Michigan Autoworker Wins $5,000 Shopping Spree Contest
After living on Lake St. Clair, Michigan, his whole life, Kelly Ray knows what lures he likes to use on the Northern fishery: tube jigs and spinners.
Now Ray can buy all the tube jigs and spinners he will need for quite a while, thanks to winning the Bassmaster Shopping Spree Sweepstakes for a $5,000 Bass Pro Shops gift card.
“I enter Bassmaster sweepstakes all the time,” Ray said. “When I learned that I won, that was unreal. I couldn’t believe it.”
Ray lives in Sterling Heights, Mich., about 8 miles from Detroit and works as a tool setter in the auto industry.
He said he is thinking about using his prize to put a down payment on a bass boat. It would be his first time owning a boat.
“I live really close to Lake St. Clair, so I fish it all the time in the summer,” Ray said.
However, he’s not too eager to head out on the lake right now and put some new Bass Pro Shops gear to the test. That will have to wait for warmer weather. “The fish have wintered down already,” he said. “They’re already down deep.”
Ray said his strategy in playing the Bassmaster Shopping Spree Sweepstakes was to log on every day and enter. He said he was trying to win the sweepstakes to fish with another Michigan angler — Kevin VanDam — when the shopping spree caught his eye.
“I grew up fishing with my father,” said Ray, whose personal best fish is a 5 1/2-pound smallmouth.
From now through Dec. 7, visit Bassmaster.com to enter the latest sweepstakes, the Bassmaster Winter Boat Giveaway. The first-place winner will receive a Triton 179 TrX, Yamaha F11LB, Triton single-axle trailer, MotorGuide trolling motor and Lowrance Mark 5. The total value of this prize is $25,095.
A second prizewinner will receive a Triton 17 TX, Mercury 60 ELPT, Triton single-axle trailer, MotorGuide trolling motor and Lowrance 3X depthfinder. This prize is valued at $17,395.
All entries must be received by midnight on Dec. 7 to be eligible, and the two winners will be selected on Dec. 9.
Happy Thanksgiving From Sportsman's Warehouse! All Zoom Products Marked Down 20% All Week Long!
Great deals galore this week at Sportsman's Warehouse! 20% off on all ZOOM products!! Spend your thanksgving shopping for some fantastic deals online or at any one of our 65 Nationwide locations! Here is SW Fishing Manager Craig Baird with some more amazing deals...
Neil And Tim Huffstefler Win The 6Th Annual Toys For Tots On Lake Murray-Full Results And Pics Here!
6th Annual Lake Murray Toys for Tots Champs
Tim and Neil hold up their winning check!
6th Annual “Mr. Lake Murray” & Toys for Tots
A cool morning and blue skies were the order of the day for the Mr. Lake Murray Open Bass tournament run by The Bass Federation of South Carolina (TBF)
The partnership this year with the Marines “Toys for Tots” program was a big success with abundant toys and cash donations from the anglers. It’s always good to give something back to those less fortunate and the Marines program is a great way of doing just that.
In all it was a pretty good day of fishing with 23 limits of 5 bass each being weighed in. The winning team for the second time in this event was Neil and Tim Huffstefler of Pomaria at 22.75 lbs. They anchored there catch with the Big Bass of the day that weighed 6.34 lbs. Rounding out the top five places were Paul Selle & Gabe Fogle 20.16 lbs. Rhett Manus & Doug Lown 20.06 lbs. Chris Epting & Johnny Mayer 17.94 lbs. Dean Chapman 17.86 lbs.
TBF of SC would like to thank all that participated in making this event a success and also Dreher Island State Park for the use of their facilities.
For more information on fishing please visit www.tbfofsc.com
Cody Kelley To Represent Flw Foundation In 2016
Arkansas Pro Adds Second Non-profit Organization to Sponsorship Portfolio
MINNEAPOLIS (Nov. 19, 2015) – FLW announced today that second-year professional angler Cody Kelley of Conway, Arkansas, will represent the FLW Foundation on the Walmart FLW Tour in 2016. As part of the agreement, Kelley will organize and host a youth fishing-derby at each FLW Tour event held in 2016.
Entering his sophomore season on the FLW Tour, the 24-year-old Kelley received industry distinction and acclaim by naming the non-profit Special Olympics Arkansas (SOAR) his primary sponsor in his rookie season. In addition to his SOAR partnership, Kelley now becomes the first angler selected to represent the FLW Foundation as he travels the country competing against the sport’s best anglers on the FLW Tour.
“I look forward to representing the FLW Foundation and bringing awareness to the non-profit organizations that I serve in the 2016 season,” said Kelley. “I have been lucky enough to pursue my dream of becoming a professional angler while also remaining true to my passion of helping other people. The FLW Foundation’s commitment to connect youth to the outdoors lifestyle is a cause that I wholeheartedly support.”
