Tharp Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Champlain
WHITEHALL, N.Y. (June 22, 2009) - Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., won the Bass Fishing League Empire Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Champlain Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 22 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned Tharp $4,000 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Potomac River Regional Championship in Marbury, Md., Oct. 8-10, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Dave Mease of Bethlehem, Pa. (five bass, 18-3, $2,000); Jamie Hartman of Poland, N.Y. (five bass, 18-0, $1,133); Bill Spence of St. Albans, Vt. (five bass, 18-0, $1,133); and Larry Materia of Boonton Township, N.J. (five bass, 17-14, $800).
Tharp won the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $540 for a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass.
Alex Antipe of Brooklyn, N.Y., earned $2,000 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 20 pounds even.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Tony Dormon of Springville, Pa. (five bass, 17-12, $1,000); Brian Reynolds of Wilmington, Vt. (five bass, 17-9, $666); Skeeter Harvey of Saugerties, N.Y. (five bass, 16-10, $433); and Paul Pataki of Kearney, N.J. (five bass, 16-10, $433).
Antipe earned $270 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass.
The next Empire Division event will be held on Lake Cayuga in Waterloo, N.Y., July 25.
