Wilkinson Best on Ohio River

Jenkins grabs co-angler title

Chris Wilkinson of Farmersburg, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 12 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament of 2016 on the Ohio River. For his win, Wilkinson took home $4,309.

“I caught my limit on the main river and in creeks,” says Wilkinson, who earned his second win of 2016 in BFL competition. “No matter where I went, I focused on wood that had current breaks. In the creeks, the calm water behind bigger laydowns held the better fish.

“I caught several keepers on a Pearl Chartreuse-colored Jackall Super Eruption Spinnerbait using a G. Loomis 813C Spinnerbait Series Rod,” Wilkinson continues. “My heaviest bass, the largest of the event, came from a piece of wood on the main river. On that cast, I threw a Jackall Cover Craw with a G. Loomis NRX 853 Casting Rod.”

Wilkinson pulled in around 13 keepers throughout the event.

“They all were caught fairly shallow – maybe about 1 to 3 feet down,” says Wilkinson. “I either flipped and popped the craw, or ran the spinnerbait as slow as I could.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 12-9, $4,309

2^nd:         Tommy Williams, Shepherdsville, Ky., four bass, 10-5, $1,902

3^rd:          Sean Gillenwater, Bloomington, Ind., three bass, 6-2, $1,267

4^th:          Frank McClain, Scottsburg, Ind., four bass, 5-14, $888

5^th:          Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, three bass, 5-13, $961

6^th:          Eric Moore, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 5-6, $797

7^th:          Matt McCoy, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 5-5, $634

8^th:          Damon Tingle, Mooresville, Ind., four bass, 5-4, $571

9^th:          George Brown, Camby, Ind., three bass, 5-3, $507

10^th:        John Melton, Corydon, Ind., three bass, 5-1, $444

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

Wilkinson’s biggest bass – which weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces – earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $505.

Jenkins wins co-angler title

Joshua Jenkins of Indianapolis, Indiana, weighed in two bass totaling 6 pounds even, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,144.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Joshua Jenkins, Indianapolis, Ind., two bass, 6-0, $2,144

2^nd:         Scott Standafer, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 5-8, $949

3^rd:          Steve Keller Jr., Bethel, Ohio, two bass, 4-1, $633

4^th:          Jeremy New, Yorktown, Ind., two bass, 3-13, $543

5^th:          Darron Read, Elizabethtown, Ind., one bass, 3-10, $429

6^th:          Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., two bass, 3-8, $348

7^th:          Brant Gish, Evansville, Ind., one bass, 3-3, $300

7^th:          Tom Legear, Richmond, Ind., two bass, 3-3, $300

9^th:          Austin LeClere, Cannelton, Ind., two bass, 3-2, $253

10^th:        Gary Owens, Columbus, Ind., three bass, 3-0, $210

10^th:        Ron Weisenburger, Continental, Ohio, two bass, 3-0, $210

Jenkins also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $247.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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.