Arthur and Winterling Win the Mr. Bass Event

Frank Arthur won the boater side of the Mr. Bass event held on the Upper Bay April 15th and 16th. Frank had an epic come back on the second day of the event with the biggest bag of over 22 pounds for his best 5 fish. He also had big fish honors on the boater side with a 5.27 pound fish. The win was pretty remarkable after what happened the first day of the event. Frank’s lower unit broke down before noon on Saturday. He had to continue fishing the rest of the day with his trolling motor only. The situation kept Frank from going to spots that he had planned to fish. Frank ended up fishing what he had around him and he had to work his way back the last hour and half of the day with his trolling motor only. Frank ended up being towed in by another contestant, Paul Bladders and made it back in time for check-in. Without the use of his big motor, Frank would end up with only 2 fish on the first day of the event. Saturday night, Frank was able to get his lower unit replaced because he had a spare – what are the chances of that? Sunday, Frank would have an unbelievable day with over 22 pounds catching fish throughout the day and culling up fish several times. Frank caught the majority of his fish dragging a texas rigged worm through the grass. Needless to say, Frank really earned the win with the issues that he had with his boat. Congrats Frank on an unbelievable 2nd day of the event.Joe Winterling won the non-boater side of the event with a total of 19.85 pounds in 2 days. Remarkable because Joe only caught one keeper the first day of the event that weighed 4.34 pounds. On day 2 Joe caught over 15 pounds of fish for his best 3 including big fish of the event with a 6.48 hammer. Day 2, Joe said he caught a total of 4 fish with with the 3 best being the largest bag of the 2 day event on the non-boater side. Joe said he caught his fish on a rage bug and a senko mainly on gravel points and dark spots on the banks, mainly in Swan Creek. Joe had a lot of praise for his boater, Rodney Eshelman, for getting them safely to Swan Creek on day 2 with the dense fog.Norm McCord finished in 2nd place on the boater side with 29.37 pounds for his 2 day limit which was only ounces behind Frank Arthur. Norm said he had mainly a morning bite on the first day and the second day, he caught fish throughout the day. Norm said his fish were caught on a worm fishing grass both days in the Back Channel area. Joe Devoe took second place on the non-boater side with 18.02 pounds for his 2 day effort. Joe said he caught all his fish on a chatterbait and a brush hog in lilly pad stems shallow. He said he caught many fish both days, culling throughout the day on the 2nd day. Joe’s boater found those fish mid-morning the first day and they stayed there all day the second day. Congratulations to these top 2 boaters and top 2 non-boaters who now qualify to fish the Maryland Bass Nation Championship in October on Conowingo to try to qualify for the National Bass Nation Championship in 2024.