Lexington’s Craner Wins Co-angler Division

CORTLAND, Ohio (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Gary Ginter of Lakeview, Ohio, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division super-tournament on Mosquito LakeSunday. Ginter earned $4,534 for his efforts.

“I was fishing at the north end of the lake,” said Ginter, who earned his fourth career victory in BFL competition. “I started out day one throwing a buzzbait shallow up in the grass. I caught a limit, but there were a bunch of boats crowded around me so I worked my way outside into the deeper grass and that seemed to be where the bigger ones were.

“I culled out four fish in my limit in the deep grass throwing a Texas-rigged, Tequila Sunrise-colored YUM worm,” Ginter continued.

“On day two, I started with a buzzbait on the same spot as the first day and caught two keepers, then the bite shut off. I went back out deep and threw the worm, but it was much slower. I missed two, then the wind really picked up. I found my way into the back of a pocket on the north end – out of the wind – and ended up filling out my limit flipping an Okeechobee Craw-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Gary Ginter, Lakeview, Ohio, 10 bass, 26-2, $4,534

2^nd:         Charles Willis, Dayton, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-15, $2,517

3^rd:         Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., nine bass, 24-14, $1,691

4^th:         Butch Dobransky, North Canton, Ohio, 10 bass, 24-5, $1,011

5^th:         Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 22-15, $1,017

6^th:         Bob Robinson, Lebanon, Ohio, nine bass, 22-5, $795

7^th:         Scott Manson, Covington, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-12, $722

8^th:         Michael Murphy, Troy, Ohio, 10 bass, 20-4, $650

9^th:         Clint Bissonett, Beavercreek, Ohio, nine bass, 20-3, $825

10^th:       Richard Knoll, Pittsburgh, Pa., 10 bass, 19-13, $506

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Wieda caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $247.

Lexington, Ohio’s Bailey Craner won the Co-angler Division and $2,167 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Bailey Craner, Lexington, Ohio, 10 bass, 22-1, $2,167

2^nd:         Brian Short, Oxford, Ohio, eight bass, 20-8, $1,433

3^rd:         Jeff Turner, Plainfield, Ill., 10 bass, 19-6, $724

4^th:         Kenny Smith, Austin, Ind., nine bass, 18-12, $656

5^th:         Jacob Crawmer, Newark, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-10, $433

6^th:         Ryan McCusker, Beaver Falls, Pa., 10 bass, 17-9, $397

7^th:         John Breedlove, Girard, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-2, $361

8^th:         Steve Sorrell, Beavercreek, Ohio, 10 bass, 17-0, $325

9^th:         Jon Angstmann, St. Marys, Ohio, eight bass, 16-0, $289

10^th:       David Lambert, Middletown, Ohio, nine bass, 16-0, $253

Rodney Gibbs of Springsboro, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $247.

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. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake presented by Evinrude in Buchanan, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 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. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. 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 and YouTube.