WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (June 6, 2016) – Derek Brown of Charlottesville, Virginia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the James and Chickahominy rivers. For his victory, Brown took home $4,729.
“I spent the majority of the tournament in Herring Creek,” said Brown, who earned his second win in FLW competition. “I trolled along a 50-yard stretch all day, back and forth.”
Brown said he mainly targeted bass near lily pads and wood, catching most of his fish from the latter.
“In the morning I used a black and white-colored Lobina Lures Rico topwater bait with the incoming tide,” said Brown. “When the tide changed around 10 a.m., the bite changed. After that I began locating bass with the Rico and catching them on a shaky-head rig with a junebug-colored Zoom Trick Worm.
“I caught seven keepers and ended up with three of my limit-fish on the Rico and two on the Trick Worm,” said Brown. “It was a great day of fishing.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 18-4, $4,729
2nd: David Keisel, Chesapeake, Va., five bass, 15-11, $2,364
3rd: Brian Stack, Nanjemoy, Md., five bass, 15-5, $1,576
4th: David Deciucis, Chester, Va., five bass, 15-3, $1,024
5th: Brett Meyn, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 15-3, $1,729
6th: Rick McFaul, Phoenix, Md., five bass, 14-5, $867
7th: Ed Loughran, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 14-2, $788
8th: Wayne Vaughan, Chester, Va., five bass, 13-12, $709
9th: Richard Owen, Chester, Va., five bass, 13-10, $631
10th: Kelly Pratt, Williamsburg, Va., five bass, 13-9, $524
10th: Shawn Hammack, Gasburg, Va., five bass, 13-9, $524
Meyn caught an 8-pound, 9-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $705. David Williams of Fredericksburg, Virginia, weighed in five bass totaling 13 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,364. The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 13-7, $2,364
2nd: Austin Burdette, Lindside, W. Va., five bass, 12-3, $1,182
3rd: Braxton Moore, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 12-0, $788
4th: Ryan Johnson, Elkridge, Md., five bass, 11-13, $552
5th: Dean Gibbs, Richmond, Va., five bass, 11-11, $473
6th: Mike Gardner, South Hill, Va., five bass, 11-4, $433
7th: Tevinn Rollins, Newport News, Va., five bass, 10-12, $394
8th: Gary Peters, Surveyor, W. Va., five bass, 10-6, $355
9th: Randy Ruffin, Norfolk, Va., five bass, 10-3, $315
10th: Zachary Whitt, Newport News, Va., five bass, 9-14, $276
Jim Petrous of Stafford, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 2 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $352.