Melton Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division Event on Lake Patoka
OutdoorHub 06.23.14
John Melton of Corydon, Ind., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Hoosier Division tournament of 2014 on Lake Patoka. For his victory, Melton earned $5,671.
“I caught a couple of fish early and missed a couple from my first spot,” said Melton. “I had about 10 or 12 spots that I wanted to fish, but I decided to just stay in that spot. I stuck around for a few hours and was able to catch a 7-pounder.
“A while after that, I started moving,” said Melton, “It took me about two hours to catch my other fish, and I only caught five keepers all day.”
Melton explained that he was throwing a jig on a weedline that had some wood mixed with it, in about 12 feet of water.
“One side of my livewell wasn’t working very well,” said Melton. “I had two that were starting to die and it got me scared. It kind of hurt me because I was nervous about my fish, and that put me out of my zone.”
Despite the livewell issue, Melton still managed a slim 2-ounce margin of victory to earn the second win of his career in BFL competition.
“I worked a lot for this,” finished Melton. “Patoka has been hard on me. I was skunked there in the BFL last June. After I caught the 7-pounder I could hardly tie on my bait I was shaking so much. I was really nervous all day.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Scott Spayd, Ferdinand, Ind., four bass, 19-10, $1,835
3rd: John Schroering, Dubois, Ind., five bass, 19-8, $1,224
4th: Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., four bass, 15-1, $856
5th: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 12-2, $734
6th: Chris Myers, Madison, Ind., five bass, 11-12, $673
7th: Chris Abrell, Terre Haute, Ind., four bass, 11-1, $612
8th: Lee Mills, Columbus, Ind., three bass, 10-3, $520
8th: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, four bass, 10-3, $520
10th: Roger Neff, Martinsville, Ind., three bass, 10-0, $428
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Charlie Kuebler of Jasper, Ind., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win $1,757 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Bill Hendricks, Indianapolis, Ind., three bass, 10-5, $879
3rd: James Mullanix, Anderson, Ind., three bass, 8-9, $585
4th: Roger Crain, Louisville, Ky., two bass, 7-10, $410
5th: Mike Mosby, Petersburg, Ind., three bass, 7-7, $351
6th: Matthew Seacat, Corydon, Ind., three bass, 7-4, $322
7th: Jill Knies, Jasper, Ind., three bass, 6-14, $293
8th: Marshall Lachecki, Indianapolis, Ind., two bass, 6-11, $264
9th: Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 6-6, $234
10th: Alan Woodford, Winslow, Ind., two bass, 5-2, $205
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 9-11 Regional Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, AL. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, 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 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
