Jester wins co-angler title
Cory Johnston of Cavan, Ontario, Canada, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 25 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Northeast Division tournament of 2015 on 1000 Islands. For his victory, Johnston earned $5,632.
Johnston said he spent his day targeting spawning and postspawn bass in 3 to 18 feet of water in the mouth of the St. Lawrence River
“After takeoff I made an hour and a half run to where a lot of bass were spawning,” Johnston said. “I spent a lot of time gathering waypoints up there so I wanted to put them to good use.
“I was able to grab a couple 5-pounders fairly quick,” continued Johnston. “Then I chased postspawners. I had some fish pegged farther down the river in deeper water that I knew no one knew about. I went to that spot around 12:30 p.m. and pulled in two more 5-pound fish.”
Johnston said he caught the majority of his 10 to 15 keepers drop-shotting a green-pumpkin Jackall Eye Shad and a Jackall Crosstail Shad.
“I won this tournament because I spent a lot of time looking for the big bedding fish,” Johnston concluded. “You have to be able to judge their size without catching them to make sure you’re going to get the right ones.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 25-13, $3,632 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Jamie Hartman, Newport, N.Y., five bass, 25-2, $1,816
3rd: Charles Sim, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 25-0, $1,210
4th: Matthew Clary, Massena, N.Y., five bass, 23-8, $847
5th: Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., five bass, 23-2, $726
6th: Chris Flint, Potsdam, N.Y., five bass, 21-2, $666
7th: Joe Hodak, Clymer, Pa., five bass, 20-7, $605
8th: George Hutchinson, Mullica Hill, N.J., five bass, 20-3, $545
9th: Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., five bass, 20-2, $484
10th: Patrick Grady, Chaumont, N.Y., five bass, 19-3, $424
Sim caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $465.
Ken Jester of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, weighed in five bass totaling 20 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $1,816 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Ken Jester, Landenberg, Pa., five bass, 20-11, $1,816
2nd: Eric Correll, Birdsboro, Pa., five bass, 19-10, $908
3rd: Brett Holmes, Claverack, N.Y., five bass, 18-0, $606
4th: Jacob Weisman, Nanjemoy, Md., five bass, 17-13, $424
5th: Ethan Brothers, Massena, N.Y., five bass, 17-3, $363
6th: David Ehrentraut, Locke, N.Y., five bass, 16-12, $333
7th: Dan Schoneveld, Hopatcong, N.J., five bass, 16-11, $303
8th: Frank Hutchinson, Sewell, N.J., five bass, 16-1, $272
9th: Terry Beck, Lock Haven, Pa., five bass, 15-12, $242
10th: John Duarte, Middle River, Md., five bass, 15-11, $212
Weisman caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $116.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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
