Chris Dillow Waynesboro, Va., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Shenandoah Division tournament of 2014 on Smith Mountain Lake. For his victory, Dillow earned $6,796.
After his victory on Smith Mountain Lake, Dillow has now won the last two Shenandoah division events that he has fished, both of them with no practice.
“I’m truly blessed to have won back-to-back,” said Dillow. “And on my birthday weekend too, it’s awesome. I almost didn’t make it to the tournament because I was sitting in the office trying to make everybody happy with a real estate deal.
“I run a pattern every time I go up there,” explained Dillow. “I start out pitching my jig to docks and trees. I went into a pocket and caught a few on a jig and for some reason I decided to cast a jerkbait on my way out and I caught a good one. I realized the fish hadn’t moved up yet, so I started fishing that jerkbait on main lake points.
“Sometimes I was in up to 30 feet of water casting to the bank. Every fish that I caught were largemouth, but I also caught one striper bass and one catfish. I was just going fishing. I was targeting windy points in the mid-lake region.
“I think the key was the extra-long casts,” said Dillow. “I would get them to bite before they knew I was there.”
Dillow said he caught most of his fish on a Tennessee shad-colored Lucky Craft Pointer 100 and a green-pumpkin-colored Dillow’s Perfect Jig.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Keith Goldberg, Eagle Rock, Va., five bass, 16-4, $1,996 + $300 Evinrude Bonus
2nd: Brandon Reynolds, Callands, Va., five bass, 16-4, $1,996
4th: Frank Ippoliti, Mercersburg, Pa., five bass, 15-9, $1,119
5th: Matt Kluender, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 14-11, $959
6th: Thomas Harris, Beaverdam, Va., five bass, 14-10, $879
7th: John Woodroof, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 14-0, $799
8th: Luke Nichols, Moneta, Va., five bass, 13-11, $719
9th: Gregory Cooper, Yorktown, Va., five bass, 13-3, $639
10th: Bruce Ring, Front Royal, Va., five bass, 12-14, $560
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Scott Howard of Bedford, Va., weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win $2,360 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Dennis Burdette, Lindside, W.Va., five bass, 12-7, $1,180
3rd: Craig Wheeler, King George, Va., five bass, 10-11, $787
4th: Michael Nelms, Hartwood, Va., five bass, 10-9, $551
5th: Ed Robtison, Roanoke, Va., two bass, 8-7, $472
6th: Louis Britos, Disputanta, Va., four bass, 6-11, $433
7th: Brent Chapman, Union Hall, Va., three bass, 6-10, $373
7th: James Dehart, Roanoke, Va., two bass, 6-10, $373
9th: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., three bass, 6-8, $315
10th: Ben Hudson, Lynchburg, Va., three bass, 6-6, $275
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. The 2014 BFL All-American is being held June 5-7 on Wilson Lake in Florence, Ala. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac flw Series or even the Walmart flw Tour.
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