER

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 27, 2019
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RICHMOND, Va. —

Mike Iaconelli knew his fate depended on low water, so the Pitts Grove, N.J., pro made a key decision during Saturday’s final round of the Basspro.com Bassmaster Eastern Open on the James River.

After placing sixth in Thursday’s opening round with 15 pounds, 2 ounces, Iaconelli repeated that weight Friday and took the lead with 30-4. Then Saturday, for the third day in a row — while much of the field ran far downriver to the James River tributary, the Chickahominy River — Iaconelli stayed closer to the main river take-off site so he could take advantage of the morning tide schedule.

That decision led to a five-bass limit that weighed 13-12 and pushed him to victory with a three-day weight of 44 pounds.

The tournament started with a small window of morning low water, with another window on the afternoon change. But with tides advancing an hour each day, the final round saw tournament hours overlapping only the morning low.

“The low water was the key,” said Iaconelli, who earned $39,000 for his first B.A.S.S. victory since 2014. “I didn’t mind if it was incoming or outgoing, but lower water stages were the key.”

Iaconelli fished what he called a “trout stream pattern,” which basically meant he pushed as far back as most anglers will push — and then kept pushing. Depths were sketchy, but referencing similar scenarios he fishes on his Delaware River home waters, Iaconelli knew he would find two important benefits: The creek’s lowest water and largely unmolested fish.

Rotating among six creeks, Iaconelli focused on areas with hard cover adjacent to pads. He caught some of his fish on a 1/2-ounce black/blue Missile Baits Mini Flip jig with a black Berkley Power Bait chunk trailer (flippin blue color) and a 1/2-ounce Molix Lover vibrating jig with a Berkley Power Bait Chigger Craw trailer.

“Today, the fishing got tough and the fish got on the ends of the cover even more,” he said. “I caught almost everything I weighed today on a Rapala DT-6 in a color called Old School.”

Noting that his decision to stay close and chase the optimal tide stage was a calculation based on several years of tidal water fishing, Iaconelli said he caught all of his weight by 11 a.m. That left a lot of time without culling and he left the water unsure if he had done enough.

“On this river, you usually have to be consistent, which means 15 to 17 pounds a day,” he said. “The entire time, until five minutes before the weigh-ins, I had no idea I might win this. I didn’t have that kicker today.

“This win means as much to me as my first club tournament win, because I’ve come close so many times. This is the sixth B.A.S.S. event on the James River, and I believe this is my fourth Top 12. I always had one bad day to keep me from winning. Today, it was enough to win.”

Whitney Stephens of Waverly, Ohio, finished second with 41-15. Making a big improvement from 11th place, Stephens said the second half of his day delivered all of his weight fish.

“Every day this week, I could have slept in the first four hours,” he said. “At 12:24, I had no fish. At 1:03, I had the bag I weighed.”

Stephens fished the Chickahominy and caught his fish on a drop-shot rig with a 6-inch Reaction Innovations Trixter worm in the Muscatine color and a Neko-rigged Zoom Trick. Worm in green pumpkin magic.

“I would throw the Neko rig when I was fishing the current more; I’d throw directly into the current and just let the bait drift along,” he said. “The dropshot was more target-oriented for underwater objects that you couldn’t see with the naked eye.

Day 1 leader Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Md., finished third with 40-6. He spent his week in the Chickahominy and caught his fish on a 3/8-ounce swim jig with a Missile Baits Twin Turbo trailer and a wacky-rigged Missile Baits 48 worm.

“The swim jig seemed to get a big bite, but you had to get a limit and the wacky rig did it,” Schmitt said.

Timothy Lucy of Prince George, Va., won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 6-11 largemouth.

Jon Wiese of Charlotte, N.C., held on to his Day 2 lead and won the co-angler division with 30-5. After catching limits of 9-7 and 8-11 the first two days, Wiese closed the door with 12-3 Saturday — his biggest catch of the week.

Wiese caught most of his fish by swimming a Texas-rigged black/blue flake Zoom Finesse worm and flipping a Missile Baits Baby D-Bomb (purple/red). Varying his presentations from what his pro was doing proved an effective strategy.

Wiese dedicated his win to his mother, Mary Dell, who passed away five years ago. Her constant encouragement, Wiese said, kept him on track for the dream he realized today.

“My mother would always call me and say ‘Are you fishing?’” he emotionally recalled. “Yeah, mom — I’m fishing!”

Scott Stephenson III won he Phoenix Boats Big Bass award in the co-angler division with a largemouth that weighed 7-8.

