Aldridge Takes Co-angler Title
Boater Pat White of Batavia, Ohio, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River at Maysville. For his efforts, White brought home $3,337.
White said he spent the tournament fishing the main river and in creeks near the Captain Anthony Meldahl Locks and Dam.
“I started out on the main river just trying to figure out the fish, and then headed into Big Locust Creek where I caught three keepers, including my biggest,” said White, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I returned to the main river and caught two more keepers to finish out my limit.”
White said he caught his fish by focusing on transition areas where deep water met the flats.
“I think the fish wanted to move up on the flats, but with the boat pressure and the water fluctuation I think they were held back,” said White. “By 9 a.m. I had my limit, but the main-river bite died and the current stopped. I knew then that the fishing was going to slow down.
“I kept working my way down the river until I found a creek that I had confidence in. I found one, Big Threemile Creek, which had some boats in it. I pulled up and ran the pattern that had been working. I culled once, around 1 (p.m.), and that ended up being my second-largest fish of the day.”
White said he caught his six keepers with six different baits – a homemade jig with a Flippin’ Blue-colored Zoom Super Chunk Jr. (which caught his biggest), a homemade spinnerbait, an American Shad-colored Lucky Craft Series 1.0 crankbait, a homemade black and silver-colored crankbait, a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Brush Hog and a green-pumpkin Berkley Chigger Craw.
“We’ve had a bit of rain recently. Some of the creeks were a little stained and some were clearer, and I had baits laid out for both,” said White. “The river changes every day. The water fluctuates and the current comes and goes. You’ve just got to trust your gut out there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Pat White, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 9-1, $3,337
2nd: John Viox, Hebron, Ky., five bass, 8-5, $1,968
3rd: Bob Robinson, Lebanon, Ohio, five bass, 7-2, $1,112
4th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 6-15, $779
5th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 6-14, $667
6th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 6-11, $612
7th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-8, $756
8th: Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-4, $501
9th: Dennis Magoto, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 6-3, $545
10th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, four bass, 6-1, $389
Steve Hengehold of Cincinnati, Ohio, brought a 2-pound, 13-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $410.
Frank Aldridge of Wheelersburg, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,668 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Frank Aldridge, Wheelersburg, Ohio, five bass, 6-9, $1,668
2nd: Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, four bass, 5-14, $1,034
3rd: Jeff Gauspohl, Dayton, Ky., three bass, 5-4, $626
4th: Raymond Olberding, Batavia, Ohio, three bass, 5-0, $389
5th: Austin Thome, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 4-15, $334
6th: Brent Wilkens, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 4-7, $342
6th: Mark Henderson, Martinsville, Ohio, two bass, 4-7, $292
8th: Mike Jones, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 4-4, $250
9th: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., three bass, 4-2, $222
10th: Howard Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 3-13, $263
Smith caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 2 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $68.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 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. 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.
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 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. 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
