Miller wins co-angler title
Adam Ohms of Edwardsville, Illinois, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes presented by Power-Pole. For his victory, Ohms earned $6,199.
“I won this event doing the exact opposite of what people would expect from a tournament on Kentucky Lake this time of year,” said Ohms, who earned the first win of his FLW career. “There was high water due to rain, so I decided to fish this tournament shallow.
“I spent the day fishing ditches in the backs of creeks north of Paris Landing,” Ohms continued. “There was a strong current coming in that was littered with baitfish and bass that were moving up shallow. I had 22 pounds in the boat by 7:30 a.m.”
Ohms said he used one bait to catch his limit – a black and blue-colored 3/8-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait.
“Every fish I caught came from less than 2 feet of water,” said Ohms. “They attacked the bait in open water and tried to bring it into the bushes. I didn’t go longer than 10 minutes without catching a fish all day long. I could go back and forth over the same cover and they just kept reloading. It was a lot of fun.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Adam Ohms, Edwardsville, Ill., five bass, 24-5, $4,199 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Thomas Sandefur, Kuttawa, Ky., five bass, 23-9, $2,100
3rd: Mark Robbins, Murray, Ky., five bass, 21-7, $1,398
4th: Josh Malone, Alma, Ill., five bass, 20-13, $980
5th: Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 20-10, $1,140
6th: Robert Behrens Jr., Dyersburg, Tenn., five bass, 20-3, $770
7th: Craig Hipsher, Benton, Ky., five bass, 20-0, $700
8th: Jamie Muench, McDonald, Tenn., five bass, 18-9, $630
9th: John Euler, Chandler, Ind., five bass, 18-7, $560
10th: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 18-5, $490
Barry Goen of Marthasville, Missouri, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $585.
Brett Miller of Fairdale, Kentucky, weighed in five bass totaling 21 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,100.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Brett Miller, Fairdale, Ky., five bass, 21-8, $2,100
2nd: Dennis Taylor, Murray, Ky., five bass, 17-13, $1,050
3rd: Dustin Baker, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 17-5, $701
4th: Ray Arning Jr., Walnut Hill, Ill., five bass, 15-14, $636
5th: Thomas White, Iron City, Tenn., five bass, 14-12, $420
6th: Ricky Boehringer, Troy, Ohio, five bass, 14-8, $385
7th: James Wathen, Louisville, Ky., four bass, 14-7, $350
8th: Gabe Montgomery, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 14-5, $315
9th: Jacob Greco, Edwardsville, Ill., five bass, 13-11, $280
10th: Jerry Perry, Olive Branch, Miss., four bass, 13-5, $245
Arning caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $146.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