The event was hosted by Richmond Region Tourism and Visit Henrico County.

BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

IACONELLI CHASES TIDE TO LEAD AT BASSMASTER EASTERN OPEN ON JAMES RIVER

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 26, 2019
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Mike Iaconelli of Pitts Grove, N.J., leveraged low water windows to back up his Day 1 catch of 15 pounds, 2 ounces with an identical Day 2 bag for a 30-4 total that leads the Basspro.com Bassmaster Eastern Open on the James River.

As Iaconelli explained, tidal fisheries typically deliver their best opportunities on low, outgoing tides, as the falling water positions fish in predictable locations where they utilize current breaks to ambush forage flushed from shoreline cover. “Chasing” a tide refers to fishing the preferred stage until it ends and then repositioning up or down the tidal plane to find that scenario in another location.

“It was the same thing as yesterday; the lowest outgoing water you can find is key,” Iaconelli said. “What happens is you have it here in the morning, then it goes away and then you run South and you get it there in the afternoon.

“The reason I had that bag today is because I had a late flight. Had I had to check in a 2 o’clock, I would not have had that bag. I was able to fish two completely different areas of the river and keep with the low, outgoing tide. Almost all of that bag came late.”

Iaconelli said he power fished with three different reaction baits. Essential to his success was targeting areas with hard cover and nearby grass. That gives the fish those ambush spots with plenty of forage coming out of the soft cover.

“I’m fishing areas with current flow; nothing I’m fishing has slack water,” Iaconelli said. “Everything has what I call a ‘flush’ going past it.

“It’s all reaction baits on heavy line. I’m just throwing and winding. There’s no finesse at all. It’s in and out and if they bite, they bite.”

Noting that he intends to follow the same game plan tomorrow, Iaconelli said he knows he has his work cut out for him. Tides advance about an hour each day, so tomorrow’s later window of afternoon low tide could become a critical factor.

“I’ll need a magic day tomorrow to win; I’ll need one of those 18- to 20-pound days,” he said. “It’s possible — (Day 1 leader) Bryan Schmitt did it. They’re here, I’m in the right areas to do it, I just have to get fortunate.”

Kataro Kiriyama of Guntersville, Ala., is in second place with 29-14. Improving from eighth place on Day 1, Kiriyama added 14-14 to his first-round weight of 15 pounds. The key, he said, was recognizing the opportunity delivered by changing conditions.

“I fished a similar area in the Chickahominy River, but the approach was different,” Kiriyama said. “The fish positioned differently today because the tide was one hour later and I didn’t know that until 11:30 — I had no fish until then. From there, I caught all of my fish in about an hour and a half.

“I’ve never been here before, but I have experience on the Potomac River and the Delaware River (both tidal fisheries). I figured it could be similar, so I was patiently waiting until I thought it was good and that’s when it happened.”

Precise presentations with finesse worms were the key to triggering bites from fish positioned in feeding spots.

Tommy Little of Chester, Va., is in third place with 29-11. Drawing on his three decades of James River experience, he avoided the frustration he experienced on Day 1 by adjusting the order in which he ran his spots.

“I changed my rotation up today because it took me until 11 o’clock yesterday morning before I caught my first keeper,” Little said. “I had one on my first stop this morning and then I caught my biggest fish on my second stop. I caught another big fish around 11 and then I caught fish the rest of the day.”

Little declined to mention what he used to fool his fish, but he did say that he had 10 rods on is deck and could have left nine in the locker.

Timothy Lucy of Prince George, Va., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 6-10 largemouth.

Jon Wiese of Charlotte, N.C., leads the co-angler division with 18-2. He said his day Friday included a thrilling start, a peppy conclusion and a whole lot of boredom in the middle.

“It was crazy, I literally had one bite in the first three quarters of the day, but it was the one that counted,” Wiese said of the 5-pounder that ate a wakebait. “At the end of the day, we ran up the river, I picked up a little black and blue Zoom Finesse worm on a Slider head and caught three fish in three casts.

“They were sitting in a little shaded area, the tide was going out and they were just fighting over food. It was meant to be and it happened.”

Scott Stephenson III holds the Phoenix Boats Big Bass lead among co-anglers with a 7-8 largemouth.

Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6 a.m. ET at Osborne Park & Boat Landing. The weigh-in will be held at the Bass Pro Shops in Ashland, Va. at 3 p.m.

The event is hosted by Richmond Region Tourism and Visit Henrico County.

