Leadbeater Takes Chesapeake Title
Bae scores co-angler title in Northeast Division Super Tournament
Richard Leadbeater of Haddon Heights, New York, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 32 pounds, 10 ounces to win the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Northeast Division Super-Tournament at the Chesapeake Bay. For his victory, Leadbeater earned $4,122 for his efforts.
“I’m so pumped – this feels unreal,” says Leadbetter, who is fishing in his first career event as a BFL boater. “I was fishing on the south end of a big grass flat, for the most part. I also mixed in a little bit of backwater fishing.
“Timing the tide was really the key,” Leadbetter continues. “I made some good adjustments throughout the day – knowing when the time was right to get out of certain areas and into others.”
Leadbetter says that he caught his fish on a Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer and a War Eagle spinnerbait.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Richard Leadbeater of Haddon Heights, N.Y, 10 bass, 32-10, $4,122
2nd: Zachary Page of Smyrna, Del., 10 bass, 24-4, $2,061
3rd: Harry Nurk of Elkton, Md., eight bass, 24-2, $1,374
4th: Luke Shrader of Barrington, N.J., 10 bass, 23-3, $962
5th: Marcus Griffin of Northeast, Md., seven bass, 19-0, $824
6th: Anthony Cicero III of Elizabethtown, Pa., seven bass, 18-15, $756
7th: Steven Wiseman of Bryans Road, Md., seven bass, 18-13, $687
8th: Barton Wines of Marshall, Va., seven bass, 18-8, $618
9th: Al Fiorille of Mount Airy, Md., nine bass, 18-1, $550
10th: Ryan Bauman of Fleetwood, Pa., six bass, 18-0, $938
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Bauman earned the day’s $457 Boater Big Bass award with a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass.
Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Bae wins co-angler title
Moo Bae of West Friendship, Maryland, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Saturday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces. Bae earned $2,061 for his victory.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., six bass, 15-8, $2,061
2nd: Henry McKee of Haddon Heights, N.J., six bass, 14-10, $1,260
3rd: Adam Simpson of Gaithersburg, Md., four bass, 10-7, $686
4th: Tim Nichols of Pittsgrove, N.J., four bass, 9-9, $481
5th: Kenny Ibberson of Lindenwold, N.J., three bass, 8-7, $412
6th: Travis Miller of Colchester, Conn., two bass, 7-3, $578
7th: Chris Sanno of Landisburg, Pa., two bass, 6-4, $344
8th: Chad McDonald of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., three bass, 6-0, $309
9th: Fred Serge of Lamberville, N.J., two bass, 5-4, $275
10th: Aaron Wilkie of North Bennington, Vt., two bass, 4-7, $740
McKee earned the event’s Co-angler Big Bass Award of $229 with, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds even.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on the Chesapeake Bay was the fifth and final qualifying event in the 2020 Northeast Division.
Now the top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Northeast Division based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will advance to the Oct. 8-10 Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Virginia, hosted by Richmond Region Tourism. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.