WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Boater Richard Owen of Chester, Virginia, caught a three-day cumulative total of 15 bass weighing 40 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional event on the James River presented by Costa Sunglasses. Owen earned $65,000 for his win, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and an automatic berth into the 2018 BFL All-American Championship.

“The win is still sinking in – I can’t believe it,” said Owen, who earned his second career-win in BFL competition.  “The James River is my home waters. I’ve waited years to qualify for a BFL Regional tournament on it.”

Owen said he fished a small area upriver, near Richmond, throughout the weekend. He sat his boat in 8 to 10 feet of water while he targeted rock jetties, wood and docks.

“The fish were relating to anything that blocked the current. They were using rocks or docks as an ambush point,” said Owen. “With the steep banks and high water, they couldn’t spread out too far. They were confined to the main channel, which really suited my style of fishing.”

Owen said he primarily used a 4-inch watermelon and blue-fleck-colored Zoom Dead Ringer worm on a 6-foot Berkley Lightning Rod.

“I worked through the area slowly, which was key for me,” said Owen. “I prefer to pick apart an area rather than cover a ton of water. It really worked out well.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:

1^st:          Richard Owen, Chester, Va., 15 bass, 40-11, $65,000

2^nd:         James Wall, Greensboro, N.C., 15 bass, 40-7, $10,000

3^rd:          Ralph Ray, Youngsville, N.C., 15 bass, 39-10, $5,000

4^th:          Chris Panetta, West Simsbury, Conn., 14 bass, 39-7, $3,000

5^th:          Chris Daves, Spring Grove, Va., 15 bass, 39-4, $2,200

6^th:          Jackson Pleasant , Raleigh, N.C., 14 bass, 39-2, $1,900

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th:          Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., 15 bass, 38-11, $1,600

8^th:          Craig Chambers, Charlotte, N.C., 15 bass, 38-8, $1,400

9^th:          Tim Teague, Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 37-4, $2,200

10^th:        Robert Stinger, Williamsburg, Va., 15 bass, 36-0, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Adam Lockler of Charlotte, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard with a three-day cumulative catch of 15 bass weighing 39 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top six Co-anglers that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:

1^st:          Adam Lockler, Charlotte, N.C., 15 bass, 39-10, $45,100

2^nd:         Ben Arnold, La Follette, Tenn., 14 bass, 27-10, $5,000

3^rd:          Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., 15 bass, 25-15, $2,500

4^th:          Michael Nelms, Hartwood, Va., 12 bass, 25-15, $1,550

5^th:          Colton Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., 12 bass, 25-9, $1,000

6^th:          Nathan Grose, Summersville, W. Va., 13 bass, 25-2, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th:          Justin Bach, Kannapolis, N.C., 11 bass, 25-1, $800

8^th:          Tobey Lawson, Raleigh, N.C., 12 bass, 23-14, $700

9^th:          Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., 14 bass, 23-3, $600

10^th:        Anthony Awgul, Quakertown, Pa., 13 bass, 22-15, $500

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Regional Tournament on the James River was hosted by Sports Williamsburg.