MLF BIG-5

THRIFT GOES WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN PRESENTED BY POLARIS

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 20, 2019
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July 20, 2019 by FLW Communications

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – FLW Tour pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces, to lead the event from start to finish and win the three-day Costa FLW Series on Lake Champlain presented by Polaris.

The tournament was the first event of the season for anglers competing in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division presented by Gajo Baits. Thrift’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 57 pounds even was enough to earn him the victory by an 8-ounce margin over second-place angler Edward Levin of Westerville, Ohio, and earn him $89,200.

“I can’t really say this win is any more special than the others – they’re all pretty great – but this event was awesome because it was the first time that I was truly in contention up north,” said Thrift, a 13-time FLW Cup qualifier and considered by many to be the best angler in the world. “I’ve had a couple of chances to win this year and it’s seemed to slip through my fingers, so it’s a really good feeling to get one back.”

Thrift estimated he caught around 60 keepers throughout the three-day event, mainly throwing 4- and 5-inch Damiki Stingers.

“I think I might have weighed in one on a topwater, but the rest came on the Stinger,” Thrift said. “My key colors were watermelon candy and green pumpkin, and I threw it Texas-rigged, wacky-rigged and Neko-rigged with a 1/8-ounce Damiki Neko sinker.

“I was kind of scared, because the first day I caught around 50 bass – 30 to 35 keepers – and I thought I may have caught too many and burned them up,” Thrift continued. “It was calm today, though, so I was able to hit some new stuff today and basically run everything that I had. If it was windy, there is no way I would have won.”

Thrift said that the key to winning the tournament came to him when he realized that he had to comb through the smaller fish.

“I realized pretty early on in the event that I could weed through a bunch of little ones and eventually I’d catch a big one,” Thrift said. “They were not at all grouped up by size. Normally if I caught a bunch of small fish, I’d leave the spot and look for the big fish areas. This week, the big fish were mixed in with the small fish and you just had to keep combing through them to find the big ones.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Champlain finished:

1st: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 57-0, $89,200

2nd: Edward Levin, Westerville, Ohio, 15 bass, 56-9, $17,300

3rd: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 53-7, $12,850

4th: Brandt Tumberg, Moore, S.C., 15 bass, 52-9, $10,750

5th: Kurt Mitchell, Milford, Del., 15 bass, 52-5, $9,750

6th: Jason Bacon, Nutting Lake, Mass., 15 bass, 52-4, $8,375

7th: Wayne Vaughan, Chester, Va., 15 bass, 51-2, $7,300

8th: Joseph Wood, Westport, Mass., 15 bass, 49-4, $6,600

9th: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 15 bass, 49-1, $5,300

10th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 48-8, $4,200

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Wood weighed a 5-pound, 10-ounce largemouth bass Thursday – the heaviest of the tournament in the Pro Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.

Henry McKee of Haddon Heights, New Jersey, won the Co-angler Division with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 8 ounces. For his win, McKee took home the top prize package of a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Champlain finished:

1st: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., 15 bass, 47-8, $28,050

2nd: Gary Haraguchi, Antioch, Calif., 15 bass, 46-10, $5,575

3rd: Robert Fulton, Ray, Ohio, 15 bass, 44-2, $4,300

4th: Mark Howard, Mesquite, Texas, 14 bass, 44-1, $3,650

5th: Louis Martinez, Annapolis, Md., 14 bass, 40-11, $3,150

6th: Chad Bushnaq, Buffalo, N.Y., 15 bass, 40-3, $2,650

7th: Michael McNicholas, Allentown, Pa., 14 bass, 39-2, $2,250

8th: Kyle Sabourin, Milton, Vt., 14 bass, 37-0, $1,825

9th: Chad Brousseau, Colchester, Vt., 12 bass, 33-4, $1,530

10th: Pete Dirado, Holland, N.Y., 11 bass, 31-7, $1,290

McKee also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces. He earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.

The Costa FLW Series on Lake Champlain presented by Polaris was hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau. It was the first of three tournaments in the 2019 regular season for Northern Division presented by Gajo Baits anglers. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will also be in the Northern Division presented by Gajo Baits, the Costa FLW Series at the Potomac River presented by Lowrance, held Aug. 22-24 in Marbury, Maryland. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand YouTube.

MLF BIG-5

VIRGINIA’S ELROD WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON JAMES RIVER

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 15, 2019
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July 15, 2019 by FLW Communications

HENRICO, Va. – Boater Bryan Elrod of Mechanicsville, Virginia, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament on the James River after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces. For his efforts, Elrod took home $3,637.

