TUG VALLEY BASS ANGLERS

"Tug Valley Bass Anglers Ohio River Tournament

Presented by Elliott Supply & Glass of Pikeville"

On July 18th the Tug Valley Bass Anglers held its sixth tournament of the 2009 season on the

Greenup pool of the Ohio River at Ashland, Ky.

Some people love it and some hate it, there seems to be no in between when it comes to the Ohio

river, but year after year its one of our best tournaments. The river is just so much different than lake

fishing. The conditions change so much from day to day from hour to hour depending on the amount

of rain and the lock schedule. Water level and the amount of current being generated, changes all day

long every time a barge locks through. Also, the cover you fished last year may be 100 miles

downstream somewhere this year, its always changing. This is what makes the river so interesting

and such a challenging fishery.

The water level was a little above normal pool and ranged from clear behind the grass line to

stained and muddy in front of the grass. Let me explain, aquatic vegetation such as milfoil filters silt

out of the water. The water on the main river flow was stained to muddy but as the water washes

through the grass toward the bank it becomes clearer.

Weather for the tournament was perfect with clear skies and a daytime temperature around 80. The wind at times was a little strong, it would blow your boat back upstream against the current. This made for some difficult fishing at times when your lure was washing downstream and the wind was blowing your line upstream.

For the most part this was typical river fishing, the fish are always fairly shallow and are around anything that breaks the current, dock posts, logs, barge tieups, washing machine, picnic table,

refrigerator, lawn chair, I mean anything. The grass was up good this year, to thick in some places. The grass definitely improved the quality of the bass and the fishing. The main pattern for this

tournament was to fish some type of top water bait and cover water before the sun got out to bright. Once the sun got bright the fish quit chasing and got tight to cover, jigs or soft plastics flipped to the cover was the pattern for the rest of the day.

The top finishers are as follows.

1st--Kevin Runyon --- (4 fish) 6.90 lbs.

2nd--Homer Middleton --- (1 fish) 4.54 lbs.

3rd--Jordon Kiser--- (3 fish) 3.83 lbs.

4th--Greg Maynard--- (3 fish) 3.07 lbs.

5th-- MO --- (1 fish) 2.61 lbs.

6th--Brandon Staten --- (2 fish) 2.44 lbs.

7th--Keith Pacific --- (2 fish) 2.39 lbs.

8th-- Brad May --- (2 fish) 2.25 lbs.

9th-- POP --- (2 fish) 1.90 lbs.

10th-- Lynn Fields --- (2 fish) 1.78 lbs.