HENDERSON, N.C. (April 13, 2015) – Rick Chenoweth of Fredericksburg, Virginia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division tournament on Kerr Lake. For his victory, Chenoweth earned $5,241.
“It was a good day of fishing,” said Chenoweth. “I couldn’t have asked for a better tournament.”
Chenoweth earned top honors by fishing secondary points between spawning pockets in the Nutbush area. He said he was expecting other boaters to be waiting for him by the time he arrived, but ended up having the spot to himself.
“There were four points between five pockets,” Chenoweth said. “I worked up and down the sides for a long time. You could troll between the points they were so close together.”
Chenoweth said he used a Dave’s Tournament Tackle green pumpkin football-head jig to catch his five keepers.
“I just dragged it along the bottom. If you hopped it, shook it or added any type of movement at all other than a drag the bass wouldn’t touch it,” Chenoweth said. “I had a limit in the boat within 30 minutes of takeoff.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Rick Chenoweth, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 17-8, $5,241
2nd: Shawn Hammack , Gasburg, Va., five bass, 16-15, $2,620
3rd: Bowman Gray, Winterville, N.C., five bass, 16-14, $1,485
3rd: Steve Wagner, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 16-14, $1,485
5th: Flash Butts, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., five bass, 16-13, $1,048
6th: Tom Hebb, Moneta, Va., five bass, five bass, 16-3, $917
6th: Keith Joyce, Apex, N.C., five bass, 16-3, $917
8th: Mark Robertson, Henderson, N.C., five bass, 15-15, $786
9th: Sammy Creech, Kenly, N.C., five bass, 15-12, $699
10th: Keith Goldberg, Eagle Rock, Va., five bass, 15-11, $611
Marty Warren of Elon, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces, and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $825. Marvin Reese of Gwynn Oak, Maryland, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $2,507 in the co-angler division. The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Marvin Reese, Gwynn Oak, Md., five bass, 16-11, $2,507
2nd” Edward Gordan, Roxboro, N.C., five bass, 15-0, $1,253
3rd: Vernon Adams, Durham, N.C., three bass, 13-6, $837
4th: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., five bass, 12-3, $585
5th: Jonn Schulz, Roxboro, N.C., five bass, 11-14, $501
6th: Jackson Pleasant, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 11-10, $460
7th: Tony Toombs, Drakes Branch, Va., five bass, 11-5, $418
8th: David Collins, Littleton, N.C., four bass, 10-13, $355
8th: Will White, Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 10-13, $355
10th: David Stone, Midlothian, Va., five bass, 10-0, $292
Adams caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $382.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.