Elrod said he fished on the lower end of the James River.

“I probably fished 8 to 10 different places during the day – all shallow to mid-depth wood in 4 to 6 feet of water,” said Elrod, who earned his fourth win BFL competition – third on the James River. “It’s about a 30 minute run down there [from takeoff] and, for the most part, the areas were within a few miles of each other.

“I targeted crabs on wood, which is what they were feeding on,” continued Elrod. “I was just running the tide, trying to stay with the low water and flipping wood. I did that for as long as we could but by the end of the day the water was high.”

Elrod said his limit came on a Texas-rigged 3½-inch green pumpkin-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw. He said he caught 10 keepers throughout the tournament.

“I have a lot of local knowledge, and I know which pieces of wood can be more productive than others,” said Elrod.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st: Bryan Elrod, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 16-10, $3,637

2nd: Austin Burton, Hopewell, Va., five bass, 15-0, $1,868

3rd: Mike Cherry, Hampton, Va., four bass, 14-12, $1,622

4th: Derik Hudson, Concord, Va., five bass, 14-9, $1,029

5th: Rick Tilley, Moneta, Va., five bass, 13-7, $667

6th: Michael Belter, Reidsville, N.C., five bass, 13-2, $762

7th: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 12-13, $556

8th: Otto Hecht, Sneads Ferry, N.C., five bass, 12-11, $501

9th: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 12-1, $445

10th: Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., five bass, 11-12, $389

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Cherry caught a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $410.

Gary Peters of Surveyor, West Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,873 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds even.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1st: Gary Peters, Surveyor, W. Va., five bass, 13-0, $1,873

2nd: Bill Naron, Beaverdam, Va., five bass, 12-13, $834

3rd: Ernest McIntyre, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 11-14, $558

4th: Brad Hendrix, Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 10-14, $561

4th: Preston Hale, Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 10-14, $361

6th: Timothy Kinder, Manassas, Va., five bass, 10-4, $356

7th: Jamie Newton, Falls Church, Va., three bass, 9-13, $278

8th: Andre Wynn, Windsor Mill, Md., five bass, 9-8, $236

8th: Bud Amend, Pleasant Garden, N.C., five bass, 9-8, $386

10th: David DeCiucis, Chester, Va., four bass, 9-7, $195

Peters also caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $205.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

MLF BIG-5

MICHIGAN’S MITTLESTAT WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON LAKE ST. CLAIR PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 15, 2019
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July 15, 2019 by FLW Communications

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Boater Dan Mittlestat of Woodhaven, Michigan, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on Lake St. Clair presented by Navionics Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces. Mittlestat netted $6,552 for his win.

“I fished mid-lake in 21 feet of water on Lake St. Clair all day,” said Mittlestat, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I got one big one early on an umbrella rig – it was about 4½ pounds. I also lost a really big one.”

Mittlestat said he used a Shane’s Baits umbrella rig with 4-inch, Ayu-colored Strike King Rage Swimmers to catch his first one. The rest of his limit came on a Melon or Erie Green-colored Mizmo Baby Tube on a ¼-ounce custom jighead.

“The sun wasn’t high enough to penetrate through the water and there were 2-foot waves – I don’t think they could see the boat,” said Mittlestat. “The waves pulled the mayflies down into the water column and I think they were feeding on them.”

Mittlestat said the bite slowed down by 10:30 a.m. At that time, he said, the sun was high enough to reposition the fish into scattered grass beds. When it was lower, he figured the fish were feeding on the cleaner spots between them.

“I made long casts into the beds because they likely could see the boat and ended up plucking them out one after another,” said Mittlestat. “I’d keep tension on the line, and when I didn’t feel the tube hit the ground, that’s when I knew they had it – they didn’t hit it aggressively.”

Mittlestat said he caught around 25 keepers during the tournament. His biggest fish bit the tube around 11:15 a.m., and ended up being the heaviest of the event. He used a 7-foot, 11-inch iRod Bama Rig Special Heavy rod and 20-pound-test Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st: Dan Mittlestat, Woodhaven, Mich., five bass, 22-7, $4,552 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd: Cameron Moore, Howe, Ind., five bass, 21-5, $2,021

3rd: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 20-13, $1,582

4th: Dominic Ortiz, Midland, Mich., five bass, 20-11, $896

5th: Ross Rhodes, Paw Paw, Mich., five bass, 20-8, $768

6th: Kyle Greene, Ortonville, Mich., five bass, 20-6, $704

7th: John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 20-4, $890

8th: Ron Scharphorn, Grand Haven, Mich., five bass, 20-2, $576

9th: Jamie Elliott, Warsaw, Ind., five bass, 19-13, $662

10th: Matt Elkins, Spencerville, Ohio, five bass, 19-6, $448

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Mittlestat’s largest fish weighed 5-pounds, 3-ounces and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $510.

