Hurst wins co-angler title
Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Virginia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 6 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division Super Tournament on the Potomac River presented by Minn Kota, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 2 ounces. Crowder took home $8,586 for his win.
“I spent both days of the event fishing grass beds near Aquia Creek,” said Crowder, who earned his sixth career win – first as a boater – in FLW competition. “I caught most of my larger bass in the morning each day. The incoming tide in the afternoon made for a tough bite.
“I used a black Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog 65 on Day One,” continued Crowder. “I threw it for an hour or two, then the bite slowed down. I picked up a wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senko and fished it the rest of the day. I only had five keepers by the time I weighed in.”
On the second day of competition, Crowder said he returned to the grass beds but had trouble getting the fish to bite the frog, “I picked up a black Lobina Rico and casted to the edge of the grass,” said Crowder. “On my third cast I caught a 5-pounder. I also used a black Rebel Pop-R to round out my limit.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., 10 bass, 35-2, $6,586 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Chris Daves, Spring Grove, Va., 10 bass, 33-13, $3,293
3rd: Dennis Burdette, Lindside, W. Va., 10 bass, 31-6, $2,195
4th: Rick McFaul, Phoenix, Md., 10 bass, 28-5, $1,537
5th: Scott Banton, Midlothian, Va., 10 bass, 27-13, $1,317
6th: Brett Ewing, Waldorf, Md., 10 bass, 27-5, $1,207
7th: Cody Pike, Powhatan, Va., nine bass, 26-12, $1,298
8th: Ray Griffin, Greensboro, N.C., 10 bass, 26-4, $988
9th: Shawn Hammack, Gasburg, Va., 10 bass, 25-15, $878
10th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 25-13, $768
Chip Adams of Fredericksburg, Virginia, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $945.
Todd Hurst of Pulaski, Virginia, won the co-angler division and earned $3,393 with a two-day cumulative catch of eight bass weighing 24 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Todd Hurst, Pulaski, Va., eight bass, 24-3, $3,393
2nd: Jerry Pyles, Middletown, Md., nine bass, 23-2, $1,646
3rd: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., nine bass, 22-6, $1,148
4th: Will White, Wake Forest, N.C., 10 bass, 20-15, $768
5th: Jeff Warter, Centreville, Va., eight bass, 20-2, $659
6th: Mark Robertson, Henderson, N.C., eight bass, 17-6, $604
7th: Tanner Glasgow, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 15-14, $549
8th: Thomas Hirsch, Powhatan, Va., six bass, 15-5, $494
9th: Mike Gardner, South Hill, Va., five bass, 14-8, $439
10th: Lucas Doucet, Lanham, Md., six bass, 13-10, $384
Ronald Knight of McKenney, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $472.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 Regional Championship on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North 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 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart 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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico 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
