CORTLAND, Ohio (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Gary Ginter of Lakeview, Ohio, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division super-tournament on Mosquito Lake Sunday. Ginter earned $4,534 for his efforts.
“I was fishing at the north end of the lake,” said Ginter, who earned his fourth career victory in BFL competition. “I started out day one throwing a buzzbait shallow up in the grass. I caught a limit, but there were a bunch of boats crowded around me so I worked my way outside into the deeper grass and that seemed to be where the bigger ones were.
“I culled out four fish in my limit in the deep grass throwing a Texas-rigged, Tequila Sunrise-colored YUM worm,” Ginter continued.
“On day two, I started with a buzzbait on the same spot as the first day and caught two keepers, then the bite shut off. I went back out deep and threw the worm, but it was much slower. I missed two, then the wind really picked up. I found my way into the back of a pocket on the north end – out of the wind – and ended up filling out my limit flipping an Okeechobee Craw-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Gary Ginter, Lakeview, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-2, $4,534
2nd: Charles Willis, Dayton, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-15, $2,517
3rd: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., nine bass, 24-14, $1,691
4th: Butch Dobransky, North Canton, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-5, $1,011
5th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 22-15, $1,017
6th: Bob Robinson, Lebanon, Ohio, nine bass, 22-5, $795
7th: Scott Manson, Covington, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-12, $722
8th: Michael Murphy, Troy, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-4, $650
9th: Clint Bissonett, Beavercreek, Ohio, nine bass, 20-3, $825
10th: Richard Knoll, Pittsburgh, Pa., 10 bass, 19-13, $506
Wieda caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $247. Lexington, Ohio’s Bailey Craner won the Co-angler Division and $2,167 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Bailey Craner, Lexington, Ohio, 10 bass, 22-1, $2,167
2nd: Brian Short, Oxford, Ohio, eight bass, 20-8, $1,433
3rd: Jeff Turner, Plainfield, Ill., 10 bass, 19-6, $724
4th: Kenny Smith, Austin, Ind., nine bass, 18-12, $656
5th: Jacob Crawmer, Newark, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-10, $433
6th: Ryan McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., 10 bass, 17-9, $397
7th: John Breedlove, Girard, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-2, $361
8th: Steve Sorrell, Beavercreek, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-0, $325
9th: Jon Angstmann, St. Marys, Ohio, eight bass, 16-0, $289
10th: David Lambert, Middletown, Ohio, nine bass, 16-0, $253
Rodney Gibbs of Springsboro, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $247.