Michael Kokoska of Findlay, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $2,021 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1st: Michael Kokoska, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 23-5, $2,021

2nd: Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 21-1, $1,010

3rd: Mike Eldridge, Blairsville, Pa., five bass, 20-11, $641

4th: Dan O’Neil, Canton, Mich., five bass, 20-7, $448

5th: Tony Grubb, Ann Arbor, Mich., five bass, 20-4, $384

6th: Ryan Hochstetler, Shipshewana, Ind., five bass, 19-3, $352

7th: Craig Fanning, Elwood, Ill., five bass, 19-2, $320

8th: Jim Betts, Fort Wayne, Ind., five bass, 18-8, $543

9th: Riley Welch, Beecher, Ill., five bass, 17-15, $256

10th: Matthew Snyder, Pinckney, Mich., four bass, 17-1, $224

Betts caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $255.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Buchanan, Tennessee, presented by Evinrude. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

MLF BIG-5

MARYLAND’S SCHMITT WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 15, 2019
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July 15, 2019 by FLW Communications

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – FLW Tour pro Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Maryland, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Champlain presented by Navionics after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. For his win, Schmitt earned $7,209 and 250 points in the Northeast Division presented by Gajo Baits standings. The winner of the division’s Angler of the Year title after five tournaments will win $3,000.

Schmitt spent the tournament fishing the north end of the lake in Malletts Bay. He said he ended up weighing a mixed limit – three largemouth and two smallmouth.

“I just ran and checked a lot of stuff that I fished in the Tour event, and a lot of it had gotten better,” said Schmitt, who notched his fifth win in BFL competition. “During the tournament I hit eight spots – I would catch a few on each place and kept it moving.

“I ran some topwater early on some points for smallmouth and got one really good one – a heavy 3-pounder, and then I was just running. They’re heavy on bluegills right now. I was fishing real shallow, inside grass, docks, that kind of thing. There was mixed species up shallow and I would just kind of fancast a Neko rig all around those areas.”

Schmitt’s topwater fish came in on a Bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook. On his Neko rig, he used a green-pumpkin-colored Missile Baits 48 stickbait worm with a 1/0-sized Hayabusa Spin Muscle Guard hook.

“I caught another smallmouth on the Neko rig, just kind of aimlessly fishing some sparse weeds in like 5 to 6 feet of water – I consider it a pretty lucky bite. My game was bluegill largies, though,” said Schmitt. “The key was super light 8-pound-test P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon line – the water is clean up there, so long casts and light line was important.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., five bass, 19-10, $5,209 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd: Brent Heyn, South Hero, Vt., five bass, 18-12, $2,105

3rd: Cameron Chase, Conway, Mass., five bass, 18-6, $1,886

4th: Joe Zombek II, Scranton, Pa., five bass, 18-3, $935

5th: Andrew Bechard, Champlain, N.Y., five bass, 17-15, $768

5th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 17-15, $768

7th: Tom Balachvili, Scarsdale, N.Y., five bass, 17-8, $934

7th: Adam Poplaski, Adams, Mass., five bass, 17-8, $634

9th: Andrew Heivly, Malvern, Pa., five bass, 17-4, $785

10th: David Wilder, Middle River, Md., five bass, 17-2, $468

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Chase caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550.

Thomas Dellinger of Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $2,005 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1st: Thomas Dellinger, Womelsdorf, Pa., five bass, 16-5, $2,005

2nd: Chad Dorney, Macungie, Pa., five bass, 16-0, $1,002

3rd: Bradley Petrie, Johnstown, N.Y., five bass, 15-12, $868

4th: Tony Bellissimo, Chelmsford, Mass., five bass, 15-11, $468

5th: Casey Gut, Chichester, N.H., five bass, 14-14, $451

6th: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., five bass, 14-6, $518

7th: Alexandre Jelev, Petawawa, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 14-5, $334

8th: Chris Sanno, Shermans Dale, Pa., five bass, 14-3, $267

8th: Mark Bilodeau, Burlington, Vt., five bass, 14-3, $267

8th: John Henning, Lansdale, Pa., five bass, 14-3, $267

Robert Wedding of Welcome, Maryland, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $275.

