Livewell

Dave Wolak returned to his hometown of Wake Forest $125,000 richer after winning the Sept. 15-18 FLW Tour event on New York’s Lake Champlain, with a four-day catch of 81 pounds.

Two other North Carolina pros finished in the money: Brian Travis of Conover, 22nd with 32-12 for $10,179, and  Thomasville’s George Lambeth in 56th with 28-9 for $3,429.

Four Tarheel State co-anglers had paydays. Phil Jarmon of Apex finished 14th with 31-12 for $1,315; Cory Leonard of Castalia ranked 25th with 23-7 for $1,135; Ashley Ivy of Benson placed 33rd with 22-15 for $955; and Rod Poole of Salisbury captured 46th with 21-7 for $865.

Barham, Ohlson win at High Rock

Tony Barham of Willow Springs and Rick Ohlson of Garner won the Sept 16-17 Fishers of Men Eastern Regional at High Rock Lake, a tournament affected by two days of heavy downpours.

Barham and Ohlson were eighth after the first day with 14.82 pounds. A 16.54-pound catch the second day helped them leap into first place with a total of 31-11, good for a fully-rigged Skeeter bass boat, a package valued at $35,000. They also won $450 for the big fish, 7.49 pounds.

The top 10 teams in the 141-boat field representing 11 divisions from New York to North Carolina and the top team from each division earn berths in the National Championship, which will be held April 12-14 on Alabama’s Pickwick Lake.

Chandler wins Super BFL

New London’s Kevin Chandler won the Sept. 17-18 Bass Fishing League Super Tournament at High Rock Lake for his second victory on the trail this season.

Chandler had to charge from behind after an opening-day catch of 15-14, which put him in a tie for third in the 87-boater field, which was cut to the top 17 after the first day. Chandler had 17-8 on the second day for a 33-6, earning $5,197. He caught most of his fish with spinnerbaits from shallow water.

David Williams of Maiden followed his first-day catch of 13-11 with 17-5 for a two-day haul of 31-0, taking second place and $2,598.

Brian Morgan of Newton took third with 29-5 for $1,733; Chris Baldwin of Lexington was fourth with 27-10 for $1,213, and Jeff Chandler finished fifth with 27-0 for $1,039. He also caught the big fish of the tournament, a 6-13 lunker.

Rounding out the top 10 were: Allen Eaker of Cherryville, sixth, with 26-7 for $953; Todd Harris of Pfafftown, seventh, with  26-5 for $866; Dustin Clontz of Albemarle, eighth, with 25-13 for $780; Rodney Bell of Salisbury, ninth, with 24-10 for $693; and Eric Jeter of Asheville, 10th, with 24-8 for $606.

Thomas Jones of Kannapolis placed first among the co-anglers with 21-7 that paid $2,599. Kerry Murphy of Mooresville was second with 16-7, winning $1,299; and Paul Reich of Sanford finished third with 15-5 for $867.

Bradley Chandler, Kevin Chandler’s son, won the co-angler big-fish award of $326 with a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass.

Walser whips the winds for win

Lexington’s Robert Walser withstood the high winds of Hurricane Irene and topped a field of 35 fishermen at the Aug. 27-28 Bassmaster Weekend Series North Carolina Division 5 tournament on High Rock Lake.

Walser brought in a five-fish limit the first day weighing 20.10 pounds, caught mostly with spinnerbaits, and another limit the second day weighing 15.63 pounds caught mainly by flipping, for a total of 35.73 pounds that paid $2,788.

Kyle Whisnant of Charlotte was second with 30.38 pounds and received $1,395. Steve Sink of Winston-Salem was third with 28.11 for $930; Doug Easton of Huntersville was fourth, with 27.77 for $651, and  Wayne Hauser of Mooresville rounded out the top five with 27.73 worth $558. Lexington’s David Wright took the big-fish award of $262 with a 6.18-pound bass.

Brad Wright of Granite Falls placed first among co-anglers with 18.42 pounds and received $1,404. Rougemont’s Robert Perkins ranked second with 17.96 pounds and collected $702. Charlie Wood of Thomasville was third with 13.24 for $468; Shane Sharpe of Charlotte was fourth with 12.70 for $327, and Thomas McDermott of Madison was fifth with 12.13 for $280. Keith Pendleton of Vale had the co-angler big fish, a 4.59-pound bass worth $124.

