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Pennsylvania’s Thompson Out Front at T-H Marine BFL All-American on the Potomac River

Category: press release

 May 31st, 2019 by fishing fanatics 

Modified May 31st, 2019 at 7:41 AM

Boater Joseph Thompson of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, took the early lead Thursday at the 36th annual T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American tournament on the Potomac River presented by General Tire with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces. Right behind Thompson in second place is Doug Thompson of Mabelvale, Arkansas, who brought five bass to the scale good for 15 pounds, 15 ounces.

The T-H Marine BFL All-American features a field of the top 98 boaters and co-anglers from across the 24-division BFL circuit competing for a grand prize of up to $120,000 in the Boater Division and $60,000 in the Co-angler Division. The top boater will receive an invitation to compete for bass fishing’s most coveted prize – the 2019 FLW Cup – Aug. 9-11 on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Thompson said he fished five key spots today, three of which he rotated through for the majority of his day.
“I went to my first spot that I had really big fish at in pre-practice,” said Thompson, who has six career top-10 finishes and one win on the Potomac River in BFL competition. “I spent a lot of time trying to make that spot happen and it just didn’t.

“I left and bounced around the river. I pretty much stuck to my main spots and took what the river gave me,” continued Thompson. “There’s a variety of different patterns and things going on.”
Thompson said that he caught around 12 to 15 keepers, adding that he had a limit fairly early and was culling by 9 a.m.

“I culled probably three or four times, but just for ounces – except for the couple of big ones I caught. I had two over 4 pounds,” said Thompson.

Thompson went on to say that he feels good about what awaits him on Friday.
“My two primary spots I left, and I feel that there’s still fish there. They’re places I hardly ever see anybody fish,” said Thompson. “I was only able to get one today at my big fish spot – it’s gnarly, gnarly stuff. I’m going to start there tomorrow and see if I can get a big one right away, then run around and try to find 2½-pounders. It’s hard to get a big fish right now.”

The top 10 boaters after day one on the Potomac River are:

1st: Joseph Thompson, Coatesville, Pa., five bass, 16-8
2nd: Doug Thompson, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 15-15
3rd: Doug Ruster, New Palestine, Ind., five bass, 15-11
4th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 15-10
5th: Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 15-1
6th: Jason Crone, Kalispell, Mont., five bass, 14-11
7th: Ronnie Baker, Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 14-8
8th: Jason Grape, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 14-3
9th: Tommy Williams, Shepherdsville, Ky., five bass, 13-13
9th: Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 13-13

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.