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MLF BIG-5

MARYLAND’S REESE GOES WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT ON POTOMAC RIVER PRESENTED BY LOWRANCE

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (Aug. 24, 2019) – Pro Marvin Reese of Randallstown, Maryland, caught four bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division tournament on the Potomac River presented by Lowrance. Reese’s three-day total of 14 bass weighing 38 pounds, 15 ounces, was enough to earn him the victory by a 1-pound, 6-ounce margin and a cash prize of $38,026. Reese also tallied 250 points in the Northern Division presented by Gajo Baits Angler of the Year (AOY) standings.

“This is my first win as a boater – it feels pretty special,” said Reese, who earned his fifth career victory in FLW competition – third on the Potomac River. “I’ve been in this position [to win] before as a co-angler and it always seems like things don’t go right the last day and you fall short. I had two fish break off today, and two other fish hooked up. I had the bites and I’m like ‘I blew it.’ It shouldn’t have been this close, but I’ll tell you what, this win feels great.”

Reese caught a fish or two in grass on days one and two and caught a couple on shallower hard cover up near Washington, D.C., but the vast bulk of his weight came from one particular structure.

“It was a pier in 20 feet of water in D.C., and I just fished simple. I threw up on the side of it, and they would hit the bait on the fall,” said Reese. “I was feeding the lure line so it could get down to the bottom – it was nothing more complicated than that.

“It had two key spots on it that accounted for 12 of the 14 bass I weighed-in,” continued Reese. “The two corners are the sweet spots, and I had stuff pretty dialed in on that dock. That structure is hollow underneath, and once that tide gets to a certain level they sit under there and they’d come out and hit it [the bait] on the fall. Not a fish we caught there all week hit it on the bottom.”

Reese cited a jig and a shaky-head rig as key lures this week. He preferred a ½-ounce handmade green-pumpkin-colored jig with a Strike King Rage Tail Craw trailer of the same color and a green-pumpkin/green-flake Zoom Trick Worm on a 3/16-ounce Spot Remover shaky-head hook. He said he caught six keepers Thursday and Friday, with each lure catching an equal amount of fish.

On Saturday, Reese struggled a bit, but managed to scrape up three late in the day, with his third fish coming from an area called the Spoils. He added that the shaky-head rig was what produced for him on the final day of the tournament.

“I thought if I could get one more fish I would run back up there to that dock to try and get a kicker,” said Reese. “I fished and fished and didn’t catch one, so with 15 minutes left I ran back up there anyway. With three fish in the boat and 15 or 20 minutes to fish I pulled up on it and caught one, and that ended up being the difference.”

The top 10 pros on the Potomac River finished:

1st: Marvin Reese, Randallstown, Md., 14 bass, 38-15, $38,026

2nd: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 37-9, $14,932

3rd: Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 37-3, $12,948

4th: Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W. Va., 15 bass, 36-3, $9,457

5th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 15 bass, 36-3, $9,511

6th: Robert Grike, Dumfries, Va., 14 bass, 36-0, $7,565

7th: Jordan Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 15 bass, 33-10, $6,620

8th: Nitro pro Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 14 bass, 31-12, $5,874

9th: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 14 bass, 30-9, $4,728

10th: Wil Dieffenbauch, Morgantown, W. Va., 12 bass, 30-1, $3,783

A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.

Chris Moxley of Strasburg, Virginia, weighed a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass Friday – the heaviest fish of the tournament in the Pro Division. The catch earned Moxley the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $272.

Jim Short of Ocean Pines, Maryland, won the Co-angler Division with a three-day total catch of 13 bass weighing 29 pounds, 9 ounces. For his win, Short took home a $32,350 prize package, including a Ranger Z175 with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on the Potomac River finished:

1st: Jim Short, Ocean Pines, Md., 13 bass, 29-9, $27,350 + $5,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd: Ted Kephart, Philipsburg, Pa., 13 bass, 28-10, $4,800

3rd: Austin Archer, Anniston, Ala., 12 bass, 26-11, $3,840

4th: Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., 14 bass, 26-1, $3,410

5th: Ryan Bauman, Fleetwood, Pa., 14 bass, 23-1, $3,030

6th: Dennis Blakely, Norwalk, Ohio, 13 bass, 22-7, $2,400

7th: William Puduski, Portsmouth, N.H., 10 bass, 19-4, $1,920

8th: Daniel Taylor, Elizabethton, Tenn., 6 bass, 17-6, $1,861

9th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., 9 bass, 17-1, $1,440

10th: Sakae Ushio, Tonawanda, N.Y., 8 bass, 17-0, $1,200

Jeff Mellott of Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces. For his catch, Mellott earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $181.

