Middletown’s Barker Tops Strike King Co-Angler Division

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (Sept. 30, 2024) – Boater Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio, caught a two-day total of six bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League (BFL) Presented by T-H Marine Super Tournament on the Ohio River at Tanners Creek . The tournament, which concluded Sunday, was the fifth and final event of the season for the BFL Hoosier Division. Shaffer earned $5,714 for his victory.

No doubt about it, Shaffer is a BFL legend in the Hoosier and Buckeye divisions. He now has 17 wins in his MLF career, with most of them coming at the BFL level. He’s also made four All-American Championship appearances. If he’s on the roster in a weekend derby in Ohio or Indiana, you can bet he’s going to contend.

Shaffer credits his latest win with not putting any pressure on himself.

“I’m not going to the Regional because I’m going duck hunting that week in North Dakota,” he said. “I decided the last day to sign up for it, and when I saw the weather, I cancelled my motel for the night before because I knew what I was going to do. The way the weather was (for practice), I wasn’t going fishing in the rain. I knew the way the weather was supposed to be (in the tournament), it was going to be a main-river bite.

“There was no pressure. I wasn’t fishing for points. I knew if they bit I had a better-than-average chance to win.”

Shaffer had the fish on each day to weigh a limit but couldn’t get five to the boat. He weighed three smallmouth bass for 8-15 on day one and a mixed bag of one largemouth, one spotted bass and one smallmouth for 7-6 on day two.

The biggest factor in Shaffer’s approach was having prime conditions for the smallmouth bass to bite. With the weather turned gloomy and some stain in the water (the water had come up about 3 feet), he knew the smallmouth bass would be positioned on current breaks and ready to bite, and each day he weighed in a good one, including a 5-pound, 9-ounce fish that earned him the Berkley Big Bass award of $637.

“I caught ’em on just a little bit of everything,” Shaffer added. “I caught ’em dragging a craw around some. I caught some on a buzz bait. I caught ’em on a (Yamamoto) Senko. I caught some off rocks, some off wood, some off barges. I was just basically junk-fishing, just fishing what looked good.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:

1st:         Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, six bass, 16-5, $5,714
2nd:        Doug Ruster, New Palestine, Ind., 10 bass, 13-10, $2,839
3rd:         Dave Wood, Charlestown, Ind., seven bass, 12-0, $1,694
4th:         Tim Adams, Burlington, Ky., eight bass, 11-1, $1,685 (includes $500 Phoenix MLF Contingency Bonus)
5th:         Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, six bass, 10-15, $1,015
6th:         Jamie Cunnagin, New Lebanon, Ohio, six bass, 10-12, $1,056
7th:         Caleb Carnes, Guston, Ky., eight bass, 10-12, $846
8th:         Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., seven bass, 10-7, $762
9th:         Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., six bass, 10-1, $677
10th:       Jordan Nauert, Fillmore, Ind., six bass, 9-6, $592

Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Shaffer caught a bass that weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces, and earned the Berkley Big Bass Boater award of $637.

Ken Barker of Middletown, Ohio, won the Strike King co-angler division and $2,563 Sunday, after bringing a two-day total of five bass to the scale that weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 Strike King co-anglers finished:

1st:          Ken Barker, Middletown, Ohio, five bass, 8-5, $2,563
2nd:        Brian Zelinskas, Beavercreek, Ohio, four bass, 7-12, $1,438
3rd:         Dylan Grace, Scottsburg, Ind., six bass, 7-6, $953
4th:         Ryan Cannon, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 6-13, $598
5th:         Brandon Houston, Lakeside Park, Ky., five bass, 6-13, $513
6th:         Adler Odle, Willow Springs, Mo., four bass, 6-7, $470
7th:         Steven Wells, North Vernon, Ind., three bass, 6-3, $427
8th:         Jordan Loveless, Beech Grove, Ind., five bass, 6-3, $384
9th:         Kade Oliver, Muncie, Ind., five bass, 5-12, $342
10th:       Tyler Sloan, Gas City, Ind., three bass, 5-6, $299

Hagen Conley of Florence, Kentucky, and Brian Zelinskas of Beavercreek, Ohio, tied for the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award, each catching a bass that weighed in at 2 pounds, 11 ounces – the largest co-angler catch of the tournament. They each took home $157 for their share of the prize.

At the conclusion of the tournament, John Melton of Corydon, Indiana, was crowned the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Angler of the Year (AOY) with 1,289 points and was awarded the $1,000 payout, while Ryan Cannon of Indianapolis, Indiana, won the Fishing Clash Hoosier Division Co-angler of the Year race with 1,327 points and earned the $500 prize.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five tournament winners of each qualifying event, have qualified for the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional tournament on Pools 13-17 of the Mississippi River in Quad Cities, Illinois. Boaters will fish for a top award of $60,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will compete for a top award of $50,000, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Suzuki outboard.

The 2024 Phoenix BFL Presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 events throughout the season, five qualifying tournaments in each division. The top 45 boaters and Strike King co-anglers from each division, along with the five qualifying event winners, will advance to one of six BFL 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 2025 BFL All-American will take place May 29-31, 2025, at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is hosted by hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, GSM Outdoors, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, PowerStop Brakes, REDCON1, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Bass Fishing League updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF5’s social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 17 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.