Corbishley favors offshore to net title - Major League Fishing

Corbishley favors offshore to net title

Stephens claims co-angler victory
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Michael Corbishley of Greenville, N.C., won the July 19 Piedmont Division event on Falls Lake with a 19-pound, 6-ounce limit to claim a payday worth over $3,200.
July 19, 2014 • MLF • Archives

CREEDMOOR, N.C. – Michael Corbishley of Greenville, N.C., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division tournament of 2014 on Falls Lake. For his victory, Corbishley earned $3,255.

“It feels great to win,” said Corbishley, a member of the East Carolina University College Fishing team. “This was actually my first BFL event as a boater.

“In practice I was targeting rock piles that had a ton of bait fish with brush around them,” said Corbishley. “I was throwing a lot of moving baits in practice, but they wouldn’t touch them in the tournament.”

Corbishley said that his morning patterns didn’t produce as planned so he decided to move up the lake to a few key offshore areas around 11 a.m.

“I got up there and the sun came out and as soon as it did they started chewing,” Corbishley said. “I was fishing a Hawgset Lures Mollywhopper on a Chompers Wobble Head Football Jig. I would cast it out and drag it back really slowly until it hit a stump. Then I would pop it over the stump and let it sit and the bass would grab it. They were biting it very lightly – it was just a little tick and a mushy feeling.

“My spots were offshore,” explained Corbishley. “They were in 8 to 12 feet of water, and I was sitting in about 15 feet of water casting up. The key was that they were not directly on the main-river channel so they didn’t get as much pressure.”

Corbishley said he caught most of his fish on the Hawgset Lures Mollywhopper and a few on a Spro Little John crankbait. He credited his JB Custom Rods King Snake as being key for feeling the light bites on his soft plastic.

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

                2nd:          Tim Emery, Creedmoor, N.C., four bass, 15-8, $1,356

                2nd:          Marty Warren, Elon, N.C., five bass, 15-8, $1,356

                4th:           Todd Harris, Clemmons, N.C., five bass, 14-9, $760

                5th:           Bobby Matthews, Durham, N.C., three bass, 13-5, $651

                6th:           Mike Stephenson, Bahama, N.C., four bass, 13-3, $597

                7th:           Ben Cannon, Apex, N.C., five bass, 12-6, $543

                8th:           Neal Ferrell, Myrtle Beach, S.C., four bass, 12-4, $461

                8th:           Thomas Sheffer, Cary, N.C., five bass, 12-4, $461

                10th:        Greg Lahr, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 11-2, $380        

Complete results can be found by clicking here.

Stephens wins co-angler title

Co-angler Ernest Stephens of Orrum, N.C., won the July 19 Piedmont Division event on Falls Lake with four fish weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces. For his efforts, Stephens was awarded over $1,600 in prize money. Ernest Stephens of Orrum, N.C., weighed in four bass totaling 15 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to win $1,628 in the co-angler division.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

                2nd:          Eddie Cook, Clemmons, N.C., four bass, 14-6, $814

                3rd:          John Gallimore, Lexington, N.C., four bass, 12-15, $542

                4th:           Jimmy Batts, Raleigh, N.C., two bass, 11-3, $380

                5th:           Dennis Surratt, Denton, N.C., three bass, 9-14, $326

                6th:           Chris Teague, Lincolnton, N.C., two bass, 9-7, $298

                7th:           Scotty Morris, Rougemont, N.C., two bass, 9-3, $271

                8th:           Jason Prevatte, Sophia, N.C., four bass, 8-15, $244

                9th:           Chris Davis, Raleigh, N.C., two bass, 8-9, $217

                10th:        Dale Winstead, Battleboro, N.C., three bass, 8-8, $190

Complete co-angler results can be found by clicking here.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 2-4 Regional Championship on the James River in Richmond, Va. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

About FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.