NORTH EAST, Md. (Oct. 15, 2018) – Boater Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, caught a two-day cumulative total of 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the weather-shortened FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional championship on the Chesapeake Bay. Thompson pocketed $66,000 for his efforts, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and automatic entry into the 2019 BFL All-American Championship.
Originally scheduled for Oct. 11-13, competition Friday, Oct. 12, was cancelled by FLW officials due to high winds. As a result, the winner was determined by combining Thursday and Saturday’s weights.
“I really struggled on the first day until about noon,” said Thompson, who earned his second career win in BFL competition. “Every piece of structure in the North East River was covered with two or three boats because the fishing was so tough out on the flats.
“I went up into the North East Creek and found a little spot where there was just enough room for one more boat on a small piece of structure – a tree laydown. I fished it with a (green-pumpkin-colored) Zoom Finesse Worm on a drop-shot rig, and managed to catch a limit just before the end of the day.”
With just over 10 pounds of bass on Day One, Thompson knew he needed a big catch on Day Two to break into the top six – his ultimate goal.
“On the final morning I got a water temperature reading and found it had dropped 8 or 9 degrees,” said Thompson. “I was happy with how cold it got. With some history in mind, I knew people would have a hard time with the cold front, but also felt that I would excel.”
Thompson said he re-rigged a couple of rods for the conditions and proceeded to work through three big-fish areas.
“These are my home waters and there are three areas that I feel hold the big fish,” said Thompson. “In the morning, I targeted a dock in the North East River. I fished an Avocado-colored grub, very slowly, on a light, plain ball-headed jig and had two fish at noon. When the tide started to fall, I moved out into about 13 feet of water and fished a (green-pumpkin) Yamamoto Senko with a 1/16th-ounce (Picasso) tungsten bullet weight. I let the current move it along the bottom and got three bites.”
Thompson went on to give Susquehanna Fishing Tackle in Columbia, Pennsylvania, a special thanks for delivering all of the necessary tackle and credited his Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor as his key piece of equipment at the event.
“This is the biggest win I’ve ever had and my Ultrex played a big role in it,” said Thompson. “The wind was really blowing on Day Two, but I was able to use the Spot Lock feature and focus on the fishing. The bites were subtle and I had to pay attention.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2019 BFL All-American were:
1st: Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., 10 bass, 29-9, $66,000
2nd: Ronnie Baker, Providence Forge, Va., nine bass, 27-1, $10,200
3rd: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., nine bass, 26-2, $5,100
4th: Ryan Bauman, Fleetwood, Pa., 10 bass, 25-13, $3,000
5th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 25-12, $2,000
6th: Steven Wiseman, Bryans Road, Md., 10 bass, 25-6, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Dave Lauer, McConnelsville, Ohio, nine bass, 25-3, $1,600
8th: Jon Werner, Nazareth, Pa., 10 bass, 24-10, $1,400
9th: Otis Darnell, Linden, Va., 10 bass, 24-9, $1,200
10th: Ryan Powroznik, Hopewell, Va., 10 bass, 24-8, $1,000
Michael Bahnweg of Union Dale, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard with a two-day cumulative catch of nine bass weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2019 BFL All-American were:
1st: Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., nine bass, 22-6, $45,000
2nd: William Allie, Wynantskill, N.Y., eight bass, 21-9, $5,200
3rd: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., 10 bass, 18-8, $2,550
4th: Michael Nelms, Hartwood, Va., eight bass, 17-15, $1,500
5th: Howard Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, six bass, 17-11, $1,000
6th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 17-6, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Matthew Cozad, Okeana, Ohio, seven bass, 17-4, $800
8th: Mike Geisler, Oxford, Ohio, eight bass, 16-12, $700
9th: Cort Gardner, Jessup, Md., eight bass, 16-10, $600
10th: Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., seven bass, 16-1, $500