BEDFORD, Va. (April 29, 2019) – The Apprentice School duo of Hunter Atkins of Carrsville, Virginia, and Kitt Moger of Suffolk, Virginia, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event on Smith Mountain Lake presented by Costa Friday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces. The victory earned the Builders' bass club $2,400 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

It was the second consecutive year that the duo of Atkins and Moger won the FLW College Fishing event on Smith Mountain Lake, and Atkins credited their sight-fishing skills as the key to their tournament wins.

"We've only been to this lake three times – all three for a tournament – and we finished fourth, first and first," said Atkins, a senior majoring in business management. "Kitt and I work real well together when we're targeting beds, alternating casts and keeping a bait in front of the fish at all times. Smith Mountain Lake is also very similar to some of the lakes we have by our house and we've got a lot of practice bed fishing."

"We spent a full day on the water Thursday, just prior to the tournament, and we were on the water from sun up to sun down, just looking for and marking fish on beds," said Moger, a third year Outside Machinist Apprentice at Newport News Shipbuilding. "I think that was the key to our win – persistence. We wore that trolling motor out and didn't even really fish – we just looked for fish on the bed."

The duo said they came in to the tournament with around a dozen fish marked and they were able to put 11 keepers in the boat. They flipped Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Craws and Rage Lobsters, both black-and-blue-colored.

"I think the key was knowing how to sight fish," Atkins went on to say. "We ran into a couple of very large fish, but after a few casts we knew we were wasting our time. You have to know when it's going to bite and when to leave it alone. Luckily we ran into some that were ready."

The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:

1st:          The Apprentice School – Hunter Atkins, Carrsville, Va., and Kitt Moger, Suffolk, Va., five bass, 16-6, $2,400

2nd:         Radford University – Christopher Butler and Zack LeMaster, both of Bedford, Va., five bass, 15-6, $1,000

3rd:         Radford University – Christian Williams, Wingina, Va., and Joshua Greenberg, Montpelier, Va., five bass, 14-12, $500

4th:         Michigan State University – Riley Welch, Beecher, Ill., and Kevin Lukens, Norton Shores, Mich., five bass, 14-3, $500

5th:         James Madison University – Blake Miles, Chesterfield, Va., and Noah Beckley, Salem, Va., five bass, 13-13, $750

6th:         Radford University – Jackson Norton, Ferrum, Va., and Nathan Brooks, Rocky Mount, Va., five bass, 12-10

7th:         Clarkson University – Tyler Robinson, Madrid, N.Y., five bass, 12-7

8th:         Clarkson University – Benjamin Seaman, Colchester, Vt., and Connor Reese, Farmington, N.Y., five bass, 12-6

9th:         Liberty University – Coleman Roberts, Fort Myers, Fla., and Alex Williamson, Gorham, Maine, five bass, 12-4

10th:       Wytheville Community College – Logan Reynolds, Stuart, Va., and Landon Siggers, Danville, Va., five bass, 12-1

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The YETI FLW College Fishing event on Smith Mountain Lake presented by Costa was hosted by Bedford Tourism and the Bedford Area Welcome Center. It was the first of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Northern Conference anglers. The next event for FLW College Fishing anglers will be May 31 at the Chesapeake Bay in Harford County, Maryland.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division's three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. The Potomac River and Marbury, Maryland, will play host to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship, June 4-6, 2019.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW's social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Courtesy of FLW Communications.

Co-Angler Title Goes to Shelby's Scism

HENDERSON, N.C. (April 29, 2019) – Boater Robert Walser of Lexington, North Carolina, brought five bass to the weigh-in stage totaling 15 pounds, 10 ounces, to win Saturday's T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on Kerr Lake. For his efforts, Walser took home $5,718.

"I fished flooded bushes and trees, mid-lake, along an approximately 20-mile stretch," said Walser, who logged his 12th career win in BFL competition – tied for second most all-time. "I used a spinnerbait early, and then I flipped."

Walser said he used a ½-ounce white-colored Rush Lures double-willow-bladed spinnerbait with a chartreuse and silver glitter Zoom Split Tail trailer on 20-pound-test Berkley Big Game line. He flipped a green-pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hog with a 3/0-sized Berkley Fusion 19 EWG hook and a 3/8-ounce Eco Pro tungsten flipping weight. For flipping, he opted for 20-pound-test Berkley Trilene 100-percent fluorocarbon line.

"I caught more than 30 keepers. It was hard initially, but after it warmed up it got easier," said Walser. "We had a severe cold front come through Friday afternoon and the temperatures dropped rapidly – maybe 20 degrees in 30 minutes. It rained following the temperature change, so we had a few hours of cold rain. I think it had an effect on the fish I was targeting, but after noontime I caught four or five limits."

