August 19, 2019 by FLW Communications
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Boater Craig Mills of Hamilton, Ohio, took top honors at Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River at Tanners Creek after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces. Mills took home $5,466 for his win.
After working in Tanners Creek for the first three hours of the tournament, Mills said he couldn’t get anything going. Around 9:30 a.m., he went and fished three creeks on the lower end near Meldahl Dam.
“I’ve fished those creeks over the years – just shallow, flat creeks. I knew they were in there, I found them in practice,” said Mills, who earned his second career victory in BFL competition. “I caught them here and there – I think I had my limit by 1 [p.m.]. I culled a couple fish and caught my last at about 2 [p.m.].”
Mills said he caught a couple of bass with a black ¼-ounce Strictly Bass Meatheads spinnerbait and a white ¼-ounce Tim Poe Thunder Blade Double Blade spinnerbait with a white Kalin’s Lunker Grub trailer. He also caught four flipping a Texas-rigged Spring Break-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, as well as his heaviest on a black and white Booyah Pad Crasher frog.
“I was throwing around any type of wood,” said Mills. “My biggest came at 1 [p.m.] – that was my fifth fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Craig Mills, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 10-4, $3,466 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Michael Powell Jr., Greendale, Ind., five bass, 8-10, $1,933
3rd: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, three bass, 7-10, $1,405
4th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-8, $1,059
5th: Dave Lauer, McConnelsville, Ohio, three bass, 7-4, $693
6th: Cody Seeger, Lewistown, Ohio, five bass, 7-1, $635
7th: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 6-15, $578
8th: Jamie Cunnagin, New Lebanon, Ohio, four bass, 6-13, $491
8th: Brandon Hobbs, Grove City, Ohio, three bass, 6-13, $491
10th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, five bass, 6-3, $404
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Michael McCoy of Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $435.
Samuel Jones of Morgantown, West Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,733 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Samuel Jones, Morgantown, W. Va., three bass, 5-2, $1,733
2nd: William Gross, Cleveland, Ohio, two bass, 4-7, $866
3rd: Mark Redman, Pendleton, Ky., one bass, 4-6, $707
3rd: Austin Brock, West Chester, Ohio, three bass, 4-6, $840
5th: Dan Schlegel, Cincinnati, Ohio, two bass, 3-13, $397
6th: Billy Senters, New Richmond, Ohio, three bass, 3-12, $318
7th: Ryan Rich, Eaton, Ohio, one bass, 3-11, $289
8th: Tony Baber, Centerville, Ohio, two bass, 3-10, $260
9th: Brent Wilkens, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 3-8, $231
10th: Matthew Hostetter, East Palestine, Ohio, three bass, 3-4, $192
10th: Brandon Fraley, Tipp City, Ohio, two bass, 3-4, $192
Redman caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $217.
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.
