Co-angler Victory Goes to Maryland’s Bae

HENRICO, Va. (Oct. 12, 2020) Pro Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Virginia, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 50 pounds, 1 ounces to win the no-entry fee Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on the James River. For his victory, Daves earned $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and automatic entry into the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship, June 3-5, at Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee.

“We had extremely low tides the past few days, which put the fish off the bank and right where I like to fish,” said Daves, regarding the key to his victory.

“I fished drops on the lower end of James in the mouth of the Chickahominy River, at a depth of 4 to 5 feet, with a chartreuse-colored square-bill crankbait,” continued Daves. “I also caught several key fish on a ribbontail worm.”

Daves said he grew up fishing this river and Wards Creek.

“Fishing on your home lake, you normally get the local jinx, but this time it worked out for me, so it feels good,” said Daves.

The top six boaters that qualified for 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

            1^st:       Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Va., 15 bass, 50-1, $60,000

            2^nd:      Jason Burger of Bridgeton, N.J., 15 bass, 45-11, $10,000

            3^rd:       Chris Baldwin of Lexington, N.C., 15 bass, 44-6, $5,200

            4^th:       Keith Estes of Spring Grove, Va., 15 bass, 44-4, $3,000

            5^th:       Jason Thomas of Lexington, N.C., 15 bass, 43-10, $2,500

            6^th:       Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, N.C., 15 bass, 43-9, $1,800

Rounding out the top 10 boaters were:

            7^th:       Chris Dover of Blacksburg, S.C., 15 bass, 41-11, $1,600

            8^th:       Jason Barnes of Concord, N.C., 15 bass, 41-9, $1,400

            9^th:       Cole Huskins of Gastonia, N.C., 15 bass, 40-9, $1,200

            10^th:     Steve Colgin of Lanexa, Va., 15 bass, 40-1, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Thomas took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Moo Bae of West Friendship, Maryland, weighed in 15 bass over three days totaling 35 pounds, 5 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2021 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American were:

1^st:       Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., 15 bass, 35-5, $50,000, including Phoenix 819 Pro boat w/200-hp outboard

            2^nd:      David Mills of Wirtz, Va., 15 bass, 33-11, $5,000

            3^rd:       Rod Mackinnon of Middletown, N.Y., 14 bass, 30-3, $2,500

            4^th:       Travis Garrett of Charlottesville, Va., 13 bass, 30-3, $1,500

            5^th:       Terri Davis of Chilhowie, Va., 15 bass, 27-15, $1,000

            6^th:       Robert Wedding of Welcome, Md., 11 bass, 25-12, $1,150

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

            7^th:       Cody Lewis of Ooltewah, Tenn., nine bass, 22-2, $800

            8^th:       Nick Coker of Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 21-12, $700

            9^th:       Bradley Smith of Cherryville, N.C. 14 bass, 21-3, $600

            10^th:     Gregory Chuhta of Germantown, Md., 12 bass, 20-11, $500

The Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Regional Championship on the James River was hosted by Richmond Region Tourism. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the North Carolina, Northeast, Shenandoah and Volunteer divisions.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.