LAKEVIEW, Ohio (July 29, 2019) – Boater Darrell Gallagher of Maplewood, Ohio, won the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on Indian Lake Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces. Gallagher earned $3,553 his win.
“I started the morning fishing open pads on the main lake, at the mouth of the game reserve,” said Gallagher, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “There was also grass in the area with a little bit of a sandy bottom. It was a small area – maybe a 10-yard stretch on both sides of the pocket – where the pads and the grass met.”
Gallagher said he lost a good fish in the area in the morning, but also caught three using a 3/16-ounce, green-pumpkin-colored jig with a Watermelon-colored Zoom Super Chunk Jr.
“Later in the day I went into the game reserve to a big area called Long Island. I punched matted grass and pads with a tube,” said Gallagher. “I focused on the thickest part of the pad clumps and caught four fish. I probably hit 25 spots.
Gallagher said he punched the grass mats with a 4-inch, Pumpkin Seed-colored Right Bite Baits tube with a dyed chartreuse tip on a ¾-ounce weight. He used 50-pound-test PowerPro braided line and 7-foot, 6-inch Daiwa Tatula Flipping Rods.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Darrell Gallagher, Maplewood, Ohio, five bass, 10-14, $3,553
2nd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 10-1, $1,977
3rd: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 10-0, $1,285
4th: Ronald Nutter, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 9-6, $829
5th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $931
5th: Clint Bissonett, Beavercreek, Ohio, five bass, 8-15, $681
7th: Nitro pro Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, five bass, 8-14, $592
8th: Michael McCoy, Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, five bass, 8-7, $533
9th: B.J. Baxter, Willshire, Ohio, five bass, 8-0, $624
10th: Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 7-11, $415
Scott Manson of Covington, Ohio, caught a 3-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455. Jordan Scales of Russells Point, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,773 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jordan Scales, Russells Point, Ohio, five bass, 5-13, $1,773
2nd: Melvin McNeal, Circleville, Ohio, five bass, 5-11, $886
3rd: Greg Marshall, Paris, Ky., five bass, 5-7, $602
3rd: Casey Neff, Miamisburg, Ohio, four bass, 5-7, $502
5th: Jacob Crawmer, Newark, Ohio, five bass, 5-6, $355
6th: Chris McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., three bass, 5-3, $375
7th: Carter Mox, Minster, Ohio, three bass, 4-15, $295
8th: Jonathon Willis, Ironton, Ohio, three bass, 4-5, $266
9th: Daniel Shuga, Botkins, Ohio, two bass, 4-2, $236
10th: Ryan McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., two bass, 4-1, $207
Zach Smith of Flatwoods, Kentucky, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $222.