GOLCONDA, Ill. (June 28, 2004) - Jason Hodge of Marion earned $3,961 Saturday as winner of the third regular-season Bass Fishing League Illini Division bass fishing tournamen on the Ohio River near Golconda. He caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces to claim the win and 200 points in the Boater Division.
Hodge caught his tournament-winning bass fishing a tube in shallow water. The win came in Hodge's first career BFL event.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Aaron Mays of Mount Vernon (five bass, 10 pounds, 2 ounces, $1,980); Stephen Klein of Sorento (five bass, 10 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,347); Todd Leatherman of Kuttawa, Ky. (three bass, 10 pounds, $1,030); and Mark Jordan of Kevil, Ky. (four bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces, $871).
Leatherman earned a $500 bonus from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and he earned another $250 from Yamaha because his boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Keith Bailey of Simpson earned $725 as the Boater Division big-bass award winner with a 4-pound, 11-ounce bass he caught on a crankbait.
Danny Johnston of Windsor, Mo., claimed $1,899 as winner of the Co-angler Division with a five-bass catch weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught pitching a tube in the bushes.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dennis Carder of Robinson (three bass, 6 pounds, 4 ounces, $949); Chris James of Newton (five bass, 6 pounds, $646); Greg Cooper of Chatham (four bass, 5 pounds, 4 ounces, $494); and Bruce Magnuson of Carbondale (three bass, 4 pounds, 13 ounces, $418).
Carder caught a 4-pound, 1-ounce bass on a red shad worm to claim $343 as the co-angler big-bass winner.
The Illini Division's next stop will be July 24 on Lake Shelbyville in Findlay, and the regular season will come to a close Oct. 2-3 with a two-day Super Tournament on the Ohio River in Golconda.