July 26 was the 5th qualifying tournament of the Potomac Pro Teams Division out of Smallwood State Park and presented by Sanderson Marine. Twenty four teams were on hand for the first of 2 weekend tournaments in this division.

The weather was favorable throughout the day with morning clouds giving way to sunny skies and hot temperatures. We were able to launch at safe light…about 6:45 ahead of another large tournament.

Each team was offered a bottle of livewell additive at morning registration to put in their water to help reduce the chance of loosing fish during the heat. In addition, each team was asked to tag their largest bass before they put it into the weigh-in bag so it would be identified quickly. This helps to get the fish back in the water quickly and keeps the weigh-in line moving. Captain Karl and I found it odd that the other popular tournament had no oxygenated tanks and did not use the available weigh-in station at the Park. They had 31 boats and it was a draw tournament so each boat had 2 bags of fish to weigh. We are proud to be taking pro-active strides to manage the health of the bass caught in our tournament and thank you all for your efforts as well.

Cliff Magnus and Bernie Springer have proven to be one of the most consistent money winning teams in the Potomac Pro Teams Division this year and a 4th place finish today reinforced that. Weighing a limit totaling 14.06 pounds, Cliff and Bernie walked away with $470 in total prize money.

Bryan Schmitt and Kevin Sydnor teamed up to finish in 3rd place and collected plaques and $650 in prize money. They barely edged Cliff and Bernie with a total weight of 14.07 pounds. Nice going!

Justin Riley fished solo today and put together a nice limit of bass that weighed 14.33 pounds to finish in 2nd place. Always at or near the top, Justin also had the big bass of the tournament which he has done more than once recently. His 5.15 pounder enabled him to be presented with a total of 3 plaques and checks totaling $840. Good job!

Winning their first tournament of the season was Keith Ridgely and Don Jones. They worked hard to arrive at a total weight of 16.20 pounds. This team, who is sponsored by Big Mouth Lures, relied on the sun to position their better quality bass. With or without the sun, they put the right bait in front of the right bass! In addition to plaques, Keith and Don were awarded prize money totaling $1200. Congratulations!

Thanks to Sanderson Marine for providing the plaques!

The next Potomac Pro Teams tournament is….Tomorrow!