HENRICO, Va. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Todd Walters of Kernersville, North Carolina, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament on the James River. For his efforts, Walters pocketed $3,592.
“I don’t have much experience on tidal fisheries, but I have a couple of travel partners that live there, so they helped me out a lot,” said Walters, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. “I also got some practice in two weeks ago when the tide was at the same level.”
Following a 1-hour morning fog delay, Walters said he headed 20 miles east of takeoff to target bass in the backwaters of Herrin and Cowell creeks. He said he caught fish anywhere from 3- to 10-feet deep on a 7-inch black and blue flake-colored Culprit Fat Max Worm, a shad-colored Rapala DT6 crankbait and a 6-inch Morning Dawn-colored Roboworm Straight Tail Worm on a drop-shot rig.
“I targeted any type of wood cover – mainly laydowns – and a few different brush piles. I fished very slowly. It was hot and there wasn’t any wind,” said Walters. “The tide wasn’t moving much when I caught most of my fish. I had to be quiet and make long casts – that’s why I picked up the drop-shot so I could cast farther and keep the bait in front of the fish longer. I think that was key for me.”
Walters said he ended up putting a dozen keepers in the boat by the end of the event.
“I needed this win. I’m hoping I can carry this momentum into the (Costa FLW Series) event on Lake Erie next week. Buffalo, New York, is my hometown and it’d be great to do well.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., five bass, 16-5, $3,592
2nd: Frank Poirier, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 14-8, $1,796
3rd: Doug Dulin, Apex, N.C., three bass, 14-2, $1,479
3rd: Todd Harris, Clemmons, N.C., four bass, 14-2, $1,219
5th: Ben Jacobi, Richmond, Va., five bass, 13-9, $718
6th: Tommy Little, Chester, Va., five bass, 13-5, $629
6th: Chris Daves, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 13-5, $629
8th: K.C. Choosakul, Sandford, N.C., five bass, 13-4, $539
9th: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 13-2, $579
10th: Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 12-11, $419
Dulin brought a 7-pound, 8-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $460. James Howerton of Danville, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,026 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: James Howerton, Danville, Va., five bass, 13-11, $2,026
2nd: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., five bass, 12-2, $1,098
3rd: Greg Fox, Hudson, N.C., five bass, 11-13, $648
4th: Jesse Jodon, Windber, Pa., five bass, 10-15, $419
5th: Todd Greenwood, Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 10-6, $359
6th: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., five bass, 9-13, $329
7th: Steven Jacobs, Sandford, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $299
8th: Ben Dacey, Chesterfield, Va., three bass, 9-9, $269
9th: Scott Spencer, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 9-6, $224
9th: Dave Robinson, Ford City, Pa., four bass, 9-6, $224
Howerton also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $230. https://www.bassresource.com