FALLS OF ROUGH, Ky. (May 6, 2019) – Boaters Brody Campbell of Oxford, Ohio, and Bryce Kalen of Greenwood, Indiana, each caught five bass Saturday weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces, to tie for the win at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament on Rough River Lake. After contingency awards, Kalen earned $2,328, while Campbell took home $2,128.
“I spent a lot of time bed-fishing, so I went and caught two I had right away – one cast each,” said Campbell, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I stayed toward the dam because the water was a little bit clearer. I was only focusing on small pockets on the dam side of the lake and would stop once I got to the halfway back of them because of how flooded they were. I ran maybe 10 different pockets all day and caught around 20 keepers.”
Campbell said he caught his fish using a wacky-rigged, green-pumpkin-colored Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko. He preferred a 7-foot, 2-inch St. Croix Mojo Bass Spinning Rod with a Lew’s Speed Spin Mach 2 reel and 10-pound-test PowerPro braided line with a 10-pound-test Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon leader.
“I threw the Senko weightless around the front and sides of bushes,” said Campbell. “I let it sink and caught a few here and there. It seemed like the biggest ones I caught were out in front of the bushes.”
“I spent all of my time in the North Fork area of the lake and fished two spawning bays side by side,” said Kalen, who also earned his first win in FLW competition. “I targeted shallow water bushes and flat spawning banks. The water had come up 2 feet from practice, so I couldn’t see the spawning fish I’d marked. I had to fish for them only knowing they were there. Fishing the old bank line was key for me.”
Kalen said he caught six keepers, weighing three from a 4-inch green-pumpkin-colored Secret Lures Stupid Tube and two on a Texas-rigged, green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Bug. He used a 7-foot, medium-heavy Powell Max rod and Lew’s Tournament Pro reel with 15-pound-test Seaguar InvisX fluorocarbon line for the tube, and a 7-foot, 6-inch heavy-action Powell Endurance rod with 25-pound-test Seaguar AbrazX fluorocarbon line to flip the Rage Bug.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Bryce Kalen, Greenwood, Ind., five bass, 12-3, $2,328
1st: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 12-3, $2,128
3rd: Danny Abrams, Greens Fork, Ind., five bass, 12-0, $1,048
4th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., five bass, 11-15, $662
5th: Billy Doyle, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 11-14, $568
6th: Frank McClain, Scottsburg, Ind., three bass, 11-5, $835
7th: Matt McCoy, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 11-2, $773
8th: William Briere, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 10-11, $426
9th: Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., four bass, 10-7, $628
10th: Richard Ison, New Washington, Ind., five bass, 9-7, $481
McClain caught a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $315. Austin Thome of Oxford, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,419 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Austin Thome, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 9-8, $1,419
2nd: Robert Trey Lenear, Bedford, Ky., five bass, 8-0, $710
3rd: Dyllan Grace, Scottsburg, Ind., three bass, 7-13, $473
4th: Bo Bivins, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 7-8, $331
5th: Dale Walton, Greenwood, Ind., two bass, 6-13, $362
6th: Mark Redman, Pendleton, Ky., three bass, 6-12, $260
7th: Thorne Martin, Franklin, Ind., two bass, 6-9, $465
8th: Brian Short, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 6-4, $313
9th: Michael Pruitt, Martinsville, Ind., three bass, 6-3, $189
10th: Billy French, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 5-7, $316
Walton and Martin both caught the bass weighing in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces – the largest of the day in the Co-angler Division – and split the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $156.