Formed in 2010, the FLW Foundation was created to help connect youth to their natural resources and promote education, conservation and an active lifestyle. The FLW Foundation functions nationwide with thousands of volunteers at hundreds of fishing tournaments and outdoor expos to achieve measureable on-the-ground success in youth angler recruitment and retention. The FLW Foundation maximizes the impact of existing partnerships and expertise through experiential learning opportunities that meet the shared goals of partner schools, natural resource agencies and corporations. This hands-on approach allows the FLW Foundation and its partners to connect outdoor leisure activities with sound educational principles.
“We followed Cody’s work with the Special Olympics Arkansas closely while he was on Tour in 2015,” said Dave Washburn, FLW Vice President of Operations. “Cody’s values align well with the mission of the FLW Foundation and we are confident that he is going to do a great job increasing awareness of the Foundation and helping us to achieve our goal of connecting youth to their natural resources in meaningful ways.”
For complete details and updated information about the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour visit FLWFishing.com. For the latest updates, photos and tournament news about Cody Kelley, follow Cody on Facebook at Facebook.com/CodyKelleyFishing, on Twitter at Twitter.com/CKelleyFishing or his website CodyKelleyFishing.com.
Brad Novak Wins Gopro Best Catch Contest Powered By Bassmaster!
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Brad Novak gets up most mornings of the week at 4 a.m. and walks to the Chicago River from his home in a downtown skyscraper to fish for bass. The video he shot of his catch one morning this summer made him the grand-prize winner in the GoPro Best Catch Contest Powered by Bassmaster.
“I’m very shocked and very excited,” said Novak, 25, who works as an operations analyst at an investment firm.
For his win, Novak will receive a boat-and-motor package worth $57,989. He gets a 2015 Nitro Z 21 boat, a Mercury 250-horsepower ProXS motor, two Humminbird 1199 electronics, a Minn Kota Fortrex trolling motor and two 12-foot Talon Shallow Water Anchors.
“Right now, I only have a two-seater Sun Dolphin with a 30-pound trolling motor on it,” Novak said, “so this is a huge, huge upgrade.”
Novak just got his first GoPro four months ago so he could capture video of the things he likes to do in summer, such as fishing, boating and Jet Skiing. When he saw the GoPro Best Catch Contest, he set out to make the best video he could. That’s when he started walking to the river in the mornings.
“I saw a lot of the videos in the contest and thought they were really good, especially some of the underwater ones,” Novak said. “But none of them had skyscrapers. The lighting, the setting and the surroundings here were really good for capturing something different.
“Plus, most people don’t believe that anybody catches fish out of there,” Novak said. Now, there’s evidence to prove that they do.
Novak has been one of the beneficiaries of a recent city project to make the Chicago River more accessible to anglers. Before, the platforms rose too high over the water to be able to fish, but now three blocks have opened up to make it much easier for anglers.
He made the trip to the river with his GoPro attached to his rod with a Sportsman Mount multiple mornings, but he kept coming home fishless.
“I was trying to catch a fish for this competition, and I couldn’t get a bite,” he said. “So when I got this one, it was almost more exciting than normal because I finally had it.” He went home around 6 a.m. that day elated that he’d caught the 3-pounder.
One of the reasons he goes so early is to avoid the crowds — and the questions.
“Once it gets 6 o’clock or so, there’s tons of people out walking and asking all kinds of questions,” Novak said. “I’ll get asked at least a dozen times, ‘There’s actually fish in there?’ and ‘Do you eat them?’ So I like to get there before the rush.”
Novak currently has the dog harness mount and the Sportsman mount for his GoPro, but he’s about to get a lot more as part of his prize package. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with all of it,” Novak said, “but I think between me and friends, we can find some good uses for it all.”
In the contest, entrants uploaded raw, unedited video of their bass fishing catches. One winner was chosen each month of the five-month contest, and the winners received a prize package of GoPro products valued at $2,469.43. The package included a GoPro HERO4 Camera Black Edition—Adventure, 21 mounts/clamps/straps for holding a GoPro at the perfect angle, filters, batteries, replacement kits and more.
Each monthly winner was chosen based on cinematography/composition, perspective/degree of difficulty, character and catch, and overall beauty and lighting. Then, the five monthly winners were judged against each other for the grand prize.
Novak was one of the monthly winners in contention for the grand prize. Other monthly winners were Tyler Anderson of Lakeway, Texas; Jim Moretti of Howell, N.J.; Wilfredo Lugo-Sanchez of Pottstown, Pa.; and Hiroaki Tada of Irvine, Calif.
You can see all of the winning videos here.
“This contest was a great opportunity for us to see the amazing footage bass anglers were capturing with their GoPros,” said Todd Ballard, senior director of lifestyle marketing for GoPro. “With entries from all over the United States and tons of creativity and epic catches, getting to one winner wasn’t easy.”
