Covington man battles the elements to find success in Bass Fishing League event at Grand Lake St. Marys.
Scott Manson, of Covington, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division opening tournament on Grand Lake St. Marys on May 6, finding clear water on a shoreline changed by high water from recent storms.
He wound up weighing five bass totaling 12 pounds, 9 ounces to win the top prize of $4,472.
Manson said, “I started in the back of a mid-lake creek. The front of it was muddy, so I made my way back about a half-mile to some halfway-decent water. I threw to rocky banks while my boat sat in 5 to 6 feet of water and caught three keepers on a jig.”
He said he used a D&L Tackle Advantage Jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. to catch his fish.
“I worked it back out into a couple of feet of water where the original shoreline was,” said Manson. “The water was high and there was some river weed in it, and that’s where they were biting. They were back there to spawn, but were waiting for the water to warm up.”
Manson said he spent the remainder of his day running the entire length of the lake looking for the same type of rock banks.
“I only caught six keepers all day,” said Manson. “The other channels I went into had to have halfway-clean water. That was the main factor.”
For Manson, 53, it was his second BFL win. He won a Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River in 2015, taking home $5,205 for that win. He has entered 21 BFL events, finishing in the top 10 six times and winning $13,226.
Other area anglers among top finishers in the boater division were: Jay Jeffries, Celina ($2,236) in second, Dave Fricke, Hamilton ($968) in fourth, Brody Campbell, Oxford ($968) in fifth and Edward Backs, Troy ($745) in seventh.
Kettering’s Billy Crider Jr. won the Co-angler Division and $2,236 with four bass, totaling 9 pounds even. Other area top finishers were: Roy Lester, Hamilton, ($1,070) in third, Steve Sorrell, Beavercreek ($522) in fourth, J.R. Selke, Waynesville ($447) in fifth, John Long, New Bremen ($354) in sixth, Eric Kramer, Celina ($354) in eighth.
Yes, the Lake is Still Green
As we head toward the busy Memorial Day weekend, I have thoughts of the fun family times spent at Grand Lake St. Marys. And how sad it is now to see the DANGER signs (still) up on the beaches. Those Ohio EPA signs tell citizens to avoid touching the water. So what else is new?
I think there are many questions that need to be asked. Is the lake any better now than when those signs went up several years ago? Have any of the measures taken to improve water quality had any positive effects? Have any of the three administrations (Taft, Strickland or Kasich) really made an effort to clean the lake of toxic algae? Will farmers ever stop dumping manure on their lands only to have it run into the lake?
And here’s the big question: will any of us ever see those signs come down in our lifetimes?
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