Chris Dillow of Waynesboro, Va., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division event on the James River. For his victory, Dillow earned $6,046.
“The good Lord truly blessed me,” said Dillow. “It was anyone’s tournament out there. I was blessed with one big bite, a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass, that was the biggest fish of the tournament, and it was the difference maker.”
Dillow fished multiple areas in an eight-mile stretch beginning at the mouth of the Appomattox River to Richmond. He said that he fished his own homemade Dillow’s Perfect jig, which has won him multiple tournaments in the past, including a co-angler victory when the FLW Tour visited the Potomac River in 2012.
“I had to miss a few Shenandoah division events this year due to some health problems, so I told my wife that I was going for the win and either going to be a hero or a zero,” Dillow said. “I just beat on everything that I could find in the river. I was looking for big pilings, rock piles, brushpiles – basically everything that other guys weren’t fishing.
“I only caught six fish all day,” Dillow continued. “Most of them came by 10 a.m., during the high tide on the river. It really slowed down in the afternoon, and I didn’t have many bites.
“The key for me out there was just keeping that jig in my hand,” Dillow went on to say. “After my co-angler caught one on a worm, it got into my head and I really considered switching baits. I decided I was going to stick with the basics and either sink or swim. The Lord gave me that one big bite and it was my time.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
| 2nd: | Bryan Elrod | Mechanicsville, Va. | five bass | 14-12 | $2,023 |
| 3rd: | Brandon Stapleton | Temperanceville, Va. | five bass | 13-15 | $1,348 |
| 4th: | Cavin Young | Prince George, Va. | five bass | 11-10 | $944 |
| 5th: | Kelly Pratt | Williamsburg, Va. | five bass | 11-9 | $809 |
| 6th: | Eric Waff | Chester, Va. | five bass | 11-8 | $742 |
| 7th: | Jeremy Taylor, | Woodford, Va. | five bass | 11-6 | $674 |
| 8th: | Mark Brannock | Chester, Va. | five bass | 11-5 | $573 |
| 8th: | Richard Owen | hester, Va. | five bass | 11-5 | $573 |
| 10th: | Frank Poirier | Hopewell, Va. | five bass | 11-2 | $472 |
David Williams of Fredericksburg, Va., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win $2,023 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
| 2nd: | Mark Finley | Palmyra, Va. | five bass | 10-3 | $1,011 |
| 3rd: | Carl Whipple | Manassas, Va. | five bass | 9-8 | $674 |
| 4th: | Kermit Crowder | Matoaca, Va. | five bass | 9-7 | $472 |
| 5th: | Joe Rinaldi | Ashburn, Va. | five bass | 9-4 | $405 |
| 6th: | Leroy Harriott | Woodbridge, Va. | five bass | 8-7 | $371 |
| 7th: | James Karwacki | Florence, N.J. | four bass | 8-6 | $337 |
| 8th: | Christopher Moore | Mechanicsville, Va. | five bass | 8-1 | $303 |
| 9th: | Donnie Miller | Midlothian, Va. | five bass | 7-12 | $270 |
| 10th: | Kenneth Henderson | Fredericksburg, Va. | five bass | 7-11 | $236 |
The final BFL Shenandoah Division tournament of 2013 is scheduled for Sept. 21-22 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Md. After that last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Md. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 40 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 presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLWFLW 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 2013 over the course of 220 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. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.By: Joe Opager, Communications Specialist
