Maplewood’s Gallagher Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Tournament on Indian Lake
Co-Angler Title Goes to Russells Point’s Scales
LAKEVIEW, Ohio – Boater Darrell Gallagher of Maplewood, Ohio, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on Indian Lake Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces. Gallagher earned $3,553 his win.
“I started the morning fishing open pads on the main lake, at the mouth of the game reserve,” said Gallagher, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “There was also grass in the area with a little bit of a sandy bottom. It was a small area – maybe a 10-yard stretch on both sides of the pocket – where the pads and the grass met.”
Gallagher said he lost a good fish in the area in the morning, but also caught three using a 3/16-ounce, green-pumpkin-colored jig with a Watermelon-colored Zoom Super Chunk Jr.
“Later in the day I went into the game reserve to a big area called Long Island. I punched matted grass and pads with a tube,” said Gallagher. “I focused on the thickest part of the pad clumps and caught four fish. I probably hit 25 spots.
Gallagher said he punched the grass mats with a 4-inch, Pumpkin Seed-colored Right Bite Baits tube with a dyed chartreuse tip on a ¾-ounce weight. He used 50-pound-test PowerPro braided line and 7-foot, 6-inch Daiwa Tatula Flipping Rods.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Darrell Gallagher, Maplewood, Ohio, five bass, 10-14, $3,553
2nd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 10-1, $1,977
3rd: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 10-0, $1,285
4th: Ronald Nutter, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 9-6, $829
5th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $931
5th: Clint Bissonett, Beavercreek, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $681
7th: Nitro pro Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, five bass, 8-14, $592
8th: Michael McCoy, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, five bass, 8-7, $533
9th: B.J. Baxter, Willshire, Ohio, five bass, 8-0, $624
10th: Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 7-11, $415
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Scott Manson of Covington, Ohio, caught a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455.
Jordan Scales of Russells Point, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,773 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jordan Scales, Russells Point, Ohio, five bass, 5-13, $1,773
2nd: Melvin McNeal, Circleville, Ohio, five bass, 5-11, $886
3rd: Greg Marshall, Paris, Ky., five bass, 5-7, $602
3rd: Casey Neff, Miamisburg, Ohio, four bass, 5-7, $502
5th: Jacob Crawmer, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 5-6, $355
6th: Chris McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., three bass, 5-3, $375
7th: Carter Mox, Minster, Ohio, three bass, 4-15, $295
8th: Jonathon Willis, Ironton, Ohio, three bass, 4-5, $266
9th: Daniel Shuga, Botkins, Ohio, two bass, 4-2, $236
10th: Ryan McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., two bass, 4-1, $207
Zach Smith of Flatwoods, Kentucky, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $222.
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 the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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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