Colwell Works Rocks for Erie W

Howard wins co-angler title in Buckeye Super Tournament

Hunter Colwell of Zanesfield, Ohio, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on Lake Erie Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 10 ounces. For his win, Colwell earned $5,126.

 

“It was awesome to get the win,” says Colwell, who earned his first career victory in BFL competition. “Both days I was just dragging a drop-shot rig around Middle Bass Island. I was fishing in 8 to 14 feet of water, rotating through four different rock piles.”

 

Colwell estimates that he caught 8 bass on Saturday and 12 to 13 bass on Sunday – all smallmouth. He rigged his drop-shot with a Smoke-colored Strike King KVD Dream Shot.

 

“I could see the fish on my Lowrance graphs,” Colwell says. “The key was being able to follow the fish and adjust, because they were moving from one rock pile to the next. I had only found one rock pile in practice coming into the tournament, but I was able to find the other three on the first day by just fishing around the area with my electronics on.”

 

The top 10 boaters:

              

1^st:          Hunter Colwell, Zanesfield, Ohio, 10 bass, 35-10, $5,126

              

2^nd:         Steve Hatfield, Ashland, Ohio, 10 bass, 34-13, $2,563

              

3^rd:          Scott Manson, Covington, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-10, $1,709

              

4^th:          Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-7, $1,196

              

5^th:          Ronald Nutter, Saint Louisville, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-3, $1,225

              

6^th:          Cody Seeger, Lewistown, Ohio, 10 bass, 32-1, $1,040

              

7^th:          Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, nine bass, 29-14, $1,484

              

8^th:          Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., 10 bass, 29-12, $769

              

9^th:          Kyle Lackey, Tipp City, Ohio, 10 bass, 29-6, $683

              

10^th:        Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, eight bass, 29-4, $598

 

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

 

Martinkovic caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $630.

 

 

Howard wins co-angler title

 

Trevor Howard of Union, Kentucky, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,563.

 

The top 10 co-anglers:

              

1^st:          Trevor Howard, Union, Ky., 10 bass, 28-11, $2,563

              

2^nd:         Billy Crider Jr., Kettering, Ohio, 10 bass, 28-2, $1,281

              

3^rd:          Alfie Bricker, West Portsmouth, Ohio, nine bass, 27-9, $1,053

              

4^th:          Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, nine bass, 26-12, $648

              

5^th:          Mark Miller, Baltic, Ohio, 10 bass, 25-7, $513

              

6^th:          Eric Thompson, Otway, Ohio, eight bass, 24-3, $470

              

7^th:          Dan Minor, Norwalk, Ohio, eight bass, 23-3, $427

              

8^th:          Daniel Hurst, Troy, Ohio, eight bass, 22-1, $384

              

9^th:          Ron Weisenburger, Continental, Ohio, eight bass, 19-3, $342

              

10^th:        Ethan Reese, Clayton, Ohio, nine bass, 19-1, $299

 

Jeremiah Sall of Wintersville, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $315.

 

The T-H Marine FLW BFL Buckeye Division tournament on Lake Erie was hosted by the City of Sandusky.

 

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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the Barren River in Scottsville, 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.