Belleville’s Goshen Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Michigan Division Finale on Detroit River

Ohio’s Lovin Grabs Co-angler Title

TRENTON, Mich. – Boater Ronnie Goshen Sr. of Belleville, Michigan, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on the Detroit River Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 51 pounds, 10 ounces. Goshen earned $5,329 for his win.

“This is like a dream come true – I’ve always wanted to win a BFL event,” said Goshen, who had three previous top-10 finishes on the Detroit River in BFL competition. “I used tubes, swimbaits and spinnerbaits and fished rocks and current all over the river.”

Goshen said he used a green pumpkin-colored Impulse Fatty Tube, a LIVETARGET Goby Paddle Tail Swimbait with a ¾-ounce head and a ¾-ounce chartreuse and white-colored custom bullet head spinnerbait. He noted that he was able to catch 25 to 30 keepers each day.

“I’ve got three or four favorite baits and if they wouldn’t hit one I’d throw another,” said Goshen. “I fished in 4- to 15-foot depths and covered a lot of water. It was a run and gun thing – I’d get one here and one there.”

Goshen said he experienced engine problems at the conclusion of the day Saturday, and that his son let him use his boat for the remainder of the event Sunday.

“I was really blessed. Without his help, I would’ve had to use my trolling motor all day (Sunday),” said Goshen.

Goshen said that the Spot-Lock feature on his Minn Kota Ultrex trolling motor was crucial to helping him stay put in the current Saturday, and that his Lowrance electronics helped him pinpoint specific spots to fish.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Ronnie Goshen Sr., Belleville, Mich., 10 bass, 51-10, $5,329

               2nd:         Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., 10 bass, 49-1, $2,864

               3rd:          Joshua Barr, Stow, Ohio, 10 bass, 45-11, $1,877

               4th:          Scott Davis, Coloma, Mich., 10 bass, 45-5, $1,243

               5th:          Troy Stokes, Brownstown, Mich., 10 bass, 45-1, $1,066

               6th:          Mark Flick, Plainwell, Mich., 10 bass, 45-1, $977

               7th:          John Devries, Fishers, Ind., 10 bass, 44-0, $888

               8th:          Randy Ramsey, Burlington, Mich., 10 bass, 43-13, $799

               9th:          Michael Sitko, Pinckney, Mich., 10 bass, 43-11, $1,010

               10th:        Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., 10 bass, 43-9, $622

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Jerry Arnett of Mexico, Indiana, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $682.

John Lovin of Fayetteville, Ohio, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 44 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,664.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

              1st:           John Lovin, Fayetteville, Ohio, 10 bass, 44-13, $2,664

               2nd:         Darwin Griva, Hamilton, Ind., 10 bass, 42-1, $1,332

               3rd:          John Martin, Caledonia, Mich., 10 bass, 41-3, $889

               4th:          Erik Jacques, Marine City, Mich., 10 bass, 40-14, $822

               5th:          Mike Eldridge, Blacklick, Pa., 10 bass, 36-10, $533

               6th:          Tony Mitchell, Plainwell, Mich., 10 bass, 36-6, $538

               7th:          Clint Joyner, Metamora, Mich., 10 bass, 34-3, $444

               8th:          Jeffrey Thomson, Birmingham, Mich., nine bass, 32-1, $400

               9th:          Dayton Land, Coatesville, Ind., nine bass, 32-1, $355

               10th:        Michael Kokoska, Findlay, Ohio, eight bass, 31-7, $311

Eric Wild of Brooklyn, Michigan, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $341.

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. 18-20 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.

The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2019 BFL All-American will take place May 30-June 1 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

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