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John Hutchins of Warrenton, Va, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 3 ounces Saturday to lead wire-to-wire and win the EverStart Series Northern Division event on the Potomac River with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds, 12 ounces. For his victory, Hutchins earned $31,695. Final day weigh-in was at Walmart in La Plata.

“I have seven years of tournament fishing experience,” said Hutchins. “This is definitely the biggest event that I have ever fished. I really had to stay focused out there. I came in with the mindset that I was not competing against any other anglers, but against the fish. I told my wife before the tournament that if I could boat the fish that would I knew would bite for me, I would have a real good shot at winning.”

The weather conditions were brutal Saturday – heavy winds, rain and severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. Hutchins decided that his best strategy was to return to the same areas that he had fished on day 1, and headed north into the wind-protected bays. Hutchins methodically fished hard cover, throwing a shaky-head trailered with a plum apple-colored Yamamoto Senko.

“I fished as shallow as 2 feet and the deepest I fished all day was 8 feet,” Hutchins went on to say. “I only lost three fish throughout the tournament, and two of them were right away this morning on my first two casts. And they were big. I knew I just had to stay calm, and fish. I just kept grinding and was able to get a fish about every two hours. I ended up with eight bites and a limit, so it still worked out.

Hutchins said his experience on the Potomac River has been a huge key to his tournament success. He now has two tournament wins on the Washington, D.C. fishery, as he tied for first place at a Walmart BFL Shenandoah division event earlier this year.

The top 10 pros finished the tournament in:

          1st:    John Hutchins, Warrenton, Va., 15 bass, 46-12, $31,695

    2nd:   Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ont., 15 bass, 44-11, $10,867

    3rd:   Walter (Mike) Snider, Mount Airy, Md., 14 bass, 44-3, $9,056

    4th:    Jimmy Kennedy, Plainfield, Vt., 15 bass, 39-11, $8,150

    5th:    Micah Frazier, Newnan, Ga., 15 bass, 37-9, $7,245

    6th:    Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 15 bass, 37-6, $6,339

    7th:    William Shelton III, La Crosse, Va., 14 bass, 36-4, $5,433

    8th:    Christiana Bradley, Bealeton, Va., 14 bass, 35-10, $4,528

    9th:    Chris Dillow, Waynesboro, Va., 13 bass, 34-14, $3,622

    10th: William Kramer, North Potomac, Md., 12 bass, 32-7, $2,717

Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Hutchins also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $258.   

Marvin Reese of Gwynn Oak, Md., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 35 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

          1st:    Marvin Reese, Gwynn Oak, Md., 15 bass, 35-8, Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard

    2nd:   Russ Hamilton Jr., Manassas, Va., 15 bass, 33-4, $4,163

    3rd:   Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., 15 bass, 32-15, $3,700

    4th:    Ben Dziwulski, Woodbine, Md., 14 bass, 29-1, $3,238

    5th:    Safulla Rana, Warrenton, Va., 14 bass, 28-1, $2,775

    6th:    Thomas Shafer, Pine City, N.Y., 12 bass, 26-15, $2,313

    7th:    Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., 10 bass, 26-1, $1,850

    8th:    David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., 12 bass, 26-6, $1,388

    9th:    Richard McRory, North Hero, Vt., 12 bass, 25-0, $925

    10th: Bob Tickell, Germantown, Md., eight bass, 20-14, $740

Stephen Semelsberger Jr.of Mount Airy, Md., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $172.

The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1-4.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook atFacebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors

ABOUT FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing unparalleled fishing resources and entertainment to our sponsors, fans and host communities. FLW is offering anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2012 over the course of 191 tournaments across five tournament circuits, each providing an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water,” through a variety of platforms including tournaments, outdoor expos and the world’s richest fantasy sports game – FLW Fantasy Fishing. For more information about FLW and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter and Facebook.