Hensley Notches Third BFL Victory

August 26, 2017 • MLF • Archives

Todd Hensley of New Albany, Indiana, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament on the Ohio River Saturday after catching five bass weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces. For his efforts, Hensley pocketed $3,842.

Hensley said he spent the event flipping stumps along a 200- to 300-yard stretch in the back of a creek on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.

“The corps (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) had the water level low Saturday morning, so there were a lot of visible stumps,” says Hensley, who notched his third career-victory in BFL competition. “They were 2 feet down and right off of the bank. The key was the shady areas. The fish were relating to stumps that were under bushes, trees or some grass.”

Hensley said he used two lures to catch his fish – a 7-inch Blue Fleck-colored Berkley Power Worm, and a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw of the same color.

“I had 10 bites all day long, but I lost five of them,” says Hensley. “The five that I did get in the boat were the five that I weighed in.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st: Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., five bass, 7-4, $3,842

2^nd: Jimmy Shepherd, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 6-9, $2,431

3^rd: David Spivey, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-5, $1,582

4^th: Travis Spivey, Trenton, Ohio, five bass, 6-4, $896

5^th: Brian Funkhouser, Bloomington, Ind., five bass, 5-15, $768

6^th: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, five bass, 5-14, $704

7^th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., three bass, 5-11, $640

8^th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 5-7, $576

9^th: Larry Sisk, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 4-14, $512

10^th: Jim Pickett, Trafalgar, Ind., three bass, 4-10, $425

10^th: Mark Heidt, Versailles, Ind., three bass, 4-10, $425

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Shepherd caught a 4-pound, 10-ounce bass – the heaviest of the tournament in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $510.

Kevin Napier of Lewisport, Kentucky, caught three bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $1,921.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st: Kevin Napier, Lewisport, Ky., three bass, 4-4, $1,921

2^nd: Travis Edgar, North Webster, Ind., four bass, 4-1, $960

3^rd: Tyler Buell, Lafayette, Ind., one bass, 3-9, $799

3^rd: Bo Bivins, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 3-9, $544

5^th: Jeremy Caudill, Nineveh, Ind., two bass, 3-8, $384

6^th: Jason Thornton, Corydon, Ind., two bass, 3-3, $352

7^th: Griffin Fernandes, McCordsville, Ind., two bass, 2-11, $320

8^th: Dan Schlegel, Cincinnati, Ohio, one bass, 2-10, $288

9^th: Bobby Revalee, Connersville, Ind., two bass, 2-7, $227

9^th: Matt Knox, Metamora, Ill., two bass, 2-7, $227

9^th: Larry Kitchel, Logansport, Ind., one bass, 2-7, $227

Buell caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 3 pounds, 9 ounces – and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $255.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 5-7 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.