The tournament was hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING STAGE 1-8 RECAP

Post author By jcarrigan
Post date July 14, 2019
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STAGE 1 – JORDAN LEE

After finding an area of clean water on the north end of Lake Garcia, Lee put together a flurry of 2- and 3-pounders in the third period by winding a vibrating jig through the grass, adding over 32 pounds to SCORETRACKER in the period to distance himself from Edwin Evers and Jared Lintner. Lee finished the day with 55-1 on 26 to Evers’ 44-3 and Lintner’s 33-9 to win B & W Trailer Hitches Stage One presented By Power-Pole. “(The third period) was an unbelievable period,” Lee said. “I fished my way into that last area and got bite after bite after bite – and caught good ones, too – and just found myself in a spot with clear water and a lot of fish. Fish were moving in to spawn, so there were bigger fish in there. Edwin was coming on strong right there at the end, it feels pretty darn good.”

Jordan Lee now a 43-pound piece of hardware that nobody else will ever be able to claim: the inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour championship trophy.

STAGE 2 – EDWIN EVERS

In the immediate aftermath of the first Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour event in Kissimmee, Florida two weeks ago, Edwin Evers’ dissatisfaction with finishing second was palpable. Ever the professional, Evers complimented his fellow competitors and smiled for photos at the Berkley Postgame Show, but no talk of Cup points could bring the Oklahoma pro comfort.
Sunday afternoon on Lake Conroe, Evers made sure that the only postgame talk would be of how he earned his first-ever MLF Bass Pro Tour trophy.
Evers racked up 51 pounds, 12 ounces

Evers’ pattern was to flip his way down the bank with a Black Blue Berkley Havoc Pit Boss,
picking out small indentations and grassy, undercut banks and flipping his bait as close to the bank as he could. He also caught some fish on a vibrating jig.
The area that Evers fished – a canal that he found during the Elimination Round – was shallow at the entrance, but fell off into slightly deeper water the further back he went.
“I feel like I know this lake as well as any lake I fish, but I’d never been in that canal before,” Evers admitted. “It looked right when I looked at it on the map, and I had it all to myself – I assume because it was probably pretty muddy in practice. The water was just a little warmer and a little bit cleaner on a couple of those key stretches.”

STAGE 3 – JACOB POWROZNIK

When it all comes down to it, the Major League Fishing® (MLF) format has always been about identifying fishing conditions on the fly, and making the right adjustments as those conditions change.
MLF pro Jacob Powroznik learned enough from the first fish he saw on Championship Sunday to tell him all he needed to know. That fish, which rolled on a floating worm in the first pocket that the Virginia pro fished on Shearon Harris Reservoir, clued Powroznik in that the lake’s largemouth were in extremely shallow water and spawning.
Powroznik didn’t catch that fish, but it caused him to pick up a wacky-rigged 5-inch V&M Chopstick and start fishing for spawners. It was the right decision: Powroznik connected with 20 fish for 63 pounds, 4 ounces to earn a shiny new red-and-silver trophy and the $100,000 first-place check at the Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Raleigh presented by Evinrude.
“I saw that fish swim over on that floating worm, and I knew right then fish were spawning,” Powroznik said. “They were really shallow, and I picked that wacky-worm up right then and didn’t take it out of my hand the rest of the day.”

Powroznik, one of the most skilled sight-fishermen in the field, dedicated some time early in the day to bedding fish, but then pulled off the beds and started casting to shallow water when mid-day clouds spoiled the visibility. That, too, proved to be a key decision.
“I love sight fishing, but the farther you stay off of them, the better,” Powroznik confirmed. “Those fish were in a foot of water, so they wanted something really subtle. It’s probably a good thing that it got cloudy and I couldn’t see those fish anymore, or I might’ve spent the day trying to get fish to bite sight-fishing to them. It turned out that it was better to cast to points that were a little further out toward the mouths of those pockets instead.”

