Monroe County, In. — Boater Stu Moyer of Indianapolis, caught four bass Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division tournament on Lake Monroe. For his win, Moyer earned $6,311.
Moyer said he began his day close to the dam in the Fairfax area, fishing docks in the back of a creek.
“I couldn’t catch anything from under the docks likely due to the overcast conditions,” said Moyer, who earned his second career win in BFL competition on Lake Monroe. “I pitched a worm out into the open near a grassline in 8 feet of water, worked the outside edge, and caught my first one where it came close to the docks. It was a 6½-pounder and I got it just after 8 (a.m.).”
Moyer said he used a Texas-rigged 10-inch Red Shad-colored Berkley Power Worm on a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook with a 5/16-ounce weight. The bait was attached to 20-pound-test P-Line, spooled on a Lew’s reel and rigged on a 7-foot, 3-inch Phoenix MBX rod.
“I think the cloudy weather pulled them out from the cover,” said Moyer. “The grassline was far enough away from the docks that I knew they weren’t relating to them.”
Moyer proceeded on to a “duplicate” area in Moore’s Creek where he was able to put a couple more good fish in the boat around 11 a.m.
“I knew there was a grassline about 50 yards off the docks – it’s a breakline and it’s full of grass. I pitched in there and missed the first one. I moved 10 yards down, threw in again and caught two 4-pounders in two casts.”
Moyer said he had a couple more bites running back through his route, but couldn’t get anything in the boat until the end of the day.
“I caught my last fish with 15 minutes to go from under a dock in the Paynetown area with the same worm. It was in 3 feet of water and turned out to be the fish I needed to win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Stu Moyer, Indianapolis, Ind., four bass, 15-14, $4,311 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Eric Hardesty, Nineveh, Ind., five bass, 14-2, $1,693
3rd: Aaron Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 13-3, $1,229
4th: Jim Pickett, Franklin, Ind., five bass, 11-4, $790
5th: Christopher Lemon, Mooresville, Ind., four bass, 9-6, $677
6th: Marty Sisk, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 9-5, $621
7th: Lee Mill, Columbus, Ind., four bass, 9-4, $564
8th: James White, Martinsville, Ind., three bass, 8-15, $508
9th: Bob Drake, Noblesville, Ind., three bass, 8-8, $451
10th: Steve Sendelweck, Ramsey, Ind., four bass, 8-7, $395
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Moyer’s 6-pound, 8-ounce bass was the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division and earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $425.
Brent Bennett of Madison, Indiana, won the Co-angler Division and $1,905 Saturday after catching three bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Brent Bennett, Madison, Ind., three bass, 12-6, $1,905
2nd: Kyle Lambeck, Santa Claus, Ind., three bass, 11-3, $846
3rd: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., five bass, 10-5, $564
4th: Greg Roberts, Columbus, Ind., three bass, 9-5, $395
5th: James Mullanix, Anderson, Ind., three bass, 6-11, $339
6th: Scottie Davis, Martinsville, Ind., three bass, 6-7, $310
7th: Jeff Turner, Plainfield, Ill., three bass, 6-0, $282
8th: Brian Short, Oxford, Ohio, two bass, 5-8, $454
9th: Rodney Johnson, Franklin, Ind., two bass, 5-4, $212
9th: James Rockhill, Anderson, Ind., two bass, 5-4, $212
Bennett also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $212.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