The contest administrators had already awarded a winner for the grand prize, but the winning entry was later ruled ineligible.
The GoPro Best Catch Contest Powered by Bassmaster ran from March 15 to Aug. 15. The judges included seven-time Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam, B.A.S.S. co-owner Jerry McKinnis, and Bassmaster emcees Dave Mercer and Tommy Sanders.
Clarks Hill Toys For Tots Anglers Noted For Having Big Hearts, Open Pocketbooks
Fishermen are notorious for having huge hearts when it comes to children, especially disadvantaged or seriously ill children, so it's no wonder that the Toys for Tots Tournament on Clarks Hill Lake will be celebrating 34 years of giving in the tournament on Nov. 28.
The Clarks Hill Fish for Life Foundation, which supports programs that positively influence the lives of children in the Central Savannah River Area through fishing tournaments and other events, will mark its fourth year of administering the Toys for Tots tournament. The foundation took over the tournament when Bill Harley, who ran Southern Anglers Challenge and held the Toys for Tots Tournament for years, began having health problems since it fit right in with the foundation's mission.
“One of the things that always impresses me is how a lot of the local anglers who have fished the tournament for years and years – even though the entry fee includes two $10 toys – will bring five or six bicycles and donate them,” said Jay Jennings with the Fish for Life Foundation. “And we have a number of anglers who, instead of giving toys, will drop $100, some even $200, into the pot for the kids. Hosting the Toys for Tots Tournament is a really heartwarming thing for us to do.”
And, Jennings said, it's not just the anglers who open their pocketbooks for the kids.
“A lot of companies in the CSRA donate to the tournament and a lot of other businesses have their own Toys for Tots effort. There are a number of organizations that do Toys for Tots this time of year – we just happen to do the fishing side.”
Jennings said Bobby Jones Ford, which is a Fish for Life sponsor, has also come on board as a supporter of the Toys for Tots Tournament.
“We are holding our pre-registration at Bobby Jones Ford on Wrightsboro Road, Tuesday, Nov. 24, from 5 to 7 p.m.,” he said. Entry fee for the tournament is $100 plus $5 for the Big Fish Pot and two new toys valued at $10 or more each. First place is guaranteed $5,000 with a 100-boat field, plus one place will be paid for every 10 boats.
Not only is the tournament a heartwarming experience for the organizers and for the fishermen, Jennings said the fishing is expected to be very good for the tournament also.
“Paula Alexander, who supports most of our Fish for Life events, won the Saturday Morning Open Team Tournament last weekend with over 20 pounds and her big fish was about 6 ½ pounds,” Jennings said. “It's going to take some weight to win the Toys for Tots Tournament. My guess is it will take at least 20 to 21 pounds.”
34th Annual Toys for Tots Tournament
Sat, Nov 28, 2015
Clarks Hill Lake
Wildwood Park
Call Jay Jennings at 706-373-7677
Bass Should Be Feeding Up For Virginia Western Divisional On Smith Mountain Lake
Fishing should be good on Smith Mountain Lake Saturday for the second of eight regular season tournaments on the schedule for the Ram American Fishing Tour Virginia Western Division, said division director Elvin Jennings.
“The smallmouth bite should be pretty good and the largemouth bite is probably going to be decent,” Jennings said. “The fish should be on their fall feed and some may be starting their winter patterns.”
Most of the fish will probably come 12 to 20 feet deep over rock piles and other structure, he said.
“Fishing jigs is normally good this time of year up there, along with Shakey Heads and drop-shots. And if you can get on some schooling fish, topwater will come into play, although you might have to weed through the stripers. Depending on the weather, there could be a good crankbait bite, too.”
Jennings said the forecast calls for a chance of rain on Friday and a slight chance of rain on Saturday, with temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s.
“If it does do that I hope there will also be a slight breeze to get the surface churned up just a little bit,” he said.
Jennings said he anticipates anywhere from 15 to 25 anglers for the tournament, possibly even 30. In a five-fish limit two bass can be at least 12 inches long and the other three have to be 14 inches or better, according to Virginia fishing regulations, he said.
Entry fee for the tournaments is $70, with $5 for Big Fish. Anglers can register at DrawTrail.com or at the ramp the morning of the tournament.
The top 500 Ram American Fishing Tour anglers in national points standings for the 2016 season will be invited to fish the 2016 Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, AL on October 16-21. Jennings said anglers must also fish four one-day tournaments and the two-day championship to qualify.
The remaining schedule for the Virginia Western Division includes: Nov. 21, Smith Mountain Lake; Dec. 5, Kerr Lake; March 26, Smith Mountain Lake; April 23, Philpott Lake; May 28, Kerr Lake; and June 25-26, Kerr Lake.
