Read wins co-angler title
Chris Martinkovic of Hamilton, Ohio, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament on Patoka Lake presented by Power-Pole. For his victory, Martinkovic received $5,879.
“I started the morning mid-lake throwing a bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook to bass up shallow,” said Martinkovic, who earned the fourth win of his FLW career. “I ran a 100-yard stretch of bluegill beds and pulled the Spook fairly quickly. The water was clear so you didn’t want them to have a chance to look at it. I caught two of my better ones, and ended up with three in the boat by 8:30 a.m.
“After that I fished points for the rest of the day,” Martinkovic continued. “The ones I hit were long and protruding from the spawning pockets. I probably ran through 30 of them. I used a green-pumpkin football-head jig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw trailer.”
Martinkovic said he went three hours without a bite, but managed to wrangle in two more fish by 1 p.m. to complete his limit. He said he finished the day with just six keeper bites.
“The boat traffic made it tough out there,” said Martinkovic. “I also spent a lot of my time going for those big postspawn fish. I’m just thankful I had enough to win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 18-14, $3,879 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Jeremy Knepp, Montgomery, Ind., four bass, 15-2, $1,940
3rd: John Schroering, Dubois, Ind., four bass, 15-1, $1,293
4th: Charlie Hentrup, New Albany, Ind., five bass, 14-9, $905
5th: Scott Spayd, Ferdinand, Ind., four bass, 14-5, $776
6th: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 13-10, $711
7th: Nick Uebelhor, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 12-15, $647
8th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., four bass, 12-13, $582
9th: Ted Scheeter, Jasper, Ind., four bass, 11-13, $517
10th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 11-8, $453
Tim Barkley of Indianapolis, Indiana, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $515.
Darron Read of Elizabethtown, Indiana, weighed in three bass totaling 8 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $1,940.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Darron Read, Elizabethtown, Ind., three bass, 8-4, $1,940
2nd: Chad Jackson, Indianapolis, Ind., two bass, 7-8, $970
3rd: Shane Oxford, Saint Meinrad, Ind., two bass, 5-15, $646
4th: Jim Betts, Fort Wayne, Ind., two bass, 5-12, $453
5th: Rod Yoder, West Lafayette, Ind., two bass, 5-11, $388
6th: Billy French, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 5-9, $356
7th: Jim Krider, North Vernon, Ind., one bass, 5-5, $580
8th: Brian Liming, Dilsboro, Ind., two bass, 5-4, $275
8th: Robert Revalee, Connersville, Ind., one bass, 5-4, $275
10th: Kenny Mitchell, Franklin, Ohio, one bass, 4-5, $226
Krider caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $257.
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.
