Johnston wins Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division opener
Category: press release
Jun 7th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 7th, 2015 at 12:00 AM
Cory Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division opener on James River presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 46 pounds, 14 ounces. For his win, Johnston earned $31,229 and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“It feels absolutely incredible to win this tournament,” said Johnston, who has nine career top-10 finishes. “I’ve finished in second place too many times in these events before so I couldn’t be happier.”
On day one of competition, Johnston said he targeted the outside edges of lily pad fields throughout 15 different spots on Chickahominy River.
“It was raining so we had some flood tide,” said Johnston. “I started out using a Jackall square-billed crankbait but soon switched to flipping a jig. Shortly before noon I caught a 6-pound, 6-ouncer which helped get the momentum going.”
With 30 minutes left in his day, Johnston said he lost a fish at the side of the boat which would’ve capped off his five-bass limit.
“It was a tough bite all day,” said Johnston. “I only ended up catching four keepers.”
Heading into day two, Johnston followed a similar pattern as head the previous day but quickly changed strategies – a move he described as the turning point in the tournament.
“Shortly after takeoff I realized what I was doing wasn’t working,” Johnston said. “I began flipping into shallow pads and lost a good one. At that point I grabbed a black and blue-colored Punisher Jig with a black-colored Zoom Super Chunk and started flipping to the inside of pad beds instead of the outside. As the day went on I found success in inconspicuous spots that weren’t being hit by other competitors.”
Johnson said he finished the day by catching nearly 20 fish, all on the Punisher Jig.
“As day three approached I knew exactly what I was going to do,” said Johnston. “I had five or six key spots that I wanted to hit. They were all in anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of water. I went to the first spot and caught two small keepers. After a few minutes, I boated a 7-pounder. I had three good-sized fish before 8 a.m. and figured I was in contender for the title.”
The top 10 pros on the James River were:
1 st: Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 14 bass, 46-14, $31,229 + Ranger Z518 w/ 200-horsepower outboard motor
2 nd: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 15 bass, 46-7, $12,101
3 rd: Kelly Pratt, Williamsburg, Va., 15 bass, 46-2, $9,369
4 th: Ryan Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 15 bass, 46-2, $7,807
5 th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 42-6, $7,027
6 th: Bryan Elrod, Mechanicsville, Va., 15 bass, 40-14, $6,246
7 th: Bo Boltz, New Kent, Va., 15 bass, 40-6, $5,465
8 th: Clay Lewis, Sandston, Va., 15 bass, 39-9, $4,684
9 th: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 15 bass, 38-12, $3,904
10 th: Jeffrey Ware, Warrenton, Va., 15 bass, 33-12, $3,123
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.