LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — Anglers in the Buckeye Division have been waiting five months to get their season started. That wait finally ends Saturday, when the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine will visit the Ohio River out of Tanners Creek.
What to expect
Familiarity can be both a good and bad thing, and the anglers in the Buckeye Division sure should be familiar with this stretch of the Ohio River by now.
This marks the fourth season in a row the fishery has hosted the first event of the season. That means anglers should have a pretty good idea of what to do and where to go.
“Just pick your favorite creek,” said local Chris Martinkovic. “Right now, you have fish in all three phases, and that’s going to make creeks the big players this event.”
Martinkovic says the bass started spawning in earnest a couple weeks ago, but a cold snap hit the pause button on a good portion, leaving them in limbo. Hence, there’s a contingent that spawned early, some on beds now, and some wanting to head there soon.
Regardless of the creek or phase of fish targeted, cover will be key. Be it stumps, laydowns, rocks or whatever – if it’s a hard piece of cover, there’s a good chance a bass is hanging around it.
That said, there is one wildcard for the event – mud.
Rain is in the forecast, which has the potential to muddy up the creeks and make fishing tough (which is saying something for a fishery with a reputation for producing grinders). Now, which creeks might get muddy is unknown, and anglers will have to figure that out on the fly to succeed.
“There’s no way of telling which creeks will get muddy with the rain,” Martinkovic said. “Could be all of them, but I’ve also seen where it’s just one side of the river and not the other.
“Fortunately, there are so many good creeks. So, it just depends on playing the conditions and picking the right one.”
Baits to bring
Obviously, every angler has their favorites. But if you ask Martinkovic, you’ll only need three lures for this event.
“Just a spinnerbait, your favorite flipping bait and a jig,” Martinkovic said.
He also said that, while forward-facing sonar rarely plays a big role on the river in a traditional sense, using perspective mode could definitely help locate hard cover and fish on beds.
What will it take?
Martinkovic won a local derby a couple weeks ago with just over 12 pounds. And barring the rain really muddying up the creeks, he doesn’t see any reason to deviate from that as the bar to set for the victory.
“Any time you can get into the teens, you’re usually going to win,” Martinkovic said. “So, getting close puts you in position.”