Jenkins wins co-angler title
Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 12 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament of 2016 on the Ohio River. For his win, Wilkinson took home $4,309.
“I caught my limit on the main river and in creeks,” said Wilkinson, who earned his second win of 2016 in BFL competition. “No matter where I went, I focused on wood that had current breaks. In the creeks, the calm water behind bigger laydowns held the better fish.
“I caught several keepers on a Pearl Chartreuse-colored Jackall Super Eruption Spinnerbait using a G. Loomis 813C Spinnerbait Series Rod,” Wilkinson continued. “My heaviest bass, the largest of the event, came from a piece of wood on the main river. On that cast, I threw a Jackall Cover Craw with a G. Loomis NRX 853 Casting Rod.”
Wilkinson said he pulled in around 13 keepers throughout the event.
“They all were caught fairly shallow – maybe about 1 to 3 feet down,” said Wilkinson. “I either flipped and popped the craw, or ran the spinnerbait as slow as I could.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 12-9, $4,309
2nd: Tommy Williams, Shepherdsville, Ky., four bass, 10-5, $1,902
3rd: Sean Gillenwater, Bloomington, Ind., three bass, 6-2, $1,267
4th: Frank McClain, Scottsburg, Ind., four bass, 5-14, $888
5th: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, three bass, 5-13, $961
6th: Eric Moore, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 5-6, $797
7th: Matt McCoy, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 5-5, $634
8th: Damon Tingle, Mooresville, Ind., four bass, 5-4, $571
9th: George Brown, Camby, Ind., three bass, 5-3, $507
10th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., three bass, 5-1, $444
Wilkinson’s biggest bass – which weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces – earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $505.
Joshua Jenkins of Indianapolis, Indiana, weighed in two bass totaling 6 pounds even, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,144.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Joshua Jenkins, Indianapolis, Ind., two bass, 6-0, $2,144
2nd: Scott Standafer, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 5-8, $949
3rd: Steve Keller Jr., Bethel, Ohio, two bass, 4-1, $633
4th: Jeremy New, Yorktown, Ind., two bass, 3-13, $543
5th: Darron Read, Elizabethtown, Ind., one bass, 3-10, $429
6th: Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., two bass, 3-8, $348
7th: Brant Gish, Evansville, Ind., one bass, 3-3, $300
7th: Tom Legear, Richmond, Ind., two bass, 3-3, $300
9th: Austin LeClere, Cannelton, Ind., two bass, 3-2, $253
10th: Gary Owens, Columbus, Ind., three bass, 3-0, $210
10th: Ron Weisenburger, Continental, Ohio, two bass, 3-0, $210
Jenkins also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $247.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 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
