Ashley wins co-angler title
Tom Tarasoff of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 1 ounce, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division Super Tournament on 1000 Islands, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 44 pounds, 4 ounces. Tarasoff took home $6,367 for his win.
According to post-tournament reports, Tarasoff targeted humps, flats and drops with tubes fishing near Wolfe Island.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Tom Tarasoff, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 44-4, $6,367
2nd: Kraig Kettelkamp, Clifton Springs, N.Y., 10 bass, 43-12, $2,816
3rd: Jamie Hartman, Bridgeport, N.Y., 10 bass, 43-9, $2,077
4th: Curtis Richardson, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 42-0, $1,614
5th: Dane Anderson, Copake, N.Y., 10 bass, 39-12, $1,126
6th: Chris Blanc, Riverside, Conn., 10 bass, 39-5, $1,033
7th: Kyle Metzger, Baldwinsville, N.Y., 10 bass, 39-4, $939
8th: Joseph Fonzi, Gasport, N.Y., 10 bass, 38-13, $845
9th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 35-4, $751
10th: Frank Guarascio, Marcy, N.Y., 10 bass, 33-9, $657
Tarasoff also caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $735.
Eric Ashley of Little Falls, New York, won the co-angler division and earned $2,816 with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Eric Ashley, Little Falls, N.Y., 10 bass, 34-15, $2,816
2nd: Graydon Bonser, Keyser, W. Va., nine bass, 34-14, $1,408
3rd: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., 10 bass, 32-11, $941
4th: Chad Dorney, Macungie, Pa., eight bass, 28-14, $657
5th: Brandon Esterly, Forest, Va., 10 bass, 28-13, $1,030
6th: Conner Petropoulos, Portland, Maine, 10 bass, 28-2, $566
7th: Christy Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., eight bass, 26-2, $469
8th: Andrew Bechard, Champlain, N.Y., 10 bass, 25-0, $422
9th: Terry Beck, Lock Haven, Pa., nine bass, 24-15, $375
10th: Bryan Cumbo, West Wyoming, Pa., eight bass, 24-10, $329
Esterly caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $367.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 Regional Championship on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