Ram American Fishing Tour – Virginia Western Division
Sat, Nov 21, 2015
Smith Mountain Lake
Parkway Marina
www.drawtrail.com/2016DivPage.php?Division=102
Lake Mitchell Has Big Bass Potential For Alabama Central Division Tournament
The first time Tom Storm fished Alabama's Lake Mitchell in a tournament, he went into a creek and tossed a jig and pig into a likely spot and something big hit it – hard!
“I set the hook and it bent my big, old stiff broom-handle rod and then he pulled off,” said Storm. “I threw back in there and another one hit it – and he did the same thing, pulled off in the grass. I was fishing Spiderwire at the time and he was so strong he just pulled off.”
Storm threw back and this time he landed a 4-pounder.
“That's the kind of stuff you get in Mitchell,” he said. “You can get in one spot and you are liable to catch a boatload.”
The entire Coosa River Chain of lakes is like that, Storm said.
“Mitchell is an excellent fishery. It's got a lot of rocky shoreline and that is where you find the spots in deep water with a Carolina rig. And it's got a lot of grass, especially back in the creeks. You can fish the grass with a spinnerbait, pig and jig and you can even throw a worm in some of the holes in the grass like a pig and jig.”
Lake Mitchell will be the site Saturday for the second tournament of the 8-tournament regular season schedule for the Ram American Fishing Tour Alabama Central Division.
Storm, who is director for the division, said entries these days are not like they were a few years ago before the economy went downhill.
“When we started several years ago we were having 45 to 50 anglers come out to the tournaments. Since the economy went down we are lucky to have seven,” he said. “The anglers who are not fishing just don't have the money. Some are like me, retired.”
Entry fee for the tournaments is $70, with $5 for Big Fish. Anglers can register at DrawTrail.com or at the ramp the morning of the tournament.
The top 500 Ram American Fishing Tour anglers in national points standings for the 2016 season will be invited to fish the 2016 Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, AL on October 16-21.
The remaining Alabama Central Division schedule includes: Nov. 21, Lake Mitchell; Dec. 19, Lake Martin; Jan. 23, Lake Martin; Feb. 20, Lake Jordan; March 26, Alabama River; April 23, Lake Mitchell; May 21, Lake Jordan; and June 18-19, Alabama River.
Ram American Fishing Tour – Alabama Central Division
Sat, Nov 21, 2015
Lake Mitchell
Higgins Ferry
www.drawtrail.com/2016DivPage.php?Division=24
Alden Patterson And Logan Jennings Win The Collins Bass For Cash Youth Series On Buckhorn
Forty-one youth anglers from Clayton, North Johnston, Corinth Holders, Hunt, and Orange High, along with other various schools around the area made their way to Buckhorn Lake near Wilson, NC for the second annual High School Bass Classic open tournament, hosted by Clayton High. Met with a cool morning, the anglers seemed to struggle somewhat in the early hours of the event, but as the temperature began to rise and the wind began to increase the anglers started to find some active fish.
First Place
Targeting bass that were feeding on baitfish forage, Logan Jennings and Alden Patterson used multiple lipless crank bait lures to entice their bites throughout the event and secure the top spot in the tournament with a total weight of 17.39 lbs. The duo were awarded matching first place trophies and product awards from the event sponsors.
Patterson helped to secure the win with a late day kicker fish that ultimately ended up being the lunker for the event at 6.30 lbs and added a $75 Cabelas gift card to their earnings.
Second Place
Finding themselves in the early lead during the afternoon weigh-in, the tandem of Mason Medlin and Ethan Howard settled into the second position overall with their catch of 15.88 lbs. Medlin and Howard made a mid-day charge with most of their fish coming from deep diving crank baits. The pair were rewarded with matching second place trophies and product awards from the event sponsors for their efforts.
Third Place
The defending champs of this event, Tyler Little and Chase Crocker, ended the day in the third position with their catch of 12.78 lbs. Little and Crocker may have had a shot at earning the top spot once again, but the loss of what appeared to be a couple key large fish kept the two from repeating. Both Little and Crocker were rewarded with product awards from the event sponsors for their catch.
Coming home in the fourth position was the team of Josh Tutt and Joseph Whittington with their catch of 9.82 lbs. In the fifth positon was the duo of Conner Coats and Luke Farley with their catch of 5.84 lbs. Christian Prescott and Sam Hall filled the sixth position with their catch of 5.04 lbs. Rounding out the top seven positions was the pairing of Trey Deutsch and Ben Reichard with 4.34 lbs.
- 8th – Zachary Chamblee / Dylan Tisch – 3.73 lbs.
- 9th – Kaleb Wood – 3.57 lbs.
- 10th – Alex Tisch / Haden Myrick – 3.16 lbs.
- 11th – Austin Himmel / Tyler Parker – 2.36 lbs.
- 12th – Wyatt Long / Travis Beck – 2.09 lbs.
- 13th – Braxton Chase / Austin Morgan – 1.93 lbs.
- 14th – Brandon McCuroy / Garrett Joyner – 1.74 lbs.
