MAYSVILLE, Ky. (July 18, 2016) – Jake Poffenberger of Brookville, Ohio, weighed four bass totaling 9 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River. For his victory, Poffenberger earned $4,684.
“I spent my day fishing four different creek mouths between the lock and Maysville,” said Poffenberger, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I picked apart 100-yard stretches along flats and hit all kinds of wood. I think the river was fluctuating a lot, so that’s why bass were close to the creek mouths and not in the backwaters.
“The flats I sat on were about 2 feet down, but there was deeper water nearby,” Poffenberger continued. “When the sun came out I had better bites because the bass were pushed closer to the wood.”
Poffenberger said he rotated between a 1/8-ounce chartreuse-colored Hawk Spinnerbait and a Watermelon Red Magic-colored Yamamoto Senko to catch his four keepers.
“I used the Hawk until the wind stopped blowing, then I picked up the Senko,” said Poffenberger. “I didn’t catch many fish, but they were the right size.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jake Poffenberger, Brookville, Ohio, four bass, 9-7, $4,684
2nd: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, five bass, 9-0, $2,059
3rd: Chris Combess, Cleves, Ohio, four bass, 8-7, $1,374
4th: Keith Wheelock, Springboro, Ohio, five bass, 7-14, $961
5th: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, five bass, 6-15, $824
6th: Bret Languell, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 6-11, $755
7th: David Dudley, Dublin, Ohio, three bass, 6-9, $686
8th: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 6-7, $618
9th: Trevor Windgassen, Alexandria, Ky., five bass, 6-3, $549
10th: James Fulton, Ray, Ohio, five bass, 6-1, $480
Poffenberger also caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $565. Alex Redwine of Cincinnati, Ohio, weighed in four bass totaling 5 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,059. The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Alex Redwine, Cincinnati, Ohio, four bass, 5-14, $2,059
2nd: Douglas Shope, Troy, Ohio, three bass, 5-8, $1,030
3rd: Herbert Jones, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 4-9, $687
4th: Butch Dobransky, Canton, Ohio, three bass, 4-7, $480
5th: Aaron Kuhlmann, Hamilton, Ohio, one bass, 4-3, $694
6th: Derek Buchanan, Madison, Ind., three bass, 4-1, $378
7th: Bill Lowther, Brandenburg, Ky., four bass, 3-15, $343
8th: Billy Senters, New Richmond, Ohio, three bass, 3-14, $309
9th: Bradley Fulton, Ray, Ohio, three bass, 3-13, $275
10th: Dennis Robinson, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 3-11, $228
10th: Justin Busby, Lancaster, Ohio, one bass, 3-11, $228
Kuhlmann brought a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale, which was the biggest of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $282.