Walser said he ended up weighing one off the spinnerbait, and the rest from the Brush Hog.

"Some of those spinnerbait fish in the morning were at those deeper bushes, and my Garmin Panoptix showed me the submerged bushes I couldn't see, which really helped me out," said Walser.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Robert Walser, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 15-10, $3,718 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               2nd:         Dustin Clontz, Albemarle, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $1,909

               3rd:          Jake Frye, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $1,388

               4th:          Scott Beattie, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 13-10, $898

               5th:          Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., five bass, 13-8, $655

               5th:          Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 13-8, $805

               7th:          Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 13-6, $990

               8th:          Carson Orellana, Mooresville, N.C., five bass, 13-0, $513

               9th:          Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 12-8, $456

               10th:        Ryan Deal, Indian Trail, N.C., five bass, 12-7, $399

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Wilson caught a 5-pound, 1-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $420.

Jeff Scism of Shelby, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,709 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Jeff Scism, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 12-5, $1,709

               2nd:         Larry Freeman Jr., La Crosse, Va., five bass, 12-3, $1,105

               3rd:          Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., five bass, 11-1, $620

               4th:          Charles Wood, Thomasville, N.C., four bass, 10-15, $609

               5th:          Maverick Canipe, Kings Mountain, N.C., five bass, 10-1, $342

               6th:          Dwayne Parton, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 9-13, $413

               7th:          Mark Murphy, Salisbury, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $285

               8th:          Barry Burford, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 9-11, $256

               9th:          Grant McPeters, Marion, N.C., four bass, 9-10, $228

               10th:        John Cook, Matthews, N.C., five bass, 9-9, $199

Wood caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $210.

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 T-H Marine FLW BFL North Carolina Division tournament on Kerr Lake was hosted by the Vance County Tourism Development Authority.

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 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

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.

Courtesy of FLW Communications.

Raleigh's Richardt Claims Co-Angler Title

HENDERSON, N.C. (April 8, 2019) – Boater R.J. DeGrandcourt of Clarksville, Virginia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division opener on Kerr Lake. For his catch, DeGrandcourt took home $2,585.

According to post-tournament reports, DeGrandcourt caught his bass fishing flats on the upper end of the lake with a Bomber Speed Shad crankbait.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          R.J. DeGrandcourt, Clarksville, Va., five bass, 18-7, $2,585

               2nd:         Ben Dalton, Keeling, Va., five bass, 16-5, $1,175

               3rd:          Travis Lugar, McGaheysville, Va., five bass, 15-9, $784

               4th:          Jack Dice, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 15-0, $759

               4th:          Thomas Svec, Chesapeake, Va., five bass, 15-0, $509

               6th:          Curtis Talbott, Forest, Va., five bass, 14-15, $631

               7th:          Michael Delvisco, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 14-1, $392

               8th:          Derik Hudson, Concord, Va., five bass, 13-11, $752

               9th:          Rick Hawkins, Roanoke, Va., five bass, 13-10, $313

               10th:        Craig Wright, Rustburg, Va., four bass, 13-1, $150

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

DeGrandcourt also caught a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $235.

Kyle Richardt of Raleigh, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,175 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Kyle Richardt, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 12-7, $1,175

               2nd:         Trey Grow, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 11-6, $587

               3rd:          Louis Britos, Disputanta, Va., five bass, 10-10, $393

               4th:          Jamie Newton, Falls Church, Va., four bass, 10-9, $254

               4th:          Timothy Kinder, Manassas, Va., five bass, 10-9, $354

               6th:          Brandt Thompson , Richmond, Va., five bass, 10-7, $215

               7th:          Gregory Chuhta, Germantown, Md., five bass, 10-5, $196

               8th:          Danny Crickenberger, Charlottesville, Va., four bass, 10-0, $293

               9th:          Billy Brown, Dahlgren, Va., five bass, 9-13, $157

               10th:        Al Berkley, Madison Heights, Va., five bass, 9-12, $50

Crickenberger caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $117.

The tournament was hosted by the Vance County Tourism Development Authority.

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 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

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.

Courtesy of FLW Communications.

Co-Angler Title Goes to Kingsport's Blakely

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 1, 2019) – Boater Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tennessee, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 9 ounces, to win Saturday's T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. Powers earned $3,583 for his victory.

Powers spent his day fishing wind-blown points mid-lake, not too far from takeoff. He said the bite was tough, and that he caught just six keepers all day. He weighed in two largemouth and two spotted bass from a spinnerbait and a 3-pound smallmouth on a crankbait.