STAGE 4 – ANDY MORGAN

From the moment he announced his intention to compete on the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour, Tennessee pro Andy Morgan was tabbed by his fellow competitors as an angler to watch. Based on both his exceptional 23-year career and his catch-every-fish-that-swims fishing style, Morgan came into the season as a near-universal pick by his contemporaries to take home one of the eight regular-season Bass Pro Tour trophies. It turns out that Morgan’s first Bass Pro Tour trophy didn’t have far to travel: 7.1 miles from Lake Chickamauga to the trophy room in his home in Dayton. Fishing a lake that he grew up on – and finishing the day in a pocket that he and his dad have won “a number of April tournaments in over the years” – Morgan weighed in 34 Lake Chickamauga largemouth for 80-0 pounds to run away with the Championship Round of the Econo Lodge Stage Four presented by Winn Grips. “I wanted to win one more tournament on Chickamauga,” Morgan admitted. “I can’t explain how hard it is to win an event at this level, and I can’t explain just how bad I wanted to win right here in front of my family and friends – I wanted it bad. It means the world to me to be able to come out here on this lake where I won my first tournament when I was 15, fish against this bunch of guys, and get that trophy. I’m awful proud of it.” Jared Lintner finished second with 60-7, Todd Faircloth was third with 59-5, Jacob Powroznik was fourth with 54-4 and Mike Iaconelli completed the Top 5 with 54-2.

Morgan fished Championship Sunday as one would expect a seasoned veteran to work his home fishery, committing his entire championship round to a long backwater north of Dayton that locals refer to as “The Branch”. Morgan woke up on Championship Sunday, looked at the weather forecast calling for heavy morning rain and afternoon winds, and knew immediately that he had an outstanding chance for a big day in two sloughs inside “The Branch”. “As soon as I saw the weather, I knew that I wasn’t going to leave that area all day,” Morgan confirmed. “I was going to fish it all day long and figure it out, because I thought it had the best population of fish to work on. I knew it could all go down right in those two sloughs, and that I needed to just stay put and be patient.” Morgan’s patience paid off. The Favorite Fishing pro worked his way around two areas he refers to as “Back Slough” and “Bus Slough” with a jig and Zoom Super Salt Plus Z Craw, a lipless crankbait and a vibrating jig, picking up 11 fish apiece in the first and second periods to claim and hold a 7-1 lead heading into the final period. Jared Lintner, who spent a good part of his day sight fishing, had crept to within 2 pounds of Morgan midway through Period 2 and had located one spawner that he identified as “a double-digit fish.” But while Lintner added 11 fish to his SCORETRACKER™ total through the final 2 ½ hours of competition, eight of those were under 2 pounds; Morgan, meanwhile, connected with his two biggest fish of the day – a 5-7 and a 6-9 – and a 4-4 to gradually open up his lead. “I had no other competitors in my area and the weather kept the local traffic out, so I had the whole place to myself,” Morgan said. “I’ve had some pretty special days on Chickamauga – I won my first Angler of the Year title on this lake – but today was the one day in my whole career where the deck was stacked for me to win.”

STAGE 5 – DEAN ROJAS

It’s an age-old question in competitive bass fishing: pattern or location? If you ask MLF pro Dean Rojas this week, he’ll come down firmly on the side of “location”.

Fishing an area on the upper end of Smith Lake that he had found during practice for the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury, the Arizona pro went to work on the Sunday-morning shad spawn with a mix of baits (primarily a crankbait, swim jig, frog and swimbait). By the end of the first period, Rojas had put 23 fish on SCORETRACKER® for 36 pounds, 5 ounces – enough spotted and largemouth bass that Rojas could’ve put his rods down for most of the rest of the day and still won.

“It’s not too often that you get into a Championship Round where the fish are biting like that and you can use multiple baits to rack up a big lead,” Rojas said. “The conditions were right: we had overcast skies, a breeze, warm temperatures, and the fish were just feeding in the area I was in. It was just about capitalizing on this format. I knew I had to catch as many fish as I could early to put some distance between me and the field.”

Rojas added an additional 9-1 in the second and third periods for good measure, finishing with 47-0 and a 6-plus-pound win over Brent Chapman (40-14), Michael Neal (34-15), Jason Christie (32-6) and Todd Faircloth (32-2). Mark Rose (29-14), Brent Ehrler (26-0), Dustin Connell (24-14), Mike Iaconelli (17-14) and Fred Roumbanis (10-1) rounded out the Top 10.

“At the end of the first period, that was the end of (the bite),” Rojas admitted. “It was a big deal that I caught as many fish as I could to build a big lead. Period 2 and Period 3 were a matter of catching a few here and there, but I was struggling because they just wouldn’t bite.”

Rojas was one of a handful of anglers in the 80-man field who identified his primary area, a stretch of bushes in the Ryan Creek Arm. Rojas hit the area throughout the week of competition, sharing it periodically with Boyd Duckett, etc., but had the whole stretch to himself on Championship morning.

