HENRICO, Va. (July 29, 2024) – Pro Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Virginia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the James River. The tournament was the fourth event of the season for the BFL Shenandoah Division. Villa earned $4,938 for his victory. Villa, who competes at the sport’s top level – the MLF Bass Pro Tour (BPT) – competed in the BPT on the James River at the end of June. Unfortunately, that tournament didn’t go quite as he’d hoped. Villa finished 61st. He was proud to turn things around and win the BFL event on the James on Saturday.
“It was an awesome day today,” he said. “It was sunny and 85 degrees, and they bit as soon as I showed up.
“I was blessed to be here today. I really am grateful for this because I really wanted a chance at redemption from my last finish here. You know when you bring a bunch of Bass Pro Tour guys here to your home, you’ve either got to catch them or you’re gonna get your teeth kicked in. So, I got a little shot at redemption here.”
Understandably, Villa was tight-lipped about his winning pattern, given that the tournament was on his home lake.
“I just did the same thing I did in the BPT,” Villa added. “They were just big today and small a month ago.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 19-15, $4,938
2nd: Thomas Milton, Chester, Va., five bass, 16-0, $2,057
2nd: Ryan Lachniet, Gum Spring, Va., five bass, 16-0, $2,057
4th: Chris Brummett, Lynch Station, Va., five bass, 15-10, $1,577
5th: Brandon Pritchett, Goode, Va., five bass, 15-7, $988
6th: Wesley Harris, Rustburg, Va., five bass, 15-3, $905
7th: James Cassaday, Wirtz, Va., five bass, 15-2, $823
8th: Frank Poirier, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 14-14, $699
8th: Bryan Elrod, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 14-14, $699
10th: Junior Roberts, Alexandria, Va., five bass, 14-11, $576
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Brandon Casey of Chester, Virginia, caught a bass that weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $745. David Deciucis of Chester, Virginia, won the co-angler division and $2,469 Saturday, after bringing five bass to the scale that totaled 15 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: David Deciucis, Chester, Va., five bass, 15-8, $2,469
2nd: Greg Ravitsky, Palmyra, Va., five bass, 13-2, $1,235
3rd: Nathan Sullivan, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 12-9, $823
4th: Phillip Arnold, Powhatan, Va., five bass, 12-2, $948
5th: Eric Picucci, Midlothian, Va., five bass, 11-13, $494
6th: Jarrod Egolf, Walkersville, Md., three bass, 10-15, $703
7th: Chad Boggs, Prince Frederick, Md., five bass, 10-14, $412
8th: Dan Garner, Littleton, N.C., five bass, 10-6, $370
9th: Claude Craig, Locust Grove, Va., four bass, 10-4, $329
10th: Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., five bass ,10-2, $288
Phillip Arnold of Powhatan, Virginia earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award of $372, catching a bass that weighed in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the day.
After four events, Chris Brummett of Lynch Station, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 980 points, while David Williams of Fredericksburg, Virginia, leads the Fishing Clash Shenandoah Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 912 points.
The next event for BFL Shenandoah Division anglers will be held Sept. 7-8, at the James River in Henrico, Virginia.
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Bass Fishing League (BFL) News