Virginia’s Wright Grabs Co-angler Title

MARBURY, Md. (May 8, 2017) – Aaron Dixon of Bel Alton, Maryland, brought five bass totaling 21 pounds, 9 ounces to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the Potomac River. For his limit, Dixon earned $3,901.

 

“I primarily fished north of the takeoff ramp in a protected cove,” said Dixon, who earned his first career-victory in BFL competition. “I worked up and down the bank and was able to target bass in all three phases of the spawn.”

Dixon said the fact that bass were in all three phases was what made his 100- to 150-yard stretch of shoreline unique. He said that spawning bass were 4 feet down on pea gravel, and that pre- and postspawn bass were 6 to 10 feet deep in grass.

“I made long casts using a black and blue-colored (Yamamoto Baits) Senko and was able to hit both depths on the retrieve,” said Dixon. “The key factor was the protection in the cove and the deep water. With the extra-high tide, the bass that were there didn’t have to move – they just stayed in the grass.”

After the bite slowed around 10:30 a.m., Dixon said he encountered problems with his engine mounts and was forced to return early to the takeoff ramp.

“We really only got to fish for four hours because of the mounts,” said Dixon. “Luckily I already had enough in my livewell to win it.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Aaron Dixon, Bel Alton, Md., five bass, 21-9, $3,901

2^nd:         Frank Ippoliti, Mercersburg, Pa., five bass, 19-3, $1,733

3^rd:          Richard Haber, Linthicum, Md., five bass, 18-4, $982

3^rd:          Todd Harris, Clemmons, N.C., five bass, 18-4, $1,182

5^th:          Brian Tucci, Surfside Beach, S.C., five bass, 17-4, $693

6^th:          Timothy McFaul, Egg Harbor Township, N.J., five bass, 16-14, $635

7^th:          Todd Langford, Great Falls, Va., five bass, 16-9, $578

8^th:          Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 16-3, $520

9^th:          Otis Darnell, Linden, Va., five bass, 16-0, $462

10^th:        Brian LaClair, Denton, Md., five bass, 15-11, $404

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Dixon also caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $435.

Craig Wright of Rustburg, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,833 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Craig Wright, Rustburg, Va., five bass, 17-10, $1,833

2^nd:         Carl Whipple, Manassas, Va., five bass, 17-4, $916

3^rd:          Daniel Moon Jr., Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 16-12, $577

4^th:          Travis Garrett, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 15-6, $404

5^th:          Timothy Kinder, Manassas, Va., five bass, 14-9, $347

6^th:          Tom Carpenter, Alexandria, Va., five bass, 14-7, $318

7^th:          John Castro, Lorton, Va., five bass, 13-15, $289

8^th:          Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., five bass, 13-12, $260

9^th:          Bill Naron, Beaverdam, Va., five bass, 13-8, $231

10^th:        Howard Williams, District Heights, Md., five bass, 13-6, $192

10^th:        Jeff Mellott, Warfordsburg, Pa., five bass, 13-6, $192

Elliot Pilson of Stuart, Virginia, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $217.

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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

The 2017 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. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.