BASS TOURNAMENTS

Yadkin Team Tournaments
High Rock Lake, Sept. 10
1. Todd Shoaf (Linwood), 15.77, $430; 2. Rodney Hammill (Gold Hill)-Jeff Rowe (Salisbury), 15.34, $252; 3. Brad Peyton-Todd Parker (Salisbury), 14.25, $110. Big fish: Peyton-Parker, 5.12 pounds, $84.50.

Southern Championship Trail
Lake Tillery, Sept. 24
1. Buzz Dunlap (Mt. Gilead)-Pete Morris (Troy), 13.53, $440; 2. David Drye- David Drye Jr. (New London), 12.99, and big fish, 4.88 pounds, $200.

Adam & Eve Trail
Tuckertown Lake, Sept. 10
1. Mark-Audrey Bayse (Thomasville), 22-08, $162.50; 2. Robert-Leigh Parrish (Albemarle), 15-07, $97.50; 3. Ricky-Sherry Clark (Troy), 15-05, $65. Big fish: Bayses, 4-pounds, 15 ounces, $65.

Piedmont Bass Classics Summer Trail Championship
Jordan Lake, Aug. 28
1. Ken McNeill (Raleigh)-Thomas Sheffer (Cary), 19.83, $2,640; 2. Tony Woodard (Four Oaks)-Scott Smith (Apex), 15.20, $560; 3. Ken Wall (Asheboro)-Ben Cannon (Apex), 14.82, $300. Big fish: Todd-Jeff Sumner, 6.16 pounds, $168.

Piedmont Bass Classics Fall Trail
Falls of the Neuse, Sept. 11
1. David Hall (Raleigh)-Dane Sallinger (Wake Forest), 16.87, $575; 2. Bobby Matthews-David Overcash (Durham), 16.80, $145. Big fish: Phillip Johnson-Geno McRae (Durham), 4.50 pounds, $126.

Falls of the Neuse, Sept. 25
1. David Hall (Raleigh)-Dane Sallinger (Wake Forest), 22.70, $600; 2. Bobby Matthews-David Overcash (Durham), 18.77, $360; Mark Herndon (Bahama)-Jay Garrard (Durham), 14.91, $240. Big fish: Hall-Sallinger, 8.22 pounds, $210.

God’s Country Outfitters Bass Tourney
Badin Lake, Aug. 27
1.  Ryan-Nick Nance (Denton), 13.60, $3,000; 2.  Buzz Dunlap (Mt. Gilead)-Pete Morris (Troy), 13.46, $1,000; 3.  Alan Griffin (Polkton)-Terry James (Wadesboro), 11.82, $400; 4. Scott Threadgill (Troy)-Jason Threadgill (Albemarle), 11.60, $200.; 5.  Robert Parrish (Albemarle)-David Drye (New London), 11.16, $200 gift certificates. Big fish: Dunlap-Morris, 4.81 pounds, $560.

Fishers of Men Fall Trail
High Rock Lake, Sept. 3
1. Adam Vanhoy-Ricky Cooper, 20.26, $896; 2. Steve Singleton-A.L. Needham (Sea Grove), 20.08; 3. Tommy Jones (Salisbury), 14.64. Big fish Ronnie Moore III-Ron Moore Jr. (Advance), 6.42 pounds.

STRIPER TOURNAMENTS

Tarheel Striper Club
Lake Hickory, Sept. 24
1. Johnny Young-Janet Bruner, 18.15; 2.  Jerry Hill (High Rock), 14.70, and big fish, 14.70; 3. Colt Bass-Joe Cook, 11.00; 4. Jeff Moore, 10.65; 5. Jim Merritt-Chris Price (Asheboro)-Steven McLaughlin-Mike Daniels, 7.70; 6. Jay Childress-Blake Phillips, 7.55; 7. Mark Unrue-David Wilburn (Asheboro)-Mike Mize, 5.85.