Tie for Win at Bass Fishing League Tournament on Ohio River at Rocky Point

July 22, 2019
BFL News Archive

CANNELTON, Ind. (July 22, 2019) – Local angler Chris LeClere of Cannelton, Indiana, and Daniel Johnson of Lebanon, Tennessee, both brought a weigh-in bag to the scale Saturday totaling 9 pounds, 9 ounces, to tie for the win at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament on the Ohio River. With his Ranger Cup contingency LeClere was the big winner, taking home $4,061, while Johnson earned $3,511 for his efforts.

  

“I caught all of my fish flipping craws and brush hogs in the back of a creek,” said LeClere, who also won the BFL event on the Ohio River at Rocky Point last year. “I caught 11 fish, but I only had four keepers. I did have one good one come off on me. I was fishing mostly channel stumps and laydowns.

  

“To win back-to-back on my home waters feels good,” LeClere went on to say.

  

“I had never been to the Ohio River before, but when I showed up to practice and saw that it looked very similar to my home waters of Old Hickory Lake, I knew I was going to like it,” Johnson said. “I caught everything in Deer Creek – one on a buzzbait, everything else came flipping.”

  

Johnson said his big fish of the day came on the buzzbait, white with a 5-inch swimbait trailer. When flipping shallow wood he used a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovation Sweet Beaver, and while flipping lily pads he chose a green-pumpkin Berkley Pit Boss.

  

“The morning bite was key,” Johnson said. “I got in a good rotation and got to fish a lot of fresh water and get some good bites. There was a lot of pressure in the creek and after the first hour it really slowed down.”

  

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

              1st:          Chris LeClere, Cannelton, Ind., four bass, 9-9, $2,061 + $2,000 Ranger Cup

              1st:          Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 9-9, $3,511

              3rd:         Brian Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 9-2, $1,371

              4th:         Luke Foli, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 8-12, $641

              5th:         Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 7-5, $650

              6th:         Larry Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 6-15, $504

              7th:         Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 6-8, $458

              7th:         Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., three bass, 6-1, $412

              9th:         Nick Uebelhor, Loogootee, Ind., three bass, 6-0, $366

              10th:       Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., four bass, 5-14, $321

https://www.bassresource.com 

Campbell caught a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $305. Indianapolis, Indiana’s Mike Rosemeyer won the Co-angler Division and $1,524 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

              1st:          Mike Rosemeyer, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 8-4, $1,524

              2nd:         Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., five bass, 8-1, $787

              3rd:         Collin Hillen, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 6-9, $459

              4th:         Michael DeHart, Franklin, Ind., one bass, 4-14, $473

              5th:         Robert Lenear, Bedford, Ky., three bass, 4-9, $275

              6th:         Ronnie Gill, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 3-11, $252

              7th:         Mike Hamaker, Cicero, Ind., three bass, 3-9, $229

              8th:         Jeff McCarnan, Henderson, Ky., three bass, 3-7, $256

              9th:         Bill Lowther, Brandenburg, Ky., three bass, 3-6, $171

              9th:         Nicole Foor, Greens Fork, Ind., three bass, 3-6, $171

DeHart caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $152.