Maryland’s Wedding and New York’s Balachvili Earn Wins at Phoenix Bass Fishing League Double-Header on Potomac River
Co-angler Victories go to Pennsylvania’s Mellott and New Jersey’s Hutchinson
MARBURY, Md. – It was a double-header for bass anglers this past weekend in Marbury with the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event on the Potomac River events.
Boater Robert Wedding of Welcome, Maryland, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces to win on Friday and earn $3,153, then Tom Balachvili of Scarsdale, New York, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces to win $2,793.
“I focused all day on the mid-river area, from Mattawoman to the Belmont area,” said Wedding. “I stayed in those two areas and bounced back and forth.”
Wedding said that he fished shallow, staying right on the grass edges.
“I was dragging a (Yamamoto) Senko, (green-pumpkin) with a 1/8-ounce Titan Tungsten pegged weight,” Wedding continued. “I also caught a few on a Dave’s Tournament Tackle swimjig (black-and-blue and green-pumpkin).”
The top five boaters on Friday were:
1st: Robert Wedding of Welcome, Md., five bass, 14-8, $3,153
2nd: Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va., five bass, 13-5, $1,919
3rd: Barton Wines of Marshall, Va., five bass, 12-12, $948
4th: Michael Sentore of Gloucester City, N.J., five bass, 12-8, $862
5th: Mike Rodevitz of Colebrook, N.H., five bass, 12-2, $568
Complete results for Friday’s event can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Wedding also earned Friday’s $315 Boater Big Bass award with a 4-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass.
Pike took home an extra $500 as Friday’s 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.
Jeff Mellott of Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Friday after catching five bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces. For his victory Mellott earned $1,419.
The top five co-anglers on Friday were:
1st: Jeff Mellott of Warfordsburg, Pa., five bass, 9-13, $1,419
2nd: Michael Burke of Breinigsville, Pa., five bass, 8-9, $710
3rd: Anthony Shanz of Selbyville, Del., two bass, 6-13, $402
4th: Devon Kitson of Montclair, N.J., three bass, 6-13, $402
5th: Dubi Mejia of Georgetown, Del., three bass, 6-7, $284
David Compton Jr. of Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division Friday, weighing in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $157.
On Saturday, winning boater Tom Balachvili said that he stuck to Belmont Bay.
“I spent the day in Belmont Bay, throwing a Zoom Trick Worm – sometimes on a shaky-head rig, sometimes on a drop-shot rig,” Balachvili said. “The key was the tide. I didn’t have much practice so on Friday I didn’t leave when the bite stopped, I just waited them out. On Saturday I knew when the bite was going to be on, so I was able to use my time more efficiently.”
Balachvili said that he threw two different colors on the Trick Worm – black and green-pumpkin with a chartreuse tail.
“I put my heart and soul into fishing and there is a lot more disappointment than victories,” Balachvili went on to say. “But, when the victories come, it feels amazing and makes all of the hard work worth it.’
The top five boaters on Saturday were:
1st: Tom Balachvili of Scarsdale, N.Y., five bass, 16-10, $2,793
2nd: Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Va., five bass, 14-13, $1,597
3rd: Michael Sentore of Gloucester City, N.J., five bass, 13-15, $1,631
4th: Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 13-12, $652
5th: Barton Wines of Marshall, Va., five bass, 11-8, $559
Complete results for Saturday’s event can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jason Tibbetts of Centreville, Virginia, earned Saturday’s $310 Boater Big Bass award with a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass.
Sentore took home an extra $500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member.
Frank Hutchinson of Mullica Hill, New Jersey, earned the win in the Co-angler Division Saturday after catching four bass weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce. For his victory Hutchinson earned $1,397.
The top five co-anglers Saturday finished as follows:
1st: Frank Hutchinson of Mullica Hill, N.J., four bass, 9-1, $1,397
2nd: Matt Hummel of Lancaster, Pa., five bass, 8-12, $698
3rd: Tim McGlenn of Welcome, Md., four bass, 7-15, $465
4th: Richard Jensen of Virginia Beach, Va., four bass, 7-11, $326
5th: Richard Favire of Alpine, N.Y., three bass, 7-6, $279
Joshua Torres of Brandywine, Maryland, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds even. The catch earned him Saturday’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $155.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine Double-Header on the Potomac River was the third and fourth of five qualifying events in the Northeast Division.
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 be entered in 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.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held Nov. 11-13 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
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