CLAYTON, N.Y. (Aug. 22, 2005) - Boater John Lorenzo of Kane, Pa., earned $4,276 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Empire Division bass fishing tournament at 1,000 Islands. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Empire Division events and featured 140 boaters vying for the win, which earned Lorenz 200 points in the Boater Division.
Lorenz's winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 8 ounces. He threw a June bug Senko around shallow grass to catch his bass. He earned an additional $1,000 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.
Finishing second was Joe Wolter of Rochester with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces that earned him $2,138. Jay KnapP of Clayton claimed $1,399 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces. In fourth was Eric Johnson of Bloomsberg, Pa., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces worth $1,088, and finishing fifth and earning $894 was Jamie Hartman of Poland, N.Y., with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces.
Wolter took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $700 for a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Berkley Power Worm. Michael Rinaldi of North Haledon, N.J., bested 140 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,138 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught on a black Berkley Power Worm.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Earl Purcell Jr. of Granville, Mass. (five bass, 15 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,069); Arthur Fry of Iselin, N.J. (five bass, 15 pounds, 7 ounces, $700); Brian Keister of Sicklerville, N.J. (five bass, 15 pounds, 6 ounces, $544); and Roy Tucker II of Corning (five bass, 13 pounds, 15 ounces, $447).
Keister earned $350 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a green-pumpkin Senko.
The Empire Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Champlain near Ticonderoga.