Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Md., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Northern Division event on the Potomac River with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 14 ounces. For his victory, Schmitt earned $30,935 and a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“This feels great,” said Schmitt, who also won the 2010 EverStart Series Northern Division event on the Potomac River. “To win this event back-to-back makes me speechless.”
Schmitt said he spent the first two days of competition fishing in the same area, but on Saturday he managed two pull only two small fish from the area, so he relocated to a backup spot. Schmitt said a northwest wind had blown on the Potomac and made for shallow fishing in the backs of creeks.
“It was pretty much game on,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said he used a black and blue original Chatterbait and a homemade black and blue jig to catch his fish during the tournament.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
| 2nd: | Cory Johnston | Peterborough, Ont. | 15 bass | 45-12 | $10,606 |
| 3rd: | Mike McDonald | Randleman, N.C. | 15 bass | 42-7 | $8,839 |
| 4th: | Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre | Union City, Pa. | 15 bass | 41-5 | $7,955 |
| 5th: | Mickey Pettry | Manassas, Va. | 15 bass | 39-4 | $7,071 |
| 6th: | Lance Vick | Mineola, Texas | 15 bass | 39-3 | $6,187 |
| 7th: | Mike Hoskings | Spotsylvania, Va. | 15 bass | 38-9 | $5,303 |
| 8th: | Frank Ippoliti | Mercersburg, Pa. | 15 bass | 36-12 | $4,419 |
| 9th: | Edwin Jackson | Marshall, Va. | 15 bass | 36-3 | $3,535 |
| 10th: | Rob Webster | Janetville, Ont. | 14 bass | 34-8 | $2,652 |
Terry Stevens of Sterling, Va., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 37 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
| 2nd: | Robert Gerber | The Plains, Va. | 15 bass | 35-12 | $4,090 |
| 3rd: | Vince Denina | Willis, Texas | 15 bass | 33-10 | $3,635 |
| 4th: | Robert Wedding | Welcome, Md. | 14 bass | 32-9 | $3,181 |
| 5th: | Brian Keister | Cedar Brook, N.J. | 14 bass | 30-11 | $2,726 |
| 6th: | David Williams | Fredericksburg, Va. | 14 bass | 30-10 | $2,272 |
| 7th: | John Robinson | Fairfax, Va. | 13 bass | 29-9 | $1,818 |
| 8th: | Nicholas Toman | Washington, D.C. | 14 bass | 29-8 | $1,363 |
| 9th: | Jerry Pyles | Middletown, Md. | 12 bass | 28-1 | $909 |
| 10th: | Casey Zaremba | Brecksville, Ohio | 11 bass | 24-11 | $727 |
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.By: Chad Gay, Public Relations Manager
