NORTH EAST, Md. (June 17, 2019) – Boater Michael Sentore of Gloucester City, New Jersey, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament on the Chesapeake Bay Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds even. For his finish, Sentore netted $3,362. Sentore said he stayed in the North East River and Furnace Bay during the tournament, and caught all of his fish flipping a ½-ounce, green-pumpkin-colored Riot Baits Minima Jig with a Riot Baits Tantrum trailer of the same color.
“The Chesapeake Bay has been getting a lot of pressure, and by using a bait with a smaller profile, but still on 20-pound-test [Bass Pro Shops 100-percent fluorocarbon] line, it allowed me to get some bites behind other boaters,” said Sentore, who earned his first win FLW competition. “I was basically flipping laydowns and dock pilings. I caught them throughout the day – I’d get handful of bites each hour.”
Sentore said he caught around nine keepers and about 10 short fish on the day.
“I’d say high-tide in Furnace Bay was the best for flipping laydowns,” said Sentore. “In Furnace Bay there are essentially two sides – the Mill Creek side and the rest of Furnace Bay. The Mill Creek shoreline laydowns produced a handful of my keeper fish. And I got a couple of keeper bites on the lower water – the North East river. When the water was low and off the banks there was fish on the dock pilings. That kind of broke my day up.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Michael Sentore, Gloucester City, N.J., five bass, 19-0, $3,632
2nd: Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., five bass, 17-13, $2,016
3rd: Rick McFaul, Phoenix, Md., five bass, 16-2, $1,310
4th: Luke Shrader, Barrington, N.J., five bass, 16-0, $847
5th: Jonathan Dietz, Corry, Pa., five bass, 15-6, $726
6th: Sheron Brown, Leominster, Mass., five bass, 15-2, $666
7th: John Vanore, Mullica Hill, N.J., five bass, 12-8, $855
8th: John Hauserman, Towson, Md., five bass, 12-7, $545
9th: Robert Bidniuk, Chambersburg, Pa., three bass, 11-14, $949
10th: Ronald Tracy, Marlton, N.J., five bass, 11-12, $424
Bidniuk caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $465. Chris Herr of Denver, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $1,816 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chris Herr, Denver, Pa., five bass, 14-8, $1,816
2nd: Daniel Fiori, Voorhees, N.J., five bass, 13-6, $908
3rd: Chad Dorney, Macungie, Pa., four bass, 10-0, $606
4th: Scott Gropp, Trenton, N.J., four bass, 9-12, $524
5th: John Chacosky, Media, Pa., four bass, 8-8, $548
5th: Christopher Trovinger, Smithsburg, Md., three bass, 8-8, $348
7th: Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., three bass, 8-1, $403
8th: Bill Klaips, Shavertown, Pa., two bass, 6-13, $272
9th: Dylan Martin, Narvon, Pa., two bass, 6-12, $242
10th: C.J. Tuite, Succasunna, N.J., two bass, 6-3, $212
Matthew Gaeng of Greeley, Pennsylvania, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $232.