Whittaker wins co-angler title
MARBURY, Md. (July 14, 2014) – Matthew Caffi of Fairfax, Va., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division tournament of 2014 on the Potomac River. For his victory, Caffi earned $5,037.
Caffi picked up his second BFL win of 2014 on the Potomac River by fishing off the beaten path and waiting for the tide to be right.
“I fished in the northern part of the river, targeting laydowns in the back of a creek,” said Caffi. “I had to wait until the tide flipped around and there was a 40-minute window where I caught almost all of my fish. I was about to leave a couple of times. I just had to be patient and wait for the tide.
Caffi said that he flipped a Texas-rigged black and blue-colored Zoom Brush Hog to catch his fish.
“I had one small fish, but once I culled that out I was pretty confident that I was going to win,” Caffi said. “My fishing partner and I actually found the fish I targeted on the last day of the Rayovac FLW Series tournament on the Potomac last month.
“I pretty much had the area to myself,” Caffi went on to say. It’s kind of hard to get back into the creek where it was. That’s what you have to do on the Potomac if you want things to yourself. It’s pretty special to win two BFL events in one year. I’m really blessed to have the opportunity and excited to have won two.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Mike Hicks, Goochland, Va., five bass, 16-5, $2,019
3rd: Rodney Oberdick, Felton, Del., five bass, 15-6, $1,345
4th: Jessie Moore, Columbia, Md., five bass, 15-5, $942
5th: Jeff Mandes, Smyrna, Del., five bass, 14-12, $807
6th: David Deciucis, Chester, Va., five bass, 14-6, $740
7th: Rodney Mosley, Woodbridge, Va., five bass, 14-5, $673
8th: Chris Daves, Hopewell, Va., five bass, 14-4, $606
9th: Thomas Harris, Beaverdam, Va., five bass, 13-13, $538
10th: Brian LaClair, Denton, Md., five bass, 13-8, $471
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Chris Whittaker of Waverly, Va., weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win $2,019 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Robert Bruguiere, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 13-11, $1,009
3rd: Johnnie Hopkins, Rougemont, N.C., five bass, 12-15, $675
4th: Corey Byars, Waynesboro, Va., four bass, 12-3, $471
5th: Christopher Moore, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 12-0, $404
6th: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 11-15, $370
7th: Keith Allen, Sumerduck, Va., five bass, 11-10, $336
8th: David Cole, Chester, Va., five bass, 11-9, $286
8th: Ralph Taylor, Rockville, Va., five bass, 11-9, $286
10th: Dillon Reid, Ashland, Va., five bass, 11-8, $235
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 2-4 Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Va. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
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 compete 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 Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
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 2014 over the course of 229 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. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com.