LeClere, Johnson Tie at Ohio River
Rosemeyer wins co-angler title
Chris LeClere of Cannelton, Indiana, and Daniel Johnson of Lebanon, Tennessee, both brought a weigh-in bag to the scale Saturday totaling 9 pounds, 9 ounces, to tie for the win at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division event on the Ohio River. With his Ranger Cup contingency LeClere was the big winner, taking home $4,061, while Johnson earned $3,511 for his efforts.
“I caught all of my fish flipping craws and brush hogs in the back of a creek,” says LeClere, who also won the BFL event on the Ohio River at Rocky Point last year. “I caught 11 fish, but I only had four keepers. I did have one good one come off on me. I was fishing mostly channel stumps and laydowns.
“To win back-to-back on my home waters feels good,” LeClere went on to say.
“I had never been to the Ohio River before, but when I showed up to practice and saw that it looked very similar to my home waters of Old Hickory Lake, I knew I was going to like it,” Johnson says. “I caught everything in Deer Creek – one on a buzzbait, everything else came flipping.”
Johnson says his big fish of the day came on the buzzbait, white with a 5-inch swimbait trailer. When flipping shallow wood he used a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovation Sweet Beaver, and while flipping lily pads he chose a green-pumpkin Berkley Havoc Pit Boss.
“The morning bite was key,” Johnson says. “I got in a good rotation and got to fish a lot of fresh water and get some good bites. There was a lot of pressure in the creek and after the first hour it really slowed down.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Chris LeClere, Cannelton, Ind., four bass, 9-9, $2,061 + $2,000 Ranger Cup
1st: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 9-9, $3,511
3rd: Brian Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 9-2, $1,371
4th: Luke Foli, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 8-12, $641
5th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 7-5, $650
6th: Larry Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 6-15, $504
7th: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 6-8, $458
7th: Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., three bass, 6-1, $412
9th: Nick Uebelhor, Loogootee, Ind., three bass, 6-0, $366
10th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., four bass, 5-14, $321
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Campbell caught a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $305.
Rosemeyer wins co-angler title
Indianapolis, Indiana’s Mike Rosemeyer won the Co-angler Division and $1,524 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Mike Rosemeyer, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 8-4, $1,524
2nd: Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., five bass, 8-1, $787
3rd: Collin Hillen, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 6-9, $459
4th: Michael DeHart, Franklin, Ind., one bass, 4-14, $473
5th: Robert Lenear, Bedford, Ky., three bass, 4-9, $275
6th: Ronnie Gill, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 3-11, $252
7th: Mike Hamaker, Cicero, Ind., three bass, 3-9, $229
8th: Jeff McCarnan, Henderson, Ky., three bass, 3-7, $256
9th: Bill Lowther, Brandenburg, Ky., three bass, 3-6, $171
9th: Nicole Foor, Greens Fork, Ind., three bass, 3-6, $171
DeHart caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $152.
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. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake presented by Evinrude in Paris, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.