BFL All American Louisville Kentucky
June 5 2007
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Written By - Jim Dicken - 06/5/2007 |
Link to Original Article here
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The Ohio River near Louisville
has been known among local anglers as a tough river to fish, especially the
Markland Pool which makes up the river from McAlpine Locks and dam north and
east to the Markland Dam. This pool includes most of Metro Louisville, Shelby
County, Henry
County. In a strange
twist for the tournament the Markland Dam was being repaired and only the
smallest lock was open. Strange because the Markland dam has a local reputation
of being very easy to lock through for fishermen, while the McAlpine Dam has
killed many a tournament anglers hopes, including the hopes of Davey Hite in
the BASS Masters Classic in 1987. Due to the repairs on the dam no recreational
boats were allowed to lock through and many of the anglers had prefished either
the Meldahl Pool above the Markland Dam or the McAlpine Pool below the
Louisville Dam. Boaters who locked through at McAlpine Dam found that the
locks were easy to traverse and that fishing below the dam was good in most
cases.
The winning weight of 16 pounds and 1 ounce by Boater Shon Goodwin was low.
However most of that was due to high pressure which managed to settle in each
day as the fishing began and then late in the day clouded up and late afternoon
bites did develop.
Anglers made some serious fishing choices in fishing this tournament.
Many chose to run south and west on the river to creeks in the McAlpine pool.
These creeks, were over 120 miles round trip and several anglers did manage in
the 2 hours they had to fish, to catch limits of fish in the 12 to 14 inch
range with a few fish that weighed in at around 3 pounds.Shon Goodwin was one
of those anglers getting his winning fish from long runs down river. Boating
around 120 miles each way, and filling up with gas to make the trip.
Other anglers ran up river from Louisville some
60 miles to the Little Kentucky River, Indianakentucky creek, and the Kentucky
River. While these creeks did manage to produce some fish, and
helped several make the top 10, in the end they were not part of the winning
patterns of the Boater and Non-Baoter who won the tournament.
I ran the river for the 3 days covering the tournament with Steve Taylor and
experienced Federation Angler and former President of The Bass Federation in Kentucky.
Steve was an immense help. His experience on the river was extremely helpful in
understanding what was going on and in helping me to learn how to fish the
river, which runs through the very city I live in.
Probably the wildest chance taken over the 3 day tournament was that taken by
Brian Hickey who went the distance up the Little Kentucky River to the first
riffle. Brian had skipped the Little Kentucky River the first day because he
felt the water was too low to get to his fish. On day 2 he took a strap
and a saw to pull a stump that is in the riffle blocking boats from getting
past it to fish. Brian tried for about an hour to wiggle past, pull the stump
and then to attempt to get the boat to just pivot over the low spot. None of it
worked, but there is video of the attempt on YouTube.com for folks to check
out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S54gJfmp_uI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2I_7IahRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4VyiMDsS6g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4JQVYxCSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbJIBW0xcA
Steve and I discussed much
of what each angler was doing and while some were obviously a little nervous
and not taking enough time for some of their tactics, almost all were using the
right tactics.. (Nervous? yeah I forgot to tell you that they were fishing for
$100,000 on the boater side and $40,000 on the Non-Boater side plus bonuses
that could total $140,000 and $70,000 for the winning anglers.)
The key to fishing the Ohio River is to fish
small baits. Fish normally spend a lot of time in the creeks on the river, with
a few spots on the Ohio River holding some
nice fish near rock piles and along rocky banks. The only place we were
surprised not to see anglers was a rock wall on the Indiana Side of the river
near Madison Indiana, which normally holds bass all day long year round. Still
these main river fish are not known for size, while the creeks do produce some
good fish in the 3 to 4 pound range.
The great thing about fishing the Ohio River is that while the fishing is
tough, it is exciting for the anglers and for the people who show up for the
weigh ins. In multi-day tournaments you can have a bad day and recover as one
of the Boating Anglers did on day one. Angler Matthew Mize caught no keepers on
the first day yet on day 2 managed a limit weighing 8 Pounds and 15 ounces
which put him in the finals. (Only 20 Anglers fish the last day in a BFL All
American, 10 from the Boater Side and 10 from the Non-Boater Side.) While the Ohio
River did not produce large numbers of fish, it does hold some good
fish and last year the Big Bass Big Cash winner Danny Goble, won $50,000 for a
5 pound 1 ounce smallmouth caught below McAlpine Dam. It can produce some very
large stringers to 15 pounds on great days, but the normal stringer for local
tournaments is in the 5 to 7 pound range with an occasional 10 to 12 pound
stringer.
I was amazed though at one aspect of this tournament. Many of the anglers
reported hooking and landing a fairly large number of Walleye or Sauger in the
creeks and rivers. One was caught right in the Louisville
area in Harrods Creek, in the back of a feeder creek in water that was what I
thought was hot for sauger.. 70 degrees.
In the end, Shon Goodwin won the Boaters side of the tournament with a final
day 5 fish limit and 16 pounds and one ounce.
Angler Kevin Wells took a leading weight of 10 Pounds and 5 ounces into the
last day with and held on with only 3 Non-Boaters catching fish. His lead of
just over 5 pounds held on although it was not a lock.
One of the benefits of the BFL tournament was a large donation to the Kentucky
Department of Fish and Wildlife which is working with the TBF to increase
stocking of Largemouth Bass on the Ohio,
and Lower Kentucky Rivers as well as other tributaries on the river. The Ohio
River used to be one of the most poluted rivers in America.
Now with walleye, sauger and the occasional Muskie showing up the river has
obviously begun to clean up and when the biggest fish in over a year weighed in
at a Fishing Tournament is a Small Mouth Bass, that is impressive.
The Ohio River is back as fishery and will
continue to improve over the next few years. Look for more National Tournaments
to be held in the Louisville Area.
Jim Dicken
