Poteat Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division on Kerr Lake
OutdoorHub 03.19.12
Chad Poteat of Mount Airy, N.C., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division event on Kerr Lake. For his victory, Poteat earned $3,514.
“I finally got one!” said Poteat excitedly. “I’ve been fishing these tournaments since 1995, and it’s so hard to win one of these things. I’ve had a few top-10 finishes and been real close to the All-American; I’m so happy that it was finally my time to win one of these. I hope now that I’ve gotten the first one, the second will be a little easier.
“I chose to fish on the bottom end of the lake, near the Satterwhite Point area fishing the main lake pockets,” Poteat continued. “I shook off a lot of bites there during practice, and they ended up being the quality fish that I needed to win the thing. I started out my morning throwing a Zoom Fluke, then as the sun came up I used a hand-tied jig that my friend and I tie. It’s a ½-ounce green pumpkin jig rigged with a Zoom Green Pumpkin Chunk. I also used a Zoom Brush Hog, but the jig and the Fluke are what I got my big fish on. I caught a ton of fish Saturday – around 25 total with at least 15 keepers.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Scooter Lilley, Jamesville, N.C., five bass, 16-5, $1,757
3rd: Chris Wood, Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 15-12, $1,172
4th: Brian Bowers, Franklinton, N.C., five bass, 15-3, $820
5th: James Blankenship, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 14-2, $673
5th: Ray Griffin, Henderson, N.C., five bass, 14-2, $673
7th: Jeff Salmon, Chester, Va., five bass, 14-1, $586
8th: Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., five bass, 14-0, $527
9th: Junior Allen, Biscoe, N.C., five bass, 13-15, $469
10th: Spencer Barrow, Snow Hill, N.C., five bass, 13-14, $389
10th: Will White, Marion, N.C., five bass, 13-14, $389
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Bill Naron of Huntingtown, Md., weighed in four bass totaling 12 pounds even Saturday to win $1,753 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Mac Nichols, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 11-7, $876
3rd: Jeff Claiborne, Suffolk, Va., five bass, 11-5, $585
4th: Rich McWhirter, Bruington, Va., five bass, 11-4, $409
5th: Ronald Livengood, Henderson, N.C., five bass, 11-3, $351
6th: Michael Baden, Stuart, Va., five bass, 11-2, $321
7th: Tim Nobles, Garner, N.C., five bass, 11-1, $292
8th: Dwayne Condrey, Denton, N.C., four bass, 11-0, $263
9th: Chris Davis, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 10-11, $234
10th: Jerry Cross, Southern Pines, N.C., five bass, 10-9, $204
The next BFL Piedmont Division tournament is scheduled for April 21 on Lake Gaston in Bracey, Va. After the fifth Piedmont Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 4-6 Regional Championship on Lake Cherokee in Morristown, Tenn. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 2012 BFL All-American is being held May 17 – 19 on the Potomac River in National Harbor, Md. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