“I had to mix it up to catch all those fish, but there was bait all over that area, so I had a feeling the fish should be there this morning,” Rojas said. “I went to that spot every morning in the ride-around to see if they were still spawning, because that’s what they were doing in practice. I didn’t go to it until the Elimination Round because my other stuff wasn’t working, and then didn’t fish it in Knockout because Boyd was fishing there. I went there this morning and they were busting, so I sat down on it and fished it out.”

STAGE 6 – AARON MARTENS

If you ask Major League Fishing® (MLF) pro Aaron Martens what his least-favorite technique is, he’ll giggle and tell you “Drop-shotting, bro.” It’s a running joke that the West Coast native has maintained for several years, claiming that he’d much rather be flipping a creature bait swimming jig, all the while racking up win after win using a technique he helped pioneer.
Martens can now add 100,000 more reasons to love the drop-shot.
Methodically plinking his way around a series of offshore brushpiles and flooded cedar trees in the main stem White River on Table Rock Lake, Martens connected with 50 fish for 86 pounds, 4 ounces, running away with the Championship Round of the Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Six Presented by TrueTimber and claiming a $100,000 paycheck (plus his first MLF championship trophy).
And he did it in true “A-Mart” fashion. While first-period leader Andy Montgomery watched his shad-spawn bite flame out in the second period, Martens kept a steady fish-catching pace from lines in to lines out, starting the morning connecting with multiple fish on a spinnerbait and swimbait between Moonshine Beach and Indian Point before picking up the drop-shot rod in the second period.

Martens stayed in the same area throughout the rest of the day, battling the wind and current while repeatedly dropping a Roboworm to fish he was seeing on his electronics and putting 34-14 on SCORETERACKER® in Period 1, adding 33-12 in Period 2 and holding on to the lead through the final period with 14 fish for 14-7.
“I spent my whole practice graphing,” Martens admitted. “I figured if I could find more waypoints and schools, that’s how I should spend my time. I knew every day the fish were going to change, but I had my graphs pretty dialed in where I can see fish in the trees, and see if they’re a bass, a white bass or shad. I know the bluff walls were a big deal, but I just felt better about what I had deeper.”

STAGE 7 – JACOB WHEELER

One week after the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour field rewrote the league’s record books with an astounding display of fish-catching efficiency on Table Rock Lake, Jacob Wheeler was at it again.

Fishing the first tour-level afternoon/evening competition day in recent years – a noon-to-8 p.m. game day – Wheeler wrote his name in the MLF record books twice: Once for most weight caught in a single day of competition, and one for most scorable bass landed in a day.

By the time lines came out for Friday’s Shotgun Round at the Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft, Wheeler had racked up 88 fish for 129 pounds, 14 ounces, a 17-pound cushion over Shin Fukae in second place (112-4) and the most productive day in the league’s young history.“Unbelievable,” Wheeler said simply as he strapped his rods down after the day. “Just unbelievable.”

“I grew up fishing weeknight tournaments: I fished a Tuesday-nighter, a Wednesday-nighter, a Thursday-nighter, and sometimes a Friday-nighter, every week. That’s where I started. Some of my favorite memories are those evening tournaments. The fish bit pretty well for me today, and I enjoyed that noon-to-8 schedule.”

STAGE 8 – CLIFF PACE

Pace grabbed the lead in the second period and never looked back. The windy and cloudy conditions played a significant role in his victory, and how he was able to catch 47 bass for 81-9.

The majority of Pace’s fish fell for a Jackall Rerange Jerkbait, but he started the day plucking them off with a Jackall Crosstail Shad fished on a drop-shot rig.

“After the delay, the wind was still blowing, and when we went back out, I caught one on the jerkbait on the first cast,” Pace said. “I never put it down after that. It was all about the conditions. I was looking for areas with rock since there was so much sand everywhere. The main thing on natural lakes is to find where there is a mix of rock and sand.”
For his win, he takes home $100,000 and the title of Stage Eight Champion.

STAGE 1 – JORDAN LEE

STAGE 2 – EDWIN EVERS

STAGE 3 – JACOB POWROZNIK

STAGE 4 – ANDY MORGAN

STAGE 5 – DEAN ROJAS

STAGE 6 – AARON MARTENS

STAGE 7 – JACOB WHEELER

STAGE 8 – CLIFF PACE

The 2019 Inagural Season will finish up at the REDCREST CHAMPIONSHIP August 21st in La Crosse, Wisconsin