10/17/2009 – La Plata, MD – (As a side note we inducted one new member into the ABA Hall of Fame this weekend, congratulations to Joe!) On what turned out to be a miserably cold weekend Otis Darnell of Linden, Virginia was undaunted.  The weather did not cooperate for the majority of the field, but when Otis saw the cold, wet, windy conditions move in he was delighted.  He said I love fishing in these conditions.  Most people let the weather put them off their game, but I love these conditions.  Obviously, he was comfortable – he brought in the winning weight and captured the Northeast Regional Championship of the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series, Operated by American Bass Anglers, winning a new Triton 18 Explorer with Mercury 115 HP Optimax outboard and MotorGuide Trolling motor.

After day one, Otis found himself almost two pounds behind day one leader, David Wright.  His confidence remained high after finding quality fish during an entire week of pre-fishing.  His practice had netted him fish to seven pounds, so he knew he was on a good pattern and merely had to stay focused.  And focus he did.  He covered lots of water throwing shallow crankbaits in depths to six feet.  When I asked how tide affected his pattern he said it really did not play a factor, and he caught his fish all day long.

With 25.59 pounds, the win earned Otis the Northeast Region Championship and the Triton, Mercury and MotorGuide package, valued at just over $24,000.  The remainder of the top five boaters were David Barker of Emmitsburg, MD, with 25.19 pounds, Robert Grike of Dumfries, VA with 23.89 pounds, Mark Angelus of Chantilly, VA, with 22.54 pounds and Mark Inman of Greensboro, NC with 22.54 pounds.

On the co-angler side of the competition Junior Allen of Biscoe, NC emerged victorious with six fish that weighed 13.44 pounds.  Second went to Paul Ranslem of Centreville, VA with 12.20 pounds and third was Anthony Scrivens of Sunderland, VA with 11.62 pounds.

Anthony Scrivens also had big fish of the tournament with a 7.98 pound largemouth he caught on the second day, which earned him co-angler lunker worth $555 for day two.  On day one, boater David Barker had big fish with a 6.47 pound largemouth that earned him $960, and co-angler Lenny Baird earned $555 for a 5.64 pound fish.  For day two, boater Carl Hughes had big fish at 4.58 pounds, which also earned him $960. 

The top 50 boaters and the top 50 co-anglers from this tournament now have the opportunity to attend the national championship at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas the first week of November.  There, boaters will compete for a first place prize of $100,000 and a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.  Co-anglers will compete for a first place prize of $50,000.

The northeast region tournament crew would like to congratulate all the winners and wish them all the best of luck at the championship.

Congratulations Otis and the rest of the field on surviving these two days of rain, wind and cold.

Final results listed here:

http://www.abaproam.com/northeastregionalfinal.pdf 

Courtes of American Bass Anglers.