Crowder Camps for Potomac W
Noraas wins co-angler title
Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Virginia, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the Potomac River presented by Navionics after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces. For his day on the water, Crowder earned $4,454.
“I fished a mile or so of a main-river grass line. It was mid-river, about 15 minutes from the boat ramp and was the only place I went,” says Crowder, who earned his fifth career win on the Potomac River in BFL competition – second as a boater. “I just went back and forth all day. Most of the fish were on the edge, dropped off in 4 to 6 feet of water, and I was sitting 6 to 7 of water. It doesn’t fall off really steep – it’s more of a flat. The hydrilla is so thick that when the tide gets low it moves the fish to the edge.
“I had about seven keeper bites. There were 17 or 18 boats on the stretch, but I got the right bites,” continues Crowder. “I caught them on a variety of baits – one on a topwater, one of the big ones on a jig and flipping a couple of different creature baits.”
Crowder’s key baits included a black-colored Spro Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60, a 3/8-ounce, green pumpkin Sooper Bait jig with a 3-inch Mud Puppy craw, and a Texas-rigged, green-pumpkin Mud Puppy creature bait.
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., five bass, 13-12, $2,454 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Barton Wines, Marshall, Va., five bass, 13-7, $1,227
3rd: Thomas Svec, Chesapeake, Va., five bass, 12-15, $750
4th: Derik Hudson, Concord, Va., five bass, 12-14, $1,076
5th: Joe Dixon, Bel Alton, Md., five bass, 12-10, $451
6th: Travis Lugar, McGaheysville, Va., five bass, 12-3, $413
7th: Brandon Stapleton, Temperanceville, Va., five bass, 12-2, $357
7th: Ryan Ingalls, Fairfax, Va., five bass, 12-2, $357
9th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 11-13
10th: Josh Willard, Carrollton, Va., five bass, 11-12
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
John Bitter of Maitland, Florida, caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $215.
Noraas wins co-angler title
Matthew Noraas of Pamplin, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,227 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Matthew Noraas, Pamplin, Va., five bass, 11-3, $1,227
2nd: J.C. Miller, Washington, Pa., five bass, 9-8, $613
3rd: Shawn Huwar, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 9-6, $319
3rd: Jeff Mellott, Warfordsburg, Pa., five bass, 9-6, $319
5th: Jamie Newton, Falls Church, Va., five bass, 9-2, $225
6th: Brad Melton, Manassas, Va., five bass, 8-12, $207
7th: Chris Jackson, Front Royal, Va., five bass, 8-10, $188
8th: Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., four bass, 8-8, $169
9th: Keith Allen, Sumerduck, Va., five bass, 8-4
10th: Jerry Comperatore, Tarentum, Pa., five bass, 8-1
John Castro of Lorton, Virginia, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $107.
The tournament was hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners.
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. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.