Travis Manson of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament on 1000 Islands Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 44 pounds, 2 ounces. Manson pocketed $6,437 for his win.
Manson spent both days of the tournament targeting fish in Lake Ontario.
“On Saturday I worked on a ledge where fish were congregating in anywhere from 18 to 40 feet of water,” says Manson, who notched his first career-win in FLW competition. “They were all in one 50-yard area, and I caught more than 20 keepers over 4 pounds.”
Manson says every fish he weighed in came on a 4-inch Smoke Purple and Blue Highlight-colored Gajo Baits Spirit Shad on a drop-shot.
“On Sunday, I returned to the area and within 30 minutes I knew it wasn’t going to pan out,” says Manson. “I ended up burning about 47 gallons of fuel to hit 15 spots and come up with my weight. They were mostly isolated rock clumps, but were areas I’ve had history on. When you lose a school of fish, you just have to run what you know.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Travis Manson, Conshohocken, Pa., 10 bass, 44-2, $6,437
2nd: Robert Reesey, Newfoundland, Pa., 10 bass, 43-5, $2,759
3rd: Dale Gorrell, Hatfield, Pa., 10 bass, 42-13, $2,239
4th: A.J. Slegona, Pine Bush, N.Y., 10 bass, 42-11, $1,287
5th: Chris Panetta, West Simsbury, Conn., 10 bass, 41-5, $1,103
6th: Ronald Penders Jr., Rochester, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-14, $1,012
7th: Matt Stasiak, Pittsburgh, Pa., 10 bass, 40-0, $920
8th: Patrick Hildenbrand, Germantown, N.Y., 10 bass, 38-7, $828
9th: Brian Bylotas, Scott Township, Pa., 10 bass, 37-10, $736
10th: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 10 bass, 36-8, $644
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Manson also caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $720.
Tiano wins co-angler title
Drew Tiano of Hudson, New York, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,752.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Drew Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., 10 bass, 40-13, $2,752
2nd: Christy Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., 10 bass, 36-15, $1,476
3rd: Kyle Esterly, Drexel Hill, Pa., eight bass, 33-1, $968
4th: Bill Baldwinn, Chittenango, N.Y., 10 bass, 32-2, $642
5th: Jim Buehler, Montoursville, Pa., nine bass, 31-15, $550
6th: Brandon Humbertson, Walkersville, Md., nine bass, 31-11, $505
7th: Griffen Hurt, Bound Brook, N.J., 10 bass, 31-7, $459
8th Glenn Kingree-Key, Reading, Pa., 10 bass, 30-2, $413
9th: Andrew Heivly, Malvern, Pa., 10 bass, 29-8, $367
10th: Craig Dubois, Sprakers, N.Y., nine bass, 29-1, $321
Sky Friend of Ridgewood, New Jersey, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $352.
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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia. 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.