"I targeted blowdowns on the points with the spinnerbait, and when the wind quit blowing I switched to a flat-sided crankbait. It was the same deal [with the crankbait] – rocky, wind-blown points – but I stayed away from the trees," said Powers, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. "The crankbait has a tight wiggle and when they quit biting, I can usually catch a few on it.

Powers said his spinnerbait was a ½-ounce, custom-made lure with Willow Leaf and Colorado blades and a Glimmer Blue skirt, with a Zoom Split Tail trailer of the same color. His crankbait was a Root Beer-colored CP Custom Baits Series 3 balsa crankbait. He said he primarily worked in 6 to 10 feet of water.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 17-9, $3,583

               2nd:         Kevin Powers, Unicoi, Tenn., five bass, 13-15, $1,764

               3rd:          Jonathan Bowling , Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $1,108

               4th:          Steve Coleman, Clayton, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $707

               5th:          Nathan Hipps, Canton, N.C., five bass, 11-7, $580

               5th:          Derrick Blake, Rockwood, Tenn., two bass, 11-7, $580

               7th:          Matt Linton, Kingston, Tenn., four bass, 10-6, $505

               8th:          Doug Burke, Castlewood, Va., four bass, 10-0, $454

               9th:          Tavin Napier, Rockwood, Tenn., three bass, 9-9, $404

               10th:        Wayne Coppage, Jonesboro, Tenn., four bass, 9-1, $353

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Powers also caught a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $355.

David Blakely of Kingsport, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,714 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          David Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 11-10, $1,714

               2nd:         Mark Dillard, Bluff City, Tenn., four bass, 11-7, $807

               3rd:          Clint Dyer, Jonesborough, Tenn., four bass, 10-10, $505

               4th:          Joey Boling, Walland, Tenn., three bass, 9-0, $353

               5th:          Brian Miller, Calhoun, Ga., three bass, 8-0, $303

               6th:          Audie Aultman, Knoxville, Tenn., three bass, 7-5, $278

               7th:          Bradley Watts, Afton, Tenn., four bass, 7-3, $252

               8th:          Jim Neece Sr., Bristol, Va., three bass, 6-15, $214

               8th:          Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., two bass, 6-15, $364

               10th:        Robert Barch Jr., Nelsonville, Ohio, two bass, 6-13, $177

Curtis Crooke of Washburn, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $177.

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 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

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.

Courtesy of FLW Outdoors.

More than 450 Bass Anglers to Descend on Marbury, Maryland for 36th annual BFL All-American and the FLW College Fishing National Championship – Two Internationally-Televised Tournaments

CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (May 16, 2019) – The nation's top weekend and collegiate bass-fishing anglers are set to compete at two of the most prestigious bass-fishing championships in the country on the Potomac River later this month – the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American on the Potomac River presented by General Tire, May 30-June 1, and the YETI FLW College Fishing National Championship on the Potomac River presented by Lowrance, June 4-6.

An automatic entry to compete at the 2019 FLW Cup is up for grabs to the winners of each respective event, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money and a brand new Ranger Boat. The events are hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners and Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism.

"The Potomac River has been fishing strong for the past few months and is the perfect fishery to host these two championships," said FLW Tour pro Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Maryland. "They're going to be hitting it at one of the best times of the year. You're going to see a lot of different tactics – ChatterBaits, swimjigs, shallow-diving crankbaits, stickbait worms and flipping creature baits. The key to winning will be finding something – a pattern or a location – that nobody else is on."

The 2019 BFL All-American on the Potomac River presented by General Tire will feature a field of the top 98 boaters and co-anglers from across the 24-division BFL circuit competing for a grand prize of up to $120,000 in the boater division and $60,000 in the co-angler division. The top boater will receive an invitation to compete for bass fishing's most coveted prize – the 2019 FLW Cup – Aug. 9-11 on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Since its inaugural event in 1983, the BFL All-American championship has visited the Potomac River just once (2012) in its 36-year history. In 2012, boater Brian Maloney of Osage Beach, Missouri, targeted shallow flats with contoured ditches with dark-colored crankbaits to claim the title and the $120,000 top prize.

The 2019 YETI FLW College Fishing National Championship at the Potomac River presented by Lowrance will be comprised of the top qualifying teams from each of the 15 regular-season events from around the country, along with the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open. A field of 172 teams representing 100 different colleges and universities will be competing for a prize package that includes a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard and an automatic qualification for both team members to move on to compete against the best bass-anglers in the world at the 2019 FLW Cup.