- 15th – Zach Mills / Garrett Watkins – 1.49 lbs.
- 16th – Harrison Jancuska / Bennett Ragland – 1.36 lbs.
- 17th – Jesus Baldovinos / Trey Black – 0.93 lbs.
- 18th – Walter Karstens / Jacob Scott – 0.55 lbs.
- 19th – Ben May / Jordan Boland – 0.46 lbs.
- 20th – Austin Tate / Cameron Wall
- 20th – Brice Rambo / Sawyer Worrell
During the afternoon weigh-in session, a casting competition was held to allow the anglers to test their casting skills among their peers. Luke Farley nailed a perfect score of 100 points and took home the top honor and prizes associated with the win. Mason Medlin came home in the second position with a score of 90 points earning himself some great prizes for his efforts.
Event sponsor Outdoor Accessories Unlimited provided pizza for all the anglers and boat captains during the weigh-in period. Many door prizes were awarded from event sponsors such as Culprit, Vicious Fishing, Buckfin, Collins Inc. – Youth Educational Series, and Cabelas of Garner, NC provided a $50 gift card to one lucky boat captain.
A special thanks goes out to the members of the Five County Bassmasters and the Collins Inc. – Youth Educational Series staff for their help in making this event a success.
Video Recap:
Random Event Photos:
Mr. Lake Murray Partners With The Marines' Toys For Tots Campaign
The 6th annual Mr. Lake Murray Tournament will have “a few good men” helping out – and some even fishing – on Lake Murray Saturday. The Bass Federation of South Carolina, which sponsors the annual tournament, has partnered this year with the U.S. Marines' Toys for Tots campaign.
“It seems like we have been pushed further back each year in scheduling the tournament because the ramps at Lake Murray are so busy,” said Rich Gerken, TBF-SC president. “We are now so close to December that we decided to do something like this for Christmas. We are looking forward to doing something good for them.”
Gerken said the tournament is an “open tournament.” Anglers do not have to be a TBF member to fish.
“We try to use the tournament as a kind of membership drive,” he said. “We are hoping to get some people into TBF. This year we also brought in the Toys for Tots campaign to make the tournament as beneficial to as many people as possible.”
Gerken said some Marines will participate in the tournament and there will be some at the weigh-in to collect what the tournament has raised for Toys for Tots. Anglers are asked to bring a new unwrapped toy valued at $20 or more or make a cash donation of $20 or more to the program. The toys and donations will be collected at registration the morning of the tournament.
“We hope this will be a big success for Toys for Tots,” Gerken said. “It feels good to do something worthwhile for other folks.”
Entry fee is $140 per boat, cash only at the ramp. Registration at the Dreher Island ramp will begin at 5:30 and boat numbers will be assigned by order of entry.
First place prize will be $2,500, based on a field of at least 50 boats, plus there will be a Big Bass award.
If the fishing success following the early October storms and flooding is any indication, fishing should be good this weekend following the heavy rains over the weekend and Monday, Gerken said.
“The water temperatures have cooled down and that usually gets them going, feeding up for the winter. Generally, this is a topwater time of year and that is always a good pattern to go after, but there are always some locals who know their brushpiles and other structure, and that produces, too.”
Gerken said it usually takes 20 pounds or more to win the Lake Murray tournament this time of year.
Mr. Lake Murray Bass Tournament
Sat, Nov 14, 2015
Lake Murray
Dreher Island State Park
Call Rich Gerken at (201) 772-6401
Uncc Sigma Tau Gamma Benefit Tournament To Benefit Children's And Ovarian Cancer Initiatives
College fraternities often get a lot of bad press – most of it self-inflicted – but it's also newsworthy when a frat does something good, like the Sigma Tau Gamma Chapter at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The chapter is holding a fishing tournament on Lake Norman Sunday to raise money for the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation which works to increase awareness and secure funding for childhood and ovarian cancer initiatives.
The Sigma Tau Gamma tournametn will be held out of Pinnacle Landing with an entry fee of $60, which also covers the entry in the Big Fish contest. First place will pay $500, second $100 and 3rd $50, with a Big Fish prize of $200, based on at least 20 boats. Each winner will also receive a No. 78 camo baseball cap, autographed by NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr.
“We have a goal for fund-raising each year and normally we raise money for the Special Olympics, but we partnered with the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation for this tournament,” said tournament organizer Ben Hagar, who is also a member of the UNCC Bass Fishing Club. “Once all the prizes are paid out we will give the rest to the Foundation.”
Hagar said that almost all the money raised in entry fees will go to the Truex Foundation as the $500 first prize and the $200 Big Fish prize are sponsored by local businesses.
The company of the father of one of the Sigma Tau Gamma brothers, Wastequip, LLC, based in Charlotte, is sponsoring the First Place prize. Wastequip is the leading North American manufacturer of waste and recycling equipment, offering a full line of steel and plastic products to collect, handle and transport waste and recyclables.
