JASPER, Ind. (May 19, 2008) - Boater Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio, won the Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division bass fishing tournament on Patoka Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned Shaffer $3,531 plus a $623 Ranger contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Cherokee Lake Regional Championship in Morristown, Tenn., Oct. 16-18, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"I was at the right place at the right time," said Shaffer, who has amassed more than $278,500 in career earnings and has 36 top-10 finishes with FLW Outdoors. "I was just hoping to catch a few fish. I had a few key spots in mind that I wanted to go to from past tournaments so I stuck with that."
Shaffer caught his limit only two miles from Newton Stewart South Marina.
"I caught four keepers in the first hour but I didn't think that I would have enough weight to win," Shaffer added. "Winning this tournament never crossed my mind."
Shaffer caught his limit fishing shallow on a tube and lizard.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Tony Young of Depauw, Ind. (five bass, 11-14, $2,078); Brad Stogsdill of Nashville, Ind. (five bass, 10-15, $1,383); Matt McCoy of Indianapolis, Ind. (five bass, 10-04, $970) and Jason Rigdon of Louisville, Ky. (four bass, 9-14, $831).
Ryan Deal of Haubstadt, Ind., took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $570 for a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught fishing the main lake on a brown jig.
Timothy Clark of Muncie, Ind., earned $2,078 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to two bass weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught on a green-pumpkin Zoom Centipede fishing shallow in bushes.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kevin Alvey of Taylorsville, Ky. (three bass, 7-08, $1,039); Larry Kitchel of Monticello, Ind. (three bass, 6-04, $691); Lawrence Spicher of Boonville, Ind. (two bass, 5-14, $485) and Shawn Conner of Nineveh, Ind. (one bass, 4-13, $416).
Clark earned $285 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
Hoosier Division anglers will visit Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Ind., June 7 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on the Ohio River in Tell City, Ind., June 28. The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on the Ohio River in Evansville, Ind., July 26. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on the Ohio River in Tell City, Sept. 6-7.