CANNELTON, Ind. – The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Hoosier Division will have double the fun on the Ohio River, with back-to-back events out of Rocky Point set for Aug 16 and 17. These two rescheduled events should pose a unique challenge to the anglers with summertime conditions on the river.
The Sunday tournament is the fourth event of the season for the division, so all anglers will receive an Abu Garcia gift pack valued at $230 for boaters and $180 for co-anglers – a value that exceeds the entry fee. It’s like Fishing 4 FREE! Plus, participants will receive a code for 25% off an order at AbuGarcia.com. Sign up today at MajorLeagueFishing.com or call (270) 252-1000 to take advantage of this incredible offer. Anglers will receive their gift box at the event.
This year, BFL anglers benefit from an expanded slate of Regionals, which minimizes travel costs and provides more opportunities to qualify for the $120,000 BFL All-American while fishing familiar, closer-to-home waters. Click here to find out more.
What to expect?
New Albany, Indiana’s Todd Hensley has four wins with Major League Fishing, and two have come in this stretch of river. He’ll be in attendance at both events and says the fishing and weather could make for an interesting event on the notoriously tricky Ohio River.
“It’s the middle of August, so you can expect it to be hot and tough fishing, like it normally is,” he said. “When it gets hot like this, those water temperatures can push 90 degrees, but the positive thing is this part of the river has been fishing well this year. It’s in a good cycle after multiple years of bad fishing.”
One decision the anglers must make is to either fish the main river or head into the creeks, with both possibly producing high finishes, according to Hensley.
“Both will be players; they always are this time of year,” he said. “You’ll have people do well on the river, but I believe the bigger fish live in the creeks. But, it could be won with either approach.”
With two events in a row, many fish will be plucked from visible cover along the bank, which could make things a little more challenging on the second day.
“There’s a big local tournament the week before, and then you have everyone practicing, so a lot of the obvious stuff is going to get hit hard,” he said. “I think all that will make our second tournament much tougher.”
Baits to bring
Hensley says his must-have baits for this event would be a tube, a small buzzbait and a creature bait to flip and pitch to shallow cover.
What will it take?
It doesn’t typically take much weight to win on the Ohio, and due to the conditions, Hensley predicts a winning weight between 8 and 9 pounds on Saturday and a pound or so less to win Sunday’s event. Anglers catching around 5 pounds either day should wait around after weigh-in to see if they cashed a check.