HENDERSON, N.C. (April 14, 2008) - Boater Mark Robertson of Henderson, N.C., won the Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division bass fishing tournament on Kerr Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces. The victory earned Robertson $4,653 plus a $821 Ranger contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 16-18, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Robertson caught his bass flipping a green-pumpkin jig in bushes.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Ray Griffin of Henderson, N.C. (five bass, 17-12, $2,737); Monte Atkins of Greenville, Va. (five bass, 16-15, $1,827); Greg Lineberry of Creedmoor, N.C. (five bass, 16-14, $1,277) and Alan Thomerson of Creedmoor, N.C. (five bass, 16-13, $1,095).
Lineberry took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $870 for a 6-pound, 5-ouncebass he caught on a jig in water 4 feet deep. Mike Dandois of St. Albans, W.Va., earned $2,668 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces that he caught on a worm near the dam.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Anthony Wright of Rocky Mount, N.C. (five bass, 14-09, $1,334); Thomas Thompson of Arlington, Va. (five bass, 13-11, $888); Tony Toombs of Drakes Branch, Va. (five bass, 13-03, $623) and Donald Talbard of Ringgold, Va. (five bass, 12-15, $534).
Terry Wien of Lexington, N.C., earned $420 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught flipping bushes. Piedmont Division anglers will visit Lake Gaston in Bracy, Va., May 10 for their third regular-season event, followed by an event on the Chickahominy River in Williamsburg, Va., June 14. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Kerr Lake in Henderson, N.C., Sept. 27-28.