Local Angler LeClere and Tennessee’s Johnson Tie for Win at T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Tournament on Ohio River at Rocky Point

CANNELTON, Ind. – Local angler 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,” said 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 said. “I caught everything in Deer Creek – one on a buzzbait, everything else came flipping.”

Johnson said 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 Pit Boss.

“The morning bite was key,” Johnson said. “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 finished the tournament in:

 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.

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 were:

 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.

The 2019 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 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

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, and YouTube.

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 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show 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, and YouTube.

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