"Winning the FLW College Fishing National Championship last year kicked off my career as a professional angler," said 2019 FLW Tour rookie Hunter Freeman, who won the event last year on the Red River while competing for the University of Louisiana-Monroe along with partner Thomas Soileau. "The entire experience was amazing. From the banquet, to the three-day tournament, the media coverage – everything was a blast. Winning the championship showed me that I had what it takes to become a professional fisherman and gave me the confidence to sign up to compete at the highest level – the FLW Tour."

BFL All-American competitors will take off from Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury, at 7 a.m. EDT each morning, May 30 to June 1. Thursday and Friday's weigh-ins, May 30-31, will be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's Championship weigh-in, June 1, will also be held at the park, but will begin at 4 p.m.

The FLW College Fishing National Championship anglers will also take off each day, June 4-6, from Smallwood State Park, at 7 a.m. EDT. All weigh-ins will be held at the State Park, beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Television coverage of both events will premiere in the fall of 2019. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Days Three and Four of both events – Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 for the All-American and Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6, for the College Fishing National Championship. FLW Live features live action from the boats of the tournament's top anglers each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour pros Luke Dunkin and Miles Burghoff to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport's top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW's social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Courtesy of FLW Communications.

Shavertown's Klaips Wins Co-Angler Title

NORTH EAST, Md. (May 20, 2019) – Boater Jason Burger of Bridgeton, New Jersey, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division opener on the Chesapeake Bay presented by Navionics Saturday with five bass weighing 23 pounds, 9 ounces. For his efforts, Burger pocketed $4,000.

Burger said he spent the day fishing isolated grass clumps and wood near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. He said he caught about 10 keepers all day, and ended up weighing all largemouth.

"I'd usually fish different areas that are more normal for this time of year, but with the weather they've had, I fished some old stuff," said Burger, who earned his first win in FLW competition. "When they have a lot of rain, they open up the Conowingo Dam and it muddies up the water in the North East area. And when they close it, the water near Havre de Grace is the first to clean up, so I stayed around the mouth of the river and targeted spawning and prespawn fish."

For prespawners, Burger used a ½-ounce, white-colored 6th Sense Divine Swim-Jig with a 4-inch X Zone Muscle Back Craw trailer and a 3/8-ounce, black and blue Z-Man ChatterBait with a 4-inch Tennessee Shad-colored X Zone Swammer Swimbait. When he slowed down for bedding fish, he worked a 3/8-ounce, black and blue-colored 6th sense Divine Hybrid jig with a 3.25-inch X Zone Rebel Chunk trailer, as well as a 6-inch, Texas-rigged X Zone True Center Stick, also in black and blue.

"My Lowrance electronics and Power-Poles were also crucial," said Burger. "When you're working with tides and wind you have to be stealthy, and the poles help. My Lowrance side imaging is how I found a lot of the stuff I fished."

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Jason Burger, Bridgeton, N.J., five bass, 23-9, $4,000

               2nd:         Terry Roberson, North East, Md., five bass, 22-9, $2,000

               3rd:          John Vanore, Mullica Hill, N.J., five bass, 21-2, $1,784

               4th:          Ken Golub, Pittsford, N.Y., five bass, 19-11, $1,183

               5th:          Brian Bylotas, Scott Township, Pa., five bass, 19-3, $1,100

               6th:          Jon Werner, Nazareth, Pa., five bass, 19-1, $733

               7th:          Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., five bass, 18-11, $667

               8th:          Chris Caravan, Pottsville, Pa., five bass, 18-1, $1,140

               9th:          David Wilder, Middle River, Md., five bass, 17-7, $533

               10th:        Brian Trieschman, Ellicott City, Md., five bass, 17-2, $467

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Caravan caught a bass weighing 7 pounds even – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $540.

Bill Klaips of Shavertown, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $2,000 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Bill Klaips, Shavertown, Pa., five bass, 22-3, $2,000

               2nd:         Thanh Hoang, Baltimore, Md., four bass, 17-1, $1,000

               3rd:          Chris Sanno, Shermansdale, Pa., five bass, 15-15, $666

               4th:          Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., five bass, 15-4, $567

               5th:          Edward Barbee, Ivyland, Pa., five bass, 15-2, $550

               6th:          Daniel Fiori, Voorhees, N.J., five bass, 14-1, $367

               7th:          Roland Gittings, Perryville, Md., five bass, 13-14, $483

               8th:          David Soistman, Baltimore, Md., four bass, 13-10, $300

               9th:          James Easley, Middletown, Del., five bass, 13-9, $267

               10th:        William Allie, Wynantskill, N.Y., four bass, 13-6, $233

Joseph Amberg Jr. of Hawley, Pennsylvania, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $270.

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.

Courtesy of FLW Outdoors Communications.