WIX Filters of Gastonia, N.C., which produces the No. 1 filter in motorsports, along with filters for automotive, diesel, agricultural and other industrial applications, is sponsoring the Big Fish cash prize. WIX Racing Products have been track tested and proven in all levels of stock car, dirt track, off-road and drag racing.
Truex Jr. and longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer in August 2014. announced a goal to raise $500,000 to support research of childhood and ovarian cancers during September and continuing through The Chase. Truex Jr. launched his foundation in 2007 to help children. Over the years, Truex Jr. and Pollex have become more passionate about helping children with cancer.
To donate, please visit www.martintruexjrfoundation.org. To learn more about ovarian cancer, please visit: www.OCNA.org. To learn more about childhood cancer, visit: www.CAC2.org.
With an 8th place finish in the AAA Texas 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, Truex Jr. is in 4th place in the Chase and hopes to hold or improve on that position in the final race of the Eliminator Round at at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday. The final four in the Chase will compete for the 2015 NASCAR Championship in the final races on the schedule.
UNCC Sigma Tau Gamma Benefit Tournament
Sun, Nov 15, 2015
Lake Norman
Pinnacle Access
Call Ben Hagar 704-999-4494
Heavy Rains Could Impact Aba Division 12 Tournament On Lake Eufaula
It remains to be seen what impact the heavy rains that filled the Chattahoochee River Basin over the weekend will have on the American Bass Anglers Georgia-Eufaula Division 12 tournament on Lake Eufaula Saturday, said tournament director Deacon Collins.
“It's been raining a lot in Georgia and the water stacks up going down the Chattahoochee,” Collins said. “I fished West Point last weekend and it filled the lake up, so we are assuming Eufaula is getting that water in there, too.”
Otherwise, he said, the fish should be on a fall pattern and the weather is supposed to be good Saturday, with highs in the upper 60s to 70 degrees.
“It was really hard fishing in the tournament two weeks ago. They were still shallow and some were on brushpiles. They were not in the backs of the creeks then, but with this weather coming I look for the baitfish to start moving back in the creeks,” Collins said.
Collins said the Eufaula Division usually has 40 to 45 anglers competing in a draw tournament. Entry fee is $70, with $10 for Big Fish. Registration is held for an hour and a half to two hours at the marina until about 30 minutes before safe light, he said.
“Then we do a safety briefing, hold the partner draw, and the boats go out when we can see the buoys out across from the marina,” he said, adding that other anglers are welcome to come fish.
“If anybody wants to go fishing in Lake Eufaula, come on down. We will welcome them. And we have color in our water,” he said.
After Saturday the remainder of the Division 12 schedule will include : Dec. 19 this year and then Feb. 20,March 20, April 2, May 7, June 4, July 9 and Aug. 9-10, 2016.
After three tournaments Collins of Tyrone, Ga., is leading the points in Division 12.
American Bass Anglers Eufaula Division
Sat, Nov 14, 2015
Lake Eufaula
Lakepoint Marina
Call Deacon Collins at (404) 862-4233
Your 2015 Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail Champs!
Congrats to the 2015 Anglers Choice Marine TT Champs-Brandon Gray and Robert Perkins haul in 35+ over two days to win a brand new $36,000 Ranger 118 Boat-Motor-trailer pkg....click here so see how they did it!!
Brandon Gray And Robert Perkins Win The 2015 Anglers Choice Marine Tt Championship On Kerr-Full Results And Pics Here!
The 2015 Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail Championship was worth the wait......138 teams that qualified showed up at Kerr Lake for the the first ever delayed (due to floods several weeks back) 2 day CHampionship. Lots on the line including a new Ranger 118 Boat-Motor-Trailer pkg worth over $35,000. As with most 2 day events, day 1 was very different than day two. Weights on Day 1 peaked at slightly over 16 lbs with warm temps, humidity, and not much wind. Day 2 saw temps in the mid to high 50's (15-20 degrees less than Sat) with weights that were higher and much bigger quality overall. Gray and Perkins had just over 13 Lbs on Day one and came back with a 22 Lb monster sack on day two to give them almost a two lb cushion for the win. The difference was their BF, which came in at 7.52 Lbs and on Kerr, that is massive! Patterns were much shallower on sat, where on Sun they went much deeper and took advantage of the wind. Attached are the full results for both days as well as pictures at the final weigh-in on Sunday. Conrats to all the anglers and Anglers Choice Marine, on what once again proved to be one of the top team trails in the country!
Anglers Choice Marine TT Champs Brandon Gray and Robert Perkins
2nd place team of Galloway and Dickerson and their solid Day 2 Haul!
Anglers Choice Marine with the Champs!
The entire Anglers Choice Tournament Team!
