NORTH EAST, Md. – The Walmart Bass Fishing League is headed to the Chesapeake Bay Oct. 3-5 for one of six regional championships. This three-day tournament features the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each of the Buckeye, Michigan, Northeast and Shenandoah divisions.
Anglers will be competing for a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy 1500 Silverado in the Boater division and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard in the Co-angler division. Anglers in both divisions are also competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy.
While Bryan Schmitt’s 21-pound, 1-ounce final-day bag in the recent EverStart Series event on the Chesapeake Bay showed the fishery’s true potential, Castrol pro David Dudley predicted that conditions would fall short of ideal for the upcoming BFL Regional.
“Fall fishing is always tough,” said Dudley. “The Chesapeake is an incredible fishery, but you probably won’t see its true colors. It has so many 4- and 5-pounders it’s ridiculous.
“The grass is dying off,” continued Dudley. “The anglers are going to want to look for wherever there is still very good, green vegetation. Since the grass is dying off the fish are starting to relate to more wood and rock, but the tournament is still going to be won out of the grass.
“When it comes to tidal fisheries I don’t try to play the tide,” said Dudley. “I like to pick an area and fish it out through high and low tides. Schmitt won the EverStart in one area. Of course, they bite better during certain times, but you also catch some fish in the slow times that help you. I’d say don’t worry so much about the tide, but worry more about figuring out the area.”
Dudley predicted that swimbaits, ChatterBaits and other typical grass-fishing techniques would prove successful in the grass, while flipping baits and crankbaits would be the biggest factors around rock and wood.
Dudley estimated that the winner would weigh about 50 pounds during the course of the tournament.
Anglers will take off from the Anchor Marina located at 36 Iroquois Drive in North East, Md., at 7 a.m. daily. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be also be held at the Anchor Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 75 North East Plaza in North East beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The BFL Regional Championship event is being hosted by Cecil County Tourism.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
About FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.