Potomac River Bass Fishing League 17 Aug 2019

[Mike Cork]

GREAT FALL'S LANGFORD WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ON POTOMAC RIVER
Co-Angler Award Goes to Huwar
MARBURY, Md. (Aug. 19, 2019) – Boater Todd Langford of Great Falls, Virginia, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on the Potomac River Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces. Langford took home $2,600 for his efforts.
Langford said he fished mid-river, in Occoquan Bay. He caught them out of heavy grass mats using a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, paired with a 1¾-ounce weight.
"I really fished one area where you could get bit on– the river is fishing tough right now," said Langford, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. "The area was probably 500 yards, but had key spots within the stretch. There was some moving water in those spots and the high tide helped."
Langford's bait was rigged on a straight shank hook via snell knot, tied to 65-pound-test PowerPro Super Slick braided line on a 7-foot, 11-inch Halo Twilite Series heavy–action flipping rod.
"I caught 7 or 8 keepers during the tournament," said Langford. "They bit best when the water was moving – at the end of the incoming tide and the beginning of the outgoing tide."
Langford went on to say that he caught a key fish in the very back of a creek during low tide around 1:30 p.m. using a white 3/8-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a white Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
               1st:          Todd Langford, Great Falls, Va., five bass, 15-2, $2,600
               2nd:         Thomas Svec, Chesapeake, Va., five bass, 14-1, $1,440
               3rd:          Greg Lahr, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 13-8, $900
               4th:          Ronnie Baker, Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 11-0, $810
               5th:          Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $460
               5th:          Jim Jarvis, Timberville, Va., three bass, 10-5, $460
               7th:          Brian Mullaney, New Market, Md., five bass, 10-4, $400
               8th:          Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., five bass, 10-0, $510
               9th:          Dennis Middleton, Madison Heights, Va., five bass, 9-15, $320
               10th:        Travis Lugar, McGaheysville, Va., five bass, 9-12         
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Svec caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $240.
Shawn Huwar of Fredericksburg, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,320 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 11 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
               1st:          Shawn Huwar, Fredericksburg, Va., four bass, 11-6, $1,320
               2nd:         Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., four bass, 8-15, $600
               3rd:          Michael Taylor, Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 8-10, $600
               4th:          Jeff Mellott, Warfordsburg, Pa., five bass, 7-10, $280
               5th:          Keith Allen, Sumerduck, Va., five bass, 7-6, $240
               6th:          John Poos, Manassas, Va., four bass, 7-5, $420
               7th:          Hayward Thaxton III, Emmitsburg, Md., three bass, 6-14, $200
               8th:          Barker Plake, Hodges, S.C., three bass, 6-4, $180
               9th:          John Castro, Lorton, Va., three bass, 6-1, $160
               10th:        Timothy Patch, Lorton, Va., two bass, 5-14
Huwar also caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the day's Co-angler Big Bass award of $120.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.
The 2019 BFL 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 BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.