Some 'really Good Fishermen' In Bfl Wild Card On Lake Hartwell
Just because the Walmart Bass Fishing League Wild Card tournament on Lake Hartwell Nov. 13-14 is the last chance for BFL anglers to qualify for the 2016 BFL All American it doesn't mean the 100-plus anglers in the tournament are stragglers just hoping for a chance to get in the big game.
There are some really good fishermen in the Wild Card who did not qualify for various reasons during the year, said tournament director Dave Maxfield.
“The thing about BFLs is that most of the guys who fish it work for a living and they fish when they can,” Maxfield said. These anglers have jobs and families that can interfere with hopes for qualifying for the All American, he added.
“A lot of things come into play with work. I have guys call me and say, 'I work for the power company and we've had a big storm. I have to work.' So they are not able to fish all the tournaments.”
Maxfield said an angler who fished at least two tournaments in a division, but paid for five tournaments, is eligible to fish the Wild Card.
“These were guys who did not finish in the top 50 and did not qualify for a regional, so this is their last chance. It's kind of like being in The Chase in NASCAR. One bad tournament will do you in and you won't make a regional. There are a lot of different scenarios for these guys to be in the Wild Card.”
He noted that these anglers have the option of fishing as a boater or a non-boater, no matter which they fished as during the year.
“You can fish all year as a boater and then when you get to the Wild Card you can fish as a non-boater, or vice versa. It comes down to what you prefer, what you think gives you the best chance of making the All American.”
A lot of good fishermen fail to qualify for the All American through the normal routes, but the Wild Card gives them a launching pad to have a successful ending to their year, he said.
For instance, last year Billy Schroeder of Paducah, Ky., finished 2nd in the Wild Card to advance to the All American on Kentucky Lake this year where he finished 2nd. Bobby D. Padgett of LaGrange, Ga., only fished three tournaments in the Bulldog Division, but he was 3rd in the Wild Card and moved on to the All American this year where he finished 7th.
Both Padgett and Schroeder will be among the 130 or so boaters fishing in the Wild Card on Lake Hartwell next week, Maxfield said.
“They are some really good fishermen. There are some really good sticks in this Wild Card.”
Walmart Bass Fishing League Wild Card
Nov 13-14, 2015
Lake Hartwell
Clemson Marina
Proctor Hoping Smaller Aluminum Boat Key To Success In B.a.s.s. Nation Championship
Normally, you are not too happy if you are the last boat drawn in a tournament because everybody gets out ahead of you and heads for the prime fishing spots before you can get there. But John Proctor, who is Boat No. 59 in a field of 59 in the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas this week, is not bothered at all.
“Being the last boat in the field is kind of a good thing,” Proctor said with a chuckle. “I won't have to be looking over my shoulder.”
The reason is that while 55 of the competitors will be driving modern bass boats, Proctor and three others will be fishing out of smaller aluminum boats pushed by outboards with much less horsepower.
“The reason I brought an aluminum boat is that I found some shallow, stumpy water in practice,” Proctor said. While he normally fishes out of a Triton, Proctor bought a 16-foot War Eagle 648 with a 60-horsepower Mercury 4-stroke outboard.
“We built a deck on it and put on a new trolling motor. I like fishing out of it and I can get anywhere in it. Some of the places here are really hard to get in,” Proctor said.
He's not the only one who decided to go small for a better shot at winning big. Former Elite Series angler Jami Fralick will also be fishing out of an aluminum boat – a 16-foot Bass Tracker with a 40-horsepower outboard.
An accountant at a bank, Proctor is a member of the Conway, S.C. Bassmasters. He earned a berth on the South Carolina Team that fished in the B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Divisional in April on the Pee Dee River Basin. Proctor was the overall tournament winner and also won the State of South Carolina team title to advance to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.
The field of 59 anglers represents 47 states and one Canadian province, plus Japan, South Africa, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, Spain, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Australia. In addition, Jack Barber will represent the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). The PVA sends its Angler of the Year to the BNC each year, and this is Barber’s first year to qualify.
The overall winner of the championship will earn a berth in the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic on Oklahoma's Grand Lake. Joining the champ at the Classic will be the top contender from each of the other five divisions. Six divisions make up the B.A.S.S. Nation: Western, Central, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Mid-Atlantic.
The payout extends to the top 30 anglers, with the winner getting a Skeeter ZX200 with a Yamaha VF200LA boat and motor package.
2015 Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Championship
Nov 5-7, 2015
Ouachita River
Forsythe Park Boat Launch
Kizziahs Hope The Frog Is The Charm In Chattanooga Bass Association Classic On Chickamauga
There is something special about a father and son who spend time together doing something they both like and when Tom Kizziah III and his dad, Tom Kizziah Jr., fish the Chattanooga Bass Association Classic on Lake Chickamauga this weekend it will mark more than two decades they have teamed up to compete in tournaments.
“We have done it so long that it's not one of those things where we bump heads,” said Tom III. “We are so used to fishing together we complement each other. If I have a bad day I know he is going to catch them and if he is not catching them he knows I will.”
