Randy Elliott felt a slight tap as his 1/2 ounce jig and Zoom Super Chunk disappeared through the branches of a fallen cedar tree. "I saw the line twitch and set the hook on a giant bass, 20 seconds later Joe Fleischman, my partner, skillfully scooped the big fish into the net" he said. "I knew she was big, however I had no idea how big, until Kelly Comer, MBFN’s Tournament Director, announced 8 pounds 13 ounces" during the weigh in for the September Federation Trail tournament."

"The big fish didn’t have a chance with the stout jig hook, heavy braided line and custom made "Big Stick" I was holding in my hands. What a way to start your day", he said. Randy credits his specially designed rod, an 8-foot G-Loomis with spiral wrapped guides designed by Ken’s Custom Rods, for getting the job done on possibly the largest bass ever weighed in during a Maryland Bass Federation event. Randy tricked two more Potomac bass on a jig for a first place finish and a weight of 12 pounds 3 ounces . I want to thank Kelly Comer for his outstanding job as tournament director this year and Joe for a great net job.

W.T. VanMetre decided that frogs over matted hydrilla would be his strategy for the entire day. Setting his boat down in Chicamuxin Creek, the Bass Magic Bassmasters member had to work hard for his limit which finally came at the end of the day. VanMetre weighed in 5 fish for 11.7 pounds sustaining a second place finish in the boater division. W.T. wanted to thank his partner Rodney Young for his unselfessness and patience on the water.

Boater, Robert Sweeny nailed down the 3rd place spot with a solid limit of fish weighing 10.6 pounds. Bob had prefished earlier in the week and thought he’d found an area that would give him a 6 or 7 pound limit of fish in the Occaquan River. When the Breakaway Bassmasters member arrived on the spot, he was pleasantly surprise that the fish were of better quality on tournament day. Sweeny fished a Shakey head watermelon/goldfleck Zoom worm in 10 to 15 feet of water.

Co-angler Jim Everhart was paired with boater Rich Weldon and both decided that they would divide their day up equally between the DC sector of the river and then move south to the Virginia side.

Everhart’s pattern envolved open clear water with a deep water grass line or rip rap near by. Jim pitched 4 inch Senkos, both wacky style and texas rigged, along with a Rattletrap to capture the first place trophy in the co-anglers division. The scale settled at 7.11 pounds giving the Chesapeake Bassmasters member his first win.

Ron Hines prefished with his tournament partner and boater Scott Sewell in a back channel in Mattawoman Creek. Together they found a section of the creek that had some respectable fish that munched on spinnerbaits. Sure enough, on tournament day, the fish cooperated and they both landed fish on a slow-rolled 3/8 tandem bladed Terminator spinnerbait. The action subsided as quickly as it started so the duo creek hopped with little success. Finally, near weigh-in, they worked their way to the back of Marsh Island. With time running out, Ron flipped a Senko near a greass line. and Bingo!, Hines boated 2 nice fish, with one being the tournament lunker on the riders side. Ron wanted to thank Scott for being such a great partner and a pleasure to fish with.

Mike Jaremko rounded out the top three co-anglers with his third place finish of 4 fish that weighed 6.10 pounds. Paired with George Loope, the pair started their day north in the Spoils Cove. Mikes first fish hit a Rattletrap and his next two sucked in a Bitzy Bug. Action became nonexistant when the tide slowed so Loope fired up the big outboard motor and went to a previous spot he’s had success in. Once there, Jaremko landed his four fish.

As usual, Tournament Director, Kelly Comer and crew ran a flawless event and the MBFN sends out a big thank you for a job well done.