“I was only able to boat five keepers on the first day, and that put me 4 pounds out of the lead. I knew that if I wanted to win the tournament that I would need to change it up.
“On day two, I went to some new areas that I had not fished in a while,” Mills continued. “It was very sunny, and the wind had picked up a little bit, so I targeted the windblown banks that had a little breeze pushing into them. I threw a frog and was able to boat two 3½-pounders fairly quickly. I switched back to the jig and was able to catch a couple more. It was pretty tough out there, but the frog bites turned out to be the key for me. I knew that in order to win I was going to have to swing for the fences, so that’s what I did.”
Other area winners in the top 10 were: 2. Tony Newland, Hamilton, nine bass, 17-6, $2,635; 5. Jason Schaurer, West Milton, 10 bass, 15-10, $1,054; 6. Michael Manor, Sidney, 9 bass, 14-13, $966; 8. Mark Hurst, Troy, 10 bass, 13-11, $790; 10. Bob Otto, Beavercreek, 10 bass, 13-1, $615.
Brett Warrick of Westerville weighed in 7 bass totaling 10 pounds even to win the co-angler division and $2,563.
Other area anglers in the top 10 were: 2. James McWhorter, Hamilton, 8 bass, 9-14, $1,281; 7. George Ginter, Sidney, 7 bass, 8-3, $427; 9. Gary Hammaker, Fort Recovery, 3 bass, 5-14, $342.
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 11-13 Regional Championship on Lake Barkley in Kuttawa, Ky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
Deer-archery season to begin on Sept. 29
Approximately 205,000 bow hunters, representing more than half of all Ohioans who hunt deer, will participate in the statewide archery deer hunting season which opens on Sept. 29.
During last year’s four-month archery season, bow hunters killed 82,732 deer, a decrease of 3 percent from the previous year. Crossbow hunters took 44,979 of that number and longbow hunters took 37,753 deer. Overall, archers accounted for 38 percent of the 219,748 deer taken during Ohio’s combined 2011-12 archery, muzzleloader and gun seasons.
The archery season remains open until Feb. 3, including deer-gun season, Nov. 26-Dec. 2 and Dec. 15- 16.
Trapshooting camp for women, youth
Greene County Fish & Game Club will host a free trapshooting camp on Oct. 6 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for women and youth in grades 5-12.
Only 35 students will be accepted. No experience is necessary and equipment can be provided. Lunch will be served.
Greene County Fish and Game is located at 1538 Union Road, Xenia. To sign up or for more information, call Dave Schock at 937-427-5814.
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