The Costa FLW Series on the Potomac River presented by Lowrance was hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners. It was the second Northern Division tournament of the 2019 regular season. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will be the Costa FLW Series at the St. Lawrence River presented by Realtree Fishing, held Sept. 19-21, in Massena, New York. 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, Instagram and YouTube.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

VINSON, POWROZNIK, NEAL, IACONELLI, EVERS ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND OF REDCREST PRESENTED BY VENMO

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Aug. 23, 2019) – Round 1 of the Knockout Round at REDCREST Presented by Venmo did not disappoint. After yesterday’s Elimination Round featured little to no drama near the Elimination Line, we had plenty of it today.
The 10 anglers battling to survive made it exciting down to the last second, and it truly came down to the wire. Edwin Evers was the last man in thanks to a Period 3 rally that bumped Stephen Browning to the wrong side of the Top 5.
Here’s what we know: Stephen Browning, Mark Daniels, Jr., Jeff Sprague, Andy Morgan, and Jacob Wheeler were eliminated, but each of them had their chances and they made valiant attempts to survive.
Greg Vinson, Michael Neal, Jacob Powroznik, Mike Iaconelli, and Edwin Evers have advanced. These five will be joined by five anglers from tomorrow’s Knockout Round – Round 2 and will compete for the REDCREST title at Sunday’s Championship Round on Pool 7.

Vinson Cruises
During the Shotgun and Elimination Rounds, Vinson was the most consistent angler in the field, weighing 48-7 and 50-4, respectively. He continued his solid tournament with 40 bass for 63-10 today, with the bulk of his weight coming on a jerkbait and topwater walking bait.
He took over the lead from Powroznik late in the day and then continued to catch fish until “lines out”.
Vinson credits the management of his locations for his success.
“I had a really good first day of practice there and saw other anglers fishing in the same area, but they were not keying on the same things,” he said. “I had to be careful not to be seen fishing the way I was the first two days.”
Pool 7 – site of the Championship Round – features a slightly different layout, and it is unclear if Vinson can run the same pattern, but he’s happy to have a chance.
“I’ll keep an open mind during my ride around and see what catches my eye,” he said. “It’s awesome to have a shot against nine other guys for the title of the first REDCREST champion,” he said.

Neal Stays Steady
Over the first two rounds, Neal was a solid performer with 82-7 during the first two days to land in 10th place. Today, he weighed over 60 pounds doing the same thing, mostly in the same location.
“I started there every day, and it is one of those ‘magical spots’ that seems to always have fish there,” said Neal. “It is what got me through each round.”
When he left his primary area and then returned, the bass were biting.
“I came back to it and caught nine fish in the afternoon with four on consecutive casts,” Neal added.

Powroznik Rides Massive Morning
Early on, Powroznik could do no wrong. He had an area stacked with fish and went to work with a wacky-rig to build his lead. The majority of his 53-13 came in Period 1, and it was enough for him to advance.

Iaconelli Survives
Iaconelli had plenty of peaks and valleys as he occupied every place from 10th to 4th at some point today. He made a switch to a small buzzbait in the final 30 minutes, and it was the difference-maker as he landed key bass that cemented his spot in the Championship Round.

Edwin Squeaks In
Evers, the 2019 Points Champion, shook off a slow morning and stayed focused all day, even with a tense close to Period 3.
“This format is so intense and exciting knowing exactly where you stand,” he said.
His final 3 minutes consisted of two fish catches and one two-minute fish landing violation. It was a crazy finish, but it worked out just fine for Evers.

Browning Falls Late
Stephen Browning had the unfortunate distinction of being the first man out. He had stayed in the top five the entire day, until when it mattered most. In the final 30 minutes, he was bumped by Evers. Browning caught a solid keeper in the final moments, but it was not enough as Evers also placed a bass on the scale in the last minute.
Browning was speechless as he was informed that he was eliminated by less than 2 pounds. Instead of addressing the MLF NOW! cameras, he strapped down his rods and prepared to leave.

MDJ’s Rally Comes Up Short
Late in Period 3, Mark Daniels Jr. had a shot and was within striking distance of the fifth position, but couldn’t get over the hump and finished just over 3 pounds out of the final spot. He remained unflappable even after hooking his official, having to remove the hook and then losing another bass in the final moments.

Daily Winners
Shotgun Round daily awards were:
* The Berkley Big Bass of the day was Stephen Browning’s 3-15 largemouth.
* Michael Neal won the Berkley Catch Count award with 42 bass on the day.
* Greg Vinson’s 63-10 earned him the Phoenix Boats Daily Leader award.

Looking Ahead
Knockout Round 2 commences tomorrow with the remaining 10 anglers vying for five spots to advance. They will be joined by today’s top finishers for the Championship Round on Pool 7 this Sunday.

How, When, Where to Watch
Competition continues on Friday at 7 a.m. CDT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER® on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MLF app.
MLF NOW! Live Stream Schedule (Times CDT)
  • Saturday, Aug. 24: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Postgame Show at approximately 4 p.m.
  • Sunday, Aug. 25: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Postgame Show at approximately 4 p.m.
How to Attend
Fans are invited to the Onalaska Omni Center for the MLF Midway and Postgame Show Presented by Berkley
  • REDCREST Midway: Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 23-25; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Postgame Show Presented by Berkley: Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24-25; approximately 4 p.m.
Official Results

https://majorleaguefishing.com/event/redcrest-bass-pro-tour-championship-la-crosse-wi/results/