MARBURY, Md. (Sept. 18, 2023) – Boater Zachary Stoupa of Prince George, Virginia, caught 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the two-day MLF Bass Fishing League tournament on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. The tournament was the fifth and final regular-season event for the Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division. Stoupa earned $5,575 for his victory. Stoupa also secured the 2023 Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race Sunday.
“Going into this event, I had a good lead in the Angler of the Year race, so my plan was to try and fish kind of close, so I didn’t have to make a long run anywhere,” Stoupa said. “I did a lot of damage in Mattawoman Creek, and that really worked out in my favor. I didn’t have to run very long to secure Angler of the Year and picked up a win in the process.”
Stoupa said he focused his efforts on grass where he had gotten bites in practice. Stoupa’s bait of choice for his mid-river fish was a vibrating jig. He said the key was “staying put and not running around” and sticking to where he knew he had located fish.
“I didn’t boat my first fish until about 11 o’clock,” Stoupa said. “It took off from there. I never really got nervous, though, because I knew I had locked up the Angler of the Year title, and that was my main goal this week. Making the second day of the tournament I knew I couldn’t finish worse than 19th, so that was a bonus.
“It’s been a great season,” Stoupa went on to say. “I can’t even find words for it. My worst finish was at Smith Mountain Lake, where I finished 14th, and I’ve had four top-10s. It’s just been a great year.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Zachary Stoupa, Prince George, Va., 10 bass, 29-1, $5,575
2nd: Myles Paugh, Aurora, W.V., 10 bass, 28-0, $2,787
3rd: Robert Henderson, King George, Va., 10 bass, 27-10, $1,860
4th: Adam Harkness, Hebron, Md., 10 bass, 27-4, $1,301
5th: Nathan Grose, Morgantown, W.V., 10 bass, 25-2, $1,615 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
6th: Frank Poirer, North Prince George, Va., 10 bass, 24-11, $1,022
7th: Nolan Gaskin, Broussard, La., 10 bass, 24-1, $929
8th: Fred Chandler, Mount Airy, Md., 10 bass, 23-10, $1,166
9th: Ron Ruosseau, Raleigh, N.C., 10 bass, 22-10, $743
10th: Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., nine bass, 22-8, $1,150
Mike Keyser of Elkridge, Maryland, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 15 ounces that was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division to earn the Big Bass Boater award of $727. Larry Freeman, Jr., of La Crosse, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,788 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Larry Freeman, Jr., La Crosse, Va., 10 bass, 24-2, $2,788
2nd: Richard Williams, Sutherland, Va., nine bass, 22-3, $1,394
3rd: David Lewis, Abingdon, Md., seven bass, 19-10, $1,293
4th: Ted Kephart, Phillipsburg, Pa., nine bass, 19-4, $650
5th: Jeff Turner, Morris, Ill., nine bass, 19-0, $758
6th: Roland Gittings, Perryville, Md., eight bass, 18-3, $711
7th: Joseph Beckler, Great Mills, Md., nine bass, 18-1, $465
8th: Sean Lane, Culpeper, Va., 10 bass, 17-9, $418
9th: Todd Hurst, Copper Hill, Va., eight bass, 17-0, $372
10th: Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., seven bass, 14-9, $325
David Lewis of Abingdon, Maryland, caught the largest bass in the Strike King Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the Berkley Big Bass Co-angler award of $364.
With the regular season now complete, boater Zachary Stoupa of Prince George, Virginia, won the 2023 Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division Boater Angler of the Year (AOY) race with a five-event total of 1,345 points to earn the $1,000 boater AOY award. David Deciucis of Chester, Virginia, won the 2023 Strike King Co-Angler Shenandoah Division AOY race with 1,324 points and earned the $500 Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.