Hudson’s Tiano Claims Co-angler Title
Travis Manson of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament on 1000 Islands Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 44 pounds, 2 ounces. Manson pocketed $6,437 for his win.
Manson said he spent both days of the tournament targeting fish on Lake Ontario.
“On Saturday I worked on a ledge where fish were congregating in anywhere from 18 to 40 feet of water,” said Manson, who notched his first career-win in FLW competition. “They were all in one 50-yard area, and I caught more than 20 keepers over 4 pounds.”
Manson said every fish he weighed in came on a 4-inch Smoke Purple and Blue Highlight-colored Gajo Baits Spirit Shad on a drop-shot rig.
“On Sunday, I returned to the area and within 30 minutes I knew it wasn’t going to pan out,” said Manson. “I ended up burning about 47 gallons of fuel to hit 15 spots and come up with my weight. They were mostly isolated rock clumps, but were areas I’ve had history on. When you lose a school of fish, you just have to run what you know.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., 10 bass, 44-2, $6,437
2nd: Robert Reesey, Newfoundland, Pa., 10 bass, 43-5, $2,759
3rd: Dale Gorrell, Hatfield, Pa., 10 bass, 42-13, $2,239
4th: A.J. Slegona, Pine Bush, N.Y., 10 bass, 42-11, $1,287
5th: Chris Panetta, West Simsbury, Conn., 10 bass, 41-5, $1,103
6th: Ronald Penders Jr., Rochester, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-14, $1,012
7th: Matt Stasiak, Pittsburgh, Pa., 10 bass, 40-0, $920
8th: Patrick Hildenbrand, Germantown, N.Y., 10 bass, 38-7, $828
9th: Brian Bylotas, Scott Township, Pa., 10 bass, 37-10, $736
10th: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 10 bass, 36-8, $644
Manson also caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $720.
Drew Tiano of Hudson, New York, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,752.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Drew Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-13, $2,752
2nd: Christy Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., 10 bass, 36-15, $1,476
3rd: Kyle Esterly, Drexel Hill, Pa., eight bass, 33-1, $968
4th: Bill Baldwinn, Chittenango, N.Y., 10 bass, 32-2, $642
5th: Jim Buehler, Montoursville, Pa., nine bass, 31-15, $550
6th: Brandon Humbertson, Walkersville, Md., nine bass, 31-11, $505
7th: Griffen Hurt, Bound Brook, N.J., 10 bass, 31-7, $459
8th Glenn Kingree-Key, Reading, Pa., 10 bass, 30-2, $413
9th: Andrew Heivly, Malvern, Pa., 10 bass, 29-8, $367
10th: Craig Dubois, Sprakers, N.Y., nine bass, 29-1, $321
Sky Friend of Ridgewood, New Jersey, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $352.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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
