Lipari wins co-angler title
Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, North Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division tournament of 2015 on Kerr Lake. For his victory, Poteat earned $5,889.
“It feels awesome to win this tournament,” Poteat said. “To go out there and excel in a sport I love is truly a blessing.”
Poteat said that he flipped a green-pumpkin Zoom Brush Hog into button bushes for about 2½ hours before catching his first five-bass limit.
“I probably caught 10 or 11 keepers total,” said Poteat. “There’s always a full spawn in those bushes.”
Poteat switched his strategy in the afternoon as clouds and rain rolled into the area.
“The wind picked up so I began targeting main-lake points near Nutbush Creek with a white-colored Lunker Lure Hawg Caller spinnerbait,” said Poteat. “I was fortunate enough to bring in three more good ones.
“You have to fish the conditions,” continued Poteat. “Changing up my approach to the fish was key for me. I decided to fish the wind and it produced some notable weights.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 17-13, $3,889 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Wally Szuba, Cary, N.C., five bass, 17-10, $1,944
3rd: Mike Miller, Trinity, N.C., five bass, 17-7, $1,297
4th: Shane Burns, Durham, N.C., five bass, 17-2, $907
5th: Josh Wagy, Dewitt, Va., five bass, 15-12, $778
6th: Flash Butts, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., five bass, 15-10, $680
6th: Steve Wagner, New Kent, Va., five bass, 15-10, $680
8th: Dennis Burdette, Lindside, W.Va., five bass, 14-15, $583
9th: Shawn Hammack, Gasburg, Va., five bass, 14-11, $519
10th: Kendall Dail, Chinquapin, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $454
John Cary of Ruther Glen, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounce and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $525.
Dave Lipari of Valley Cottage, New York, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 12 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win $1,944 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Dave Lipari, Valley Cottage, N.Y., five bass, 12-7, $1,944
2nd: Greg Ravitsky, Ashburn, Va., five bass, 12-1, $972
3rd: Sergio Render, Christiansburg, Va., five bass, 11-13, $649
4th: Andre Wynn, Windsor Mill, Md., five bass, 11-12, $454
5th: Safulla Rana, Warrenton, Va., five bass, 11-11, $389
6th: Nick Disabatino, Bristow, Va., five bass, 11-0, $356
7th: Edward Honaker, Richmond, Va., five bass, 10-12, $324
8th: David Everhart, Kearneysville, W. Va., three bass, 10-9, $292
9th: Kevin Fore, Powhatan, Va., four bass, 10-4, $259
10th: Lawrence Aucoin, Durham, N.C., five bass, 9-11, $215
10th: Jerry Comperatore, Tarentum, Pa., three bass, 9-11, $215
Everhart caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $262.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 15-17 Regional Championship on Lake Wateree in Camden, South 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 compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
