Ashland’s Hatfield Wins FLW Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division Finale on Lake Erie

Short wins co-angler title

SANDUSKY, Ohio – Steve Hatfield of Ashland, Ohio, weighed four bass totaling 11 pounds, 3 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division Super Tournament on Lake Erie, with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 26 pounds even. Hatfield took home $5,077 for his win.

“On Day One I worked an area on the south side of Sandusky Bay that I wanted to burn through before the wind switched out of the northwest on Sunday,” said Hatfield, who earned his first career FLW win. “I was afraid the wind would ruin it, so I got everything I could out of it.”

Hatfield said he concentrated on riprap, occasionally throwing his lure to small pieces of wood.

“I pitched a green-pumpkin Big Bite Baits Tube to the wood when the sun got up high,” said Hatfield. “Around 1:30 p.m., I switched to a Green Gizzard-colored Strike King KVD 1.5 Square Bill Crankbait and they loved it. I culled three or four times before heading in.”

On Day Two, Hatfield said the northwest wind forced him to switch patterns.

“I think the bass were shallower on Day Two because of the wind,” said Hatfield. “I hit riprap on points near the entrance of Sandusky Bay using a white Z-Man ChatterBait. At my second stop, I caught a 3-pounder on a green-pumpkin All-Terrain Tackle Football Head Jig.”

Hatfield said he finished out his final day on the water by returning to his area from Day One, and catching four keepers using the Big Bite Baits Tube.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Steve Hatfield, Ashland, Ohio, nine bass, 26-0, $5,077

               2^nd:         Cody Seeger, Lewistown, Ohio, 10 bass, 25-4, $2,739

               3^rd:          Charles Willis, Dayton, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-7, $1,794

               4^th:          Brandon Cline, Portsmouth, Ohio, eight bass, 21-6, $1,185

               5^th:          Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, nine bass, 20-15, $1,015

               6^th:          John Terry, Lexington, Ohio, seven bass, 20-6, $931

               7^th:          James Hailstones, Cincinnati, Ohio, eight bass, 19-7, $846

               8^th:          Ronald Nutter, Newark, Ohio, eight bass, 18-12, $762

               9^th:          Jay Ellis, Celina, Ohio, seven bass, 17-13, $677

               10^th:        Jim Vitaro, Wooster, Ohio, seven bass, 16-5, $892

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Neal Ramsey of Harrison, Ohio, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the Boater Big Bass award of $637.

Brian Short of Oxford, Ohio, won the co-angler division and earned $2,539 with a two-day cumulative catch of nine bass weighing 25 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Brian Short, Oxford, Ohio, nine bass, 25-1, $2,539

               2^nd:         Ryan Sykes, Hamilton, Ohio, nine bass, 22-6, $1,469

               3^rd:          Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, seven bass, 16-13, $896

               4^th:          J.R. Selke, Waynesville, Ohio, six bass, 16-7, $592

               5^th:          Riley Yon, Bellbrook, Ohio, six bass, 15-5, $508

               6^th:          Brett Warrick, Westerville, Ohio, six bass, 13-6, $465

               7^th:          Kenny Mitchell, Franklin, Ohio, five bass, 12-10, $423

               8^th:          Jarrett Zieber, Clyde, Ohio, five bass, 11-8, $381

               9^th:          James Davenport, New Carlisle, Ohio, five bass, 10-10, $339

               10^th:        Don Ward, Loveland, Ohio, four bass, 10-9, $296

Rob Plummer of Waynesville, Ohio, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $319.

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.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat: @FLWFishing.

# # #