Post by mwardncsu on Oct 29, 2018 10:16:55 GMT -5
Saturday, October 27, 43 teams and approximately 110 anglers, including 7 lady anglers and 10 youth anglers, competed on Smith Mountain Lake, VA in the 2018 Striper Mafia Fall Brawl sponsored by Striper Soup Bait & Tackle. This was the 1st event of the 2018/19 Striper Mafia Tournament Series, presented by Humminbird & Minn Kota - a Catch-Photo-Release format tournament.
After a cold & rainy Friday, Saturday turned into a very nice day for striper fishing with overcast skies and light & variable winds. Anglers had lines-in at 7am and then gathered at Hot Shots by 4pm for the check-in & awards. 32 of 43 teams entered fish, with a total of 55 fish pictures being submitted. 4 Virginia DGIF Citation length (>37") fish were caught during the tournament, including a very impressive 42" fish caught by Team Pontus.
In the Youth Category, 1st place went to Finn Bartley of Team Pontus, from Raleigh, NC with a 42" striper. 2nd place went to Cole Mattson of Team Topwater Rushers from Moneta, VA with a 36.25" striper, and 3rd place went to Matthew Lawrence of Team Lawrence from Pilot, VA with a 28.25" fish.
Ashley Early of Team Yellatop took top standing in the series-long Ladies competition with a 37.75" striped bass.
In the overall competition, 1st Place went to Team Squidhound - Matthew Hinman, Norman Hinman & David Farley of Hardy, VA, with a two fish total of 72" and $1860. 2nd Place went to Team Pontus - Corey Bartley, Finn Bartley of Raleigh, NC & Josh Boudreau of Charlotte, NC with a two-fish total of 70.25" and $835. Third Place was awarded to Team SHAD UP - Chris Mikels & Frank Mikels of Princeton, WV with a two-fish total of 70" and $460. Forth place was secured by Team YellaTop - Michael & Ashley Early of Riner, VA with a two-fish total of 67.25" and $325 and 5th place was closed out by Team SeaJay - Jay Baumgardner and Don Bowmen of Forest, VA with a two fish total of 67" earning them $215.
Big Fish of the event, and $1000 was awarded to Team Pontus - Corey Bartley, Finn Bartley of Raleigh, NC & Josh Boudreau of Charlotte, NC with a beautiful 42" striped bass.
Five non-placing teams won their entry fees back in a random drawing, and all teams won various raffle prizes ranging from a $100 Tim Wade Custom Cast-net gift certificate, tackle from our sponsors and Striper Mafia gear.
The next event will be held on December 8th - more information can be found at www.StriperMafia.com or by calling Tournament Director, Michael Ward at 336-437-4114.
