Marini Wins Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division Event On Lake Champlain
Francis wins co-angler title
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Michael Marini of Slingerlands, N.Y., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division event on Lake Champlain with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 57 pounds, 7 ounces. For his victory, Marini earned $38,664.
“It feels incredible,” said Marini, who weighed the biggest bag of the day on Saturday to move up from fourth place and earn his first win in FLW competition. “It is honestly one of the biggest accomplishments of my fishing career. I’m looking forward to fishing more in the future. I’m very confident on this lake and it paid off.
“I fished the same exact techniques all three days,” Marini explained. “The first two days I rotated between two primary spots. Today I recognized that it was a slow bite. I stayed with one spot and milked it all day. I never fired up the main motor except to go get gas for the run back from Ticonderoga.”
Marini said that his primary area was a grass flat about the size of a football field and that he targeted depths ranging from about 4 to 6 feet.
“I don’t think the bass were in their summer pattern yet,” said Marini said. “They were spread out all through the flat and I didn’t have to target specific pockets of fish.”
Marini said he caught all his fish on a bright colored Yamamoto Senko that he either wacky-rigged or Texas-rigged with a ½-ounce weight.
The top 10 pros on Lake Champlain were:
1st: Michael Marini, Slingerlands, N.Y., 15 bass, 57-7, $38,664
2nd: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, 15 bass, 56-11, $14,982
3rd: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 15 bass, 56-1, $11,599
4th: Jordan Lee, Auburn, Ala., 15 bass, 55-9, $9,666
5th: Derick Olson, Honey Brook, Pa., 15 bass, 53-10, $8,699
6th: Glenn Babineau, Mechanicville, N.Y., 15 bass, 52-12, $7,733
7th: Mark Daniels Jr., Fairfield, Calif., 15 bass, 52-0, $6,766
8th: Mike Neilson, Markham, Ontario, 15 bass, 49-8, $5,800
9th: Mike McDonald, Randleman, N.C., 15 bass, 47-12, $4,833
10th: Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, 15 bass, 47-3, $3,866
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Olson and Frank Ippoliti of Mercersburg, Pa., tied for the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, each catching a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned them the Thursday and Friday Big Bass awards of $284, respectively.
Zachary Francis of Abingdon, Va., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Champlain were:
1st: Zachary Francis, Abingdon, Va., 15 bass, 46-0, Ranger Z117C with a 90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Steve Brinster, Vernon, N.J., 15 bass, 44-11, $4,841
3rd: Jeff Russell, Ballston Spa, N.Y., 15 bass, 44-8, $3,873
4th: Destin Demarion, Grove City, Pa., 15 bass, 43-14, $3,389
5th: Stephen Semelsberger Jr., Mt. Airy, Md., 15 bass, 42-1, $2,905
6th: Alex Antipenko, Brooklyn, N.Y., 14 bass, 41-10, $2,420
7th: A.J. Zitzman, Montreal, Quebec, 15 bass, 41-7, $1,936
8th: Gabriel Scott, Stanardsville, Va., 15 bass, 40-3, $1,694
9th: Dereck Bigford, Cicero, N.Y., 13 bass, 36-2, $1,452
10th: Kurt Fraser, Edgewater, Md., 11 bass, 30-1, $1,210
Robin Roystan of Bath, N.H., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $189.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the no-entry-fee Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2014 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 30-Nov.1 on Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Ala.
The Rayovac FLW Series on Lake Champlain was hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau. It was the second of three Northern Division events in 2014. The next Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division tournament will be held Aug. 21-23-19, on the James River in Richmond, Va. For a complete schedule, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.