Pettry dishes out a schooling
Virginian wins Co-angler Division at the Potomac with tough limit
WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Mickey Pettry of Manassas, Va., left no doubt about the winner of the Co-angler Division in EverStart Series Northeast Division competition at the Potomac River. He caught Saturday’s only limit from the back of the boat – weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces – and took home the $4,775 victory with a final weight of 20-2, besting his closest rival by more than 5 pounds.
There was some question about the mysterious bait he used to catch that limit, however.
Asked Friday what he was throwing, Pettry declined to answer. Saturday, after he won, he was asked again onstage if he would reveal his secret bait.
“Absolutely not,” he replied.
With a little prodding, however, Pettry later did cough up some information. Turns out it isn’t the bait he is protecting so much as its maker.
“It’s a custom bait that a friend of mine pours. It’s just that he doesn’t want anybody bothering him.” said Pettry, a 42-year-old public works supervisor. “It’s just a 6 1/2-inch cut-tail worm. The key is its color; it’s kind of translucent, and it works really well in clear water.”
That was the bait that gave Pettry two solid limits as he fished with pro Scott Dameron the last two days of competition.
“Once I hooked up with Scott on day three, I felt very comfortable,” said Pettry. “We worked together really, really well. I’ve got to thank Scott Dameron. He’s a great fisherman and an even greater guy. I caught 10 keepers in two days, and that’s what I’ve got.”
Second place and $3,775 went to co-angler Gary Guilliams of Troutville, Va., for a final-round total of seven bass weighing pounds, 1 ounce.
“I had a human vacuum cleaner in front of me today, Rick Morris, and I learned more today than I thought possible about fishing,” Guilliams said.
Day-three co-angler leader Derek Moyer of Alexandria, Va., caught just one bass Saturday and finished in third place, worth $3,340. He finished with a final tally of six bass weighing 14 pounds even.
Mark Letosky of Warrenton, Va., finished fourth for the co-anglers and collected $2,340 for six bass weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces.
Opening-round co-angler leader Doug Jenkins of St. Leonard, Md., finished fifth with five bass weighing 10 pounds 14 ounces. He earned $1,840.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finishers at the Potomac River:
6th: Jonathan Ceaser of Midlothian, Va., 7-15, $1,740
7th: Mike McDonald of Randleman, Va., 7-2, $1,640
8th: Duane Glassco of Chester, Va., 4-10, $1,540
9th: Larry Church of Keysville, Va., 4-4, $1,440
10th: David Borodziuk of Audubon Park, N.J., Ind., 2-10, $1,340
Standings update
Alan Hench of Lititz, Pa., leads the Northeast Division co-angler standings with 554 points.
Coming up
The next EverStart Series event is a Northern Division contest on Lake Michigan at Escanaba, Mich., Aug. 24-27.
The next Northeast Division tournament will be the fourth and final event of the regular season, held on Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh, N.Y., Sept. 14-17.