MONETA, Va. (Sept. 29, 2003) - Craig Blankenship of Beckley, W. Va., caught seven bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces to win $6,371 at the Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division Super Bass Fishing Tournament, on Smith Mountain Lake near Moneta. Blankenship bested 106 Boater Division competitors and earned 300 points at the tournament, which was the fifth and final Shenandoah Division event of the regular season.
Blankenship caught four bass Saturday weighing 7 pounds and caught another three weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces Sunday to win the event. He caught his tournament-winning bass fishing run-and-gun style with a spinner bait.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Ray Armes of Concord (four bass, 11 pounds, 8 ounces); Jacob Powroznik of Prince George (four bass, 11 pounds, 1 ounce); Butch Thorp of Forest (four bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces); and Rory Dunn of Rustburg (four bass, 10 pounds).
Armes earned $500 from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program. Steve Miller of Mechanicsville claimed $1,060 as the Boater Division big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass.
Marty Sparger of Reston led 106 Co-angler Division competitors on day two to claim $3,185 as the Super Tournament co-angler winner. He caught two bass Saturday weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces and followed that up Sunday with one bass weighing 2 pounds, 5 ounces to earn the win with a two-day total of three bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces. He caught his tournament-winning bass in the lower and upper parts of the main lake on a Senko and a Spook.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jeff Lugar of McGaheysville (five bass, 7 pounds, 11 ounces); Walter Whitman Jr. of Greensboro, N.C. (two bass, 6 pounds, 8 ounces); Mike Orbell of Silver Spring, Md. (two bass, 6 pounds, 6 ounces); and Nancy Zeigler of York, Pa. (two bass, 5 pounds, 14 ounces).
Scott Roberts of Lynchburg took co-angler big-bass honors and $530 with a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass.
Marty Schray of Sterling is the Shenandoah Division's Yamaha "Be the Best" points leader, winning $1,000 for the 964 points he earned during five regular-season tournaments. James Seay of Richmond is the Yamaha "Be the Best" points leader in the Co-angler Division. He earned $500 for his division-leading 940 points.