Poffenberger Found the Right Four

Redwine earns co-angler title on the Ohio River

Jake Poffenberger of Brookville, Ohio, weighed four bass totaling 9 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament of 2016 on the Ohio River. For his victory, Poffenberger earned $4,684.

“I spent my day fishing four different creek mouths between the lock and Maysville,” says Poffenberger, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I picked apart 100-yard stretches along flats and hit all kinds of wood. I think the river was fluctuating a lot, so that’s why bass were close to the creek mouths and not in the backwaters.

“The flats I sat on were about 2 feet down, but there was deeper water nearby,” Poffenberger continues. “When the sun came out I had better bites because the bass were pushed closer to the wood.”

Poffenberger rotated between a 1/8-ounce chartreuse-colored Hawk Spinnerbait and a Watermelon Red Magic-colored Yamamoto Senko to catch his four keepers.

“I used the Hawk until the wind stopped blowing, then I picked up the Senko,” says Poffenberger. “I didn’t catch many fish, but they were the right size.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Jake Poffenberger, Brookville, Ohio, four bass, 9-7, $4,684

2^nd:         Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, five bass, 9-0, $2,059

3^rd:          Chris Combess, Cleves, Ohio, four bass, 8-7, $1,374

4^th:          Keith Wheelock, Springboro, Ohio, five bass, 7-14, $961

5^th:          Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, five bass, 6-15, $824

6^th:          Bret Languell, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 6-11, $755

7^th:          David Dudley, Dublin, Ohio, three bass, 6-9, $686

8^th:          Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 6-7, $618

9^th:          Trevor Windgassen, Alexandria, Ky., five bass, 6-3, $549

10^th:        James Fulton, Ray, Ohio, five bass, 6-1, $480

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

Poffenberger also caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $565.

Redwine wins co-angler title

Alex Redwine of Cincinnati, Ohio, weighed in four bass totaling 5 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,059.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Alex Redwine, Cincinnati, Ohio, four bass, 5-14, $2,059

2^nd:         Douglas Shope, Troy, Ohio, three bass, 5-8, $1,030

3^rd:          Herbert Jones, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 4-9, $687

4^th:          Butch Dobransky, Canton, Ohio, three bass, 4-7, $480

5^th:          Aaron Kuhlmann, Hamilton, Ohio, one bass, 4-3, $694

6^th:          Derek Buchanan, Madison, Ind., three bass, 4-1, $378

7^th:          Bill Lowther, Brandenburg, Ky., four bass, 3-15, $343

8^th:          Billy Senters, New Richmond, Ohio, three bass, 3-14, $309

9^th:          Bradley Fulton, Ray, Ohio, three bass, 3-13, $275

10^th:        Dennis Robinson, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 3-11, $228

               10^th:        Justin Busby, Lancaster, Ohio, one bass, 3-11, $228

Kuhlmann brought a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale, which was the biggest of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $282.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.