New Jersey's Scott Weiland came away with the championship last week in The Bass Federation Mid-Atlantic Championship that took place on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie.
But it was Greg Alexander of Maryland who caught the tournament lunker, and Erie Times-News photographer Ryan Randolph was on site Friday for a photo of the tournament's biggest fish, a 6-pound 4-ounce smallmouth.
The top-finishing angler from each 12-person state team advanced to the 2009 national championship, including Alexander; Dennis Pearl of Chesapeake, Va.; Brent McNeal of Huntingdon, Pa; Bobby Williams of Washington, D.C.; Nathan Routzahn of Frederick, Md.; and Robert Harkness of Elizabeth, W.Va. (12 bass, 43-05).
The No. 2 competitor from each state advances as a co-angler. Qualifiers were Tommy Dadds of Henderson, Md.; Bill Sanders of Baltimore; Nick Angiulo of Hainesport, N.J.; Steven Allard of Wattsburg; Rueben Williams of Rice, Va.; Danny Shanz of Adamstown, Md.; and Eric Stewart of Anmoore, W.Va.