Ben Jacobi of North Chesterfield, Virginia, brought five bass weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the James River. For his win, Jacobi earned $3,426.
Jacobi says he started out the tournament fishing small feeder creeks near the mouth of the Chickahominy River.
“The water was lower than normal so I had to get out and actually push my boat across some flats at one point,” says Jacobi, who earned his first career-victory in FLW competition. “I caught my second-largest bass out of there around 7:15 (a.m.) on a ¼-ounce buzzbait, so it was well worth the effort.”
After his catch, Jacobi says he returned to the main river to fish wood and rock. He flipped a Texas-rigged green pumpkin-colored soft-plastic and was able to put a 5½ -pounder in the boat.
“I used the same bait the rest of the day and ran the tide back up to the takeoff ramp,” says Jacobi. “I worked through rock, wood and laydowns and had one nice cull in the last hour of competition that likely gave me the win.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Ben Jacobi, North Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 16-10, $3,426
2nd: Brian LaClair, Denton, Md., five bass, 15-11, $1,713
3rd: Andy Francis, Chester, Va., five bass, 15-1, $1,341
4th: Cavin Young, Prince George, Va., five bass, 14-4, $899
5th: Michael Martinez, Lanexa, Va., five bass, 13-14, $1,115
6th: Chris Dillow, Waynesboro, Va., five bass, 13-7, $928
7th: Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 13-5, $571
8th: Stephen Miller, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 12-15, $514
9th: Curtis Talbott, Forest, Va., five bass, 12-11, $457
10th: Jason Holder, Powhatan, Va., five bass, 12-2, $400
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Martinez weighed an 8-pound, 6-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $430.
Riveras wins co-angler title
Victor Riveras of Newport News, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,913 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Victor Riveras, Newport News, Va., five bass, 12-8, $1,913
2nd: Joshua Wright, Toano, Va., four bass, 9-5, $763
2nd: Jeff Lederman, Powhatan, Va., five bass, 9-5, $713
4th: Matt McCluskey, Ashburn, Va., three bass, 9-4, $400
5th: Danny Crickenberger, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 8-15, $343
6th: John Poos, Manassas, Va., five bass, 8-14, $314
7th: Jerry Comperatore, Tarentum, Pa., four bass, 8-13, $271
7th: Al Berkley, Madison Heights, Va., five bass, 8-13, $271
9th: Corey Chatham, Ruther Glen, Va., five bass, 8-1, $228
10th: Matthew Harney, Manassas, Va., three bass, 7-15, $415
Harney caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces – and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $215.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.