Post by joemitchem on Oct 20, 2014 20:09:16 GMT -5
ORBT Championship 2014
The ORBT Championship at the St. Mary’s Ramp was most difficult for many teams, but three of the
hottest teams in the second half of the year remained strong as did a few of the Point Chase leaders.
The team of Ron Henthorn/ Anthony Thomas won the Championship with Ron fishing the day by
himself, brought in a beautiful bag of five smallmouth weighing 10.23 lbs. Ron also had big bass of
the day with a weight of 3.41 lbs. Ron has also recently won the W. Va. Northern Regional Federation
Tournament held at Powhattan Point, so a big congratulations goes to him. Ron’s weight held off
the team of Jerry Burkhart/ Phil Gillian, which had won the last three ORBT tournaments in a row,
continued strong with four nice largemouth weighing 9.02 lbs. The third place team of Buster
Owens/ Jeremy Owens showed consistency throughout the year, also finishing third in the Points
Chase, had the only other limit of five bass weighing in at 4.97 lbs. Now for some sad but true facts of
day. Forty teams took part in the Championship, Fifteen teams brought fish to the scales, leaving the
other twenty-five as blanks. This year has been difficult all year for most, a complete opposite of
last year. I am as confused as most are and there are many theories of why the fishing has been so
tough. The only thing that I have concluded is that the State of West Virginia needs to come up with
a better way to manage the bass fishing on the Ohio River. I know they do studies and did some
re-stocking of bass a few years back, which was good, but for the long term more needs to be done
in my opinion, which doesn’t mean anything I know, but what has been done is not enough for the
long term. Any way here are the top eight teams:
1st – Ron Henthorn/ Anthony Thomas (5) 10.23 #’s $ 2320.00
2nd – Jerry Burkhart/ Phil Gillian (4) 9.02 #’s $ 1160.00
3rd – Buster Owens/ Jeremy Owens (5) 4.97 #’s $ 560.00
4th – William Petitt/ Phil Waterman (4) 4.65 #’s $ 480.00
5th – Gary Riel/ John Beall (3) 3.89 #’s $ 410.00
6th – Jeff Masters/ Frank Douglas (2) 3.37 #’s $ 370.00
7th – Jason Shuler/ Ben Gray (1) 3.03 #’s $ 350.00
8th – Shayne Lockhaart/ Ben Lockhart (1) 2.80 #’s $ 310.00
BIG BASS - Ron Henthorn SM 3.41 #’s $ 200.00
I would like to thank all that participated in the ORBT in 2014; but most of all I would like to thank
My Son and all my faithful Staff and Sponsors: Polymer Services of Ohio, Marietta; Wright’s
Riverside Marine, Belmont, W.Va.; Schwarzel Marine, Hockingport, Ohio; Forshey Marine, Marietta,
Ohio; Schubert Storage, Woodsfield, Ohio; Blair Construction, Waverly, W.Va.; Ken’s Car Care,
Vincent, Ohio; Constitution Bait and Tackle, Constitution, Ohio; and The Trophy Case, Cambridge,
Ohio.
Thanks,
Joe Mitchem
The ORBT Championship at the St. Mary’s Ramp was most difficult for many teams, but three of the
hottest teams in the second half of the year remained strong as did a few of the Point Chase leaders.
The team of Ron Henthorn/ Anthony Thomas won the Championship with Ron fishing the day by
himself, brought in a beautiful bag of five smallmouth weighing 10.23 lbs. Ron also had big bass of
the day with a weight of 3.41 lbs. Ron has also recently won the W. Va. Northern Regional Federation
Tournament held at Powhattan Point, so a big congratulations goes to him. Ron’s weight held off
the team of Jerry Burkhart/ Phil Gillian, which had won the last three ORBT tournaments in a row,
continued strong with four nice largemouth weighing 9.02 lbs. The third place team of Buster
Owens/ Jeremy Owens showed consistency throughout the year, also finishing third in the Points
Chase, had the only other limit of five bass weighing in at 4.97 lbs. Now for some sad but true facts of
day. Forty teams took part in the Championship, Fifteen teams brought fish to the scales, leaving the
other twenty-five as blanks. This year has been difficult all year for most, a complete opposite of
last year. I am as confused as most are and there are many theories of why the fishing has been so
tough. The only thing that I have concluded is that the State of West Virginia needs to come up with
a better way to manage the bass fishing on the Ohio River. I know they do studies and did some
re-stocking of bass a few years back, which was good, but for the long term more needs to be done
in my opinion, which doesn’t mean anything I know, but what has been done is not enough for the
long term. Any way here are the top eight teams:
1st – Ron Henthorn/ Anthony Thomas (5) 10.23 #’s $ 2320.00
2nd – Jerry Burkhart/ Phil Gillian (4) 9.02 #’s $ 1160.00
3rd – Buster Owens/ Jeremy Owens (5) 4.97 #’s $ 560.00
4th – William Petitt/ Phil Waterman (4) 4.65 #’s $ 480.00
5th – Gary Riel/ John Beall (3) 3.89 #’s $ 410.00
6th – Jeff Masters/ Frank Douglas (2) 3.37 #’s $ 370.00
7th – Jason Shuler/ Ben Gray (1) 3.03 #’s $ 350.00
8th – Shayne Lockhaart/ Ben Lockhart (1) 2.80 #’s $ 310.00
BIG BASS - Ron Henthorn SM 3.41 #’s $ 200.00
I would like to thank all that participated in the ORBT in 2014; but most of all I would like to thank
My Son and all my faithful Staff and Sponsors: Polymer Services of Ohio, Marietta; Wright’s
Riverside Marine, Belmont, W.Va.; Schwarzel Marine, Hockingport, Ohio; Forshey Marine, Marietta,
Ohio; Schubert Storage, Woodsfield, Ohio; Blair Construction, Waverly, W.Va.; Ken’s Car Care,
Vincent, Ohio; Constitution Bait and Tackle, Constitution, Ohio; and The Trophy Case, Cambridge,
Ohio.
Thanks,
Joe Mitchem