Mike Roselle, of La Plata, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the Shenandoah Division tournament on Potomac River and a check worth $6,235. (Photo: FLW)
MARBURY, Md. (May 18, 2015) – Mike Roselle, of La Plata, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division tournament of 2015 on the Potomac River. For his victory, Roselle earned $6,235.
“My primary spot was on the north end of the river,” said Roselle. “The area was full of spawning fish and had a lot of scattered grass. There were also postspawn fish that had pulled off the bank and were sitting in anywhere from two to four feet of water.”
Roselle said he used a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King jig rigged with a green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Craw to catch his entire stringer of fish.
“The only time I would get a bite is when I’d break it off from the grass, so I tried to always be in contact with it,” said Roselle. “The creek has a lot of crawfish in it right now so I knew this jig would come up big.”
Roselle went on to say he fished only two spots the entire tournament.
“Once the tide goes out the fish stop feeding. Of the 15 keepers I ended catching, almost all came before noon,” said Roselle.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Mike Roselle, La Plata, Md., five bass, 16-13, $4,235 + $2,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Pete Romm, Woodbridge, Va., five bass, 15-9, $2,118
3rd: Bryan Elrod, Mechanicsville, Va., five bass, 14-6, $1,200
3rd: Richard Haber Jr., Linthicum, Md., five bass, 14-6, $1,200
5th: Matthew Caffi, Fairfax, Va., five bass, 14-2, $811
5th: Edward Dustin, Fredericksburg, Va., five bass, 14-2, $811
7th: Flash Butts, Roanoke Rapids, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $706
8th: Ed Stiefel, Mahwah, N.J., five bass, 13-12, $635
9th: Marc Wagy, Dewitt, Va., five bass, 13-11, $565
10th: John Sisson, Brookville, Md., five bass, 13-4, $494
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Darick Brumbaugh of Pratts, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $590.
Trevor Wright of Chesterfield, Virginia, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win $2,118 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Trevor Wright, Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 14-15, $2,118
2nd: Randy Walsh, Stafford, Va., five bass, 14-11, $1,059
3rd: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 14-6, $706
4th: Safulla Rana, Warrenton, Va., five bass, 14-3, $494
5th: Darrin Wells, Woodbridge, Va., five bass, 13-9, $424
6th: Allen Luck, Leesburg, Va., five bass, 13-8, $388
7th: Lamar Spade, Catasauqua, Pa., five bass, 13-1, $353
8th: Carl Whipple, Manassas, Va., five bass, 12-14, $318
9th: Pat Riley, Evington, Va., five bass, 12-12, $282
10th: Mark Braune, Montgomery Village, Md., five bass, 12-11, $247
Alex Antipenko of Brooklyn, New York, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $295.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 15-17 Regional Championship on Lake Wateree in Camden, South Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, 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 50 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.