LAKE VIEW, Ohio (June 22, 2009) - Tom Defibaugh of Bellefontaine, Ohio, won the Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division bass fishing tournament on Indian Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned Defibaugh $4,199 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Kentucky/Barkley Lakes Regional Championship in Gilbertsville, Ky., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Defibaugh said he used a soft-plastic crawfish imitation flipped on the north side of the lake to catch his fish.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Chris Combess of Cincinnati, Ohio (five bass, 12-1, $2,100); David Spivey of Hamilton, Ohio (five bass, 11-2, $1,398); Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio (five bass, 10-15, $980); and Steve Pyers of Marysville, Ohio (five bass, 10-8, $840).
Pyers won the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $585 for a 5-pound even bass.
Jerry Hawthorne of Troy, Ohio, earned $2,100 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Daniel Shuga of Botkins, Ohio (five bass, 9-12, $1,050); Blake Caudill of Morehead, Ky. (five bass, 9-8, $701); Dennis Hughes of Bethel, Ohio (five bass, 8-7, $490); and Mike O'Dell of Hamilton, Ohio (four bass, 8-6, $420).
Gregg Reimer of Xenia, Ohio, earned $292 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass.
The next Buckeye Division event will be held on the Ohio River in Huntington, W.V., July 11.