The Kizziahs, from Chickamauga, Ga., have basically fished the same patterns on Lake Chickamauga over the years with just slight variations.
“Years ago we threw spinnerbaits on the hydrilla mats. Now that the mats have got bigger we throw a frog around the grass. We fish the same way we have over the years. We also throw a spinnerbait, a chatterbait and sometimes a Spook,” Kizziah III said. “That's what we have always done from the end of September though October and November.”
The rains, however, could affect the frog bite this weekend, he said.
“We had a bunch of rain and the lake was dropped. They started to bring it down to winter pool. You never know what the weather is going to do. I thought we were going to get lucky, but it started raining again and now it's supposed to rain Thursday,” he said.
Kizziah III said he had a good day of practice on the lake Saturday, landing about 21 pounds in just four hours of fishing, but he does not know if that fishing will hold up in the Classic.
“I think the fishing is going to be tough with these fronts coming through. It's going to hurt the guys like us who frog fish.”
If the fish bite as good this weekend as they did last weekend, Kizziah III said it could take 42 to 45 pounds for two days to win the $10,000 first prize.
“But this is the same weather pattern we had last year. It took 13 pounds a day to get a check and 31 pounds to win it,” he said. “Wednesday is the last day to practice before the lake goes off limits for Thursday and Friday. I'm going to try to go Wednesday and maybe find something to add to what I found last weekend.”
Up to 70 boat are expected to fish in the Classic which is now called the Tow Boat U.S. Classic Championship. The field will include the top 50 in points who will pay only the $20 big fish fee. Also fishing for just the $20 big fish fee are the highest finishing Youth and Senior teams outside the top 50, plus teams that fished all seven tournaments and won at least one of them. Other teams that fished all seven tournaments without a first place can also fish by paying the full $240 entry fee, $120 for Youth teams, and $180 for College and Senior Division teams.
Kizziah III and Kizziah Jr. finished 22nd in the standings.
“Overall, we had a decent year,” Kizziah III said. “We were pretty consistent all year. We caught a five-fish limit every time.”
Chattanooga Bass Association Classic
Nov 7-8, 2015
Chickamauga Lake
Chester Frost Park
Call 423-593-3343
Local Angler Wins Lady Bass Anglers Association Triple Crown
Mayo began the quest for the title in March on Cross Lake in Shreveport, LA. As the LBAA arrived in Shreveport, Mother Nature had already begun unleashing the rain and chilly weather. As the anglers practiced each day and worked to navigate the unique and beautiful waters of Lake Caddo, Mother Nature continued to drop rain all across the region. The water was rising even to the point that the navigation makers were starting to disappear and the yards of homes on the lake were being taken over by high waters. With less than two days of practice left the LBAA had to make changes as the Sherriff’s Department was preparing to shut down the lake. The event was forced to be moved to nearby Cross Lake which historically never closes. Anglers scrambled to get in at least a little practice time on the new lake before the event was slated to begin on Friday. Anglers were cautioned to be wary of docks that were beginning to be covered with water. The most of the remainder of the lake was clear of debris and safe to navigate. Once the event started, the cold muddy water proved to be very tough for anglers. Angela Mayo was the only co-angler who was able to bring a keeper fish to the boat. Her 3.15-pound fish not only earned her a check, but gave her a commanding lead in the Co-Angler division Angler of the Year Points race. After the tournament, Mayo had this to say “That was a tough tournament. It’s difficult to stay focused when the bite is so slow, but that’s what I had to do. I kept my head down and fished deliberately.”
The next stop on the tour was Diamond City, Arkansas to fish on Bull Shoals Lake with waters ranging from dingy and dirty to clear enough to read a quarter in 20 feet of water. Often times, anglers are told to work the bait a certain way in order to get it to stand up or perform in a certain manner. Those fishing in the clear water could see what this rhetoric was really all about. Mayo had this to say about Bull Shoals. “I have never fished a lake like this before. I felt like I was standing on the side of the big aquarium at a Bass Pro Shop and watching my bait on the bottom in 25 to 30 feet of water. I actually saw the fish swim by, take the bait and swim off with it. It was unbelievably clear.” Mayo finished in 8th place, her lowest finish of the year.
Kentucky Lake, the third stop of the LBAA tour was quite a change from the clear waters of Bull Shoals Lake. It seems like the LBAA has a knack for bringing changes in weather patterns and fishing to an area. Almost every stop this year has had water and weather conditions that are out of the norm for those locations. It happened again on Kentucky Lake. Heavy rains and lots of moving water just prior to and at the beginning of practice for the ladies brought about changes in the fishing every day. Kentucky Lake is a river system lake with a lot of off shore areas to fish. In July, fish are typically found on the ledges. Mayo finished 3rd in this event. “Although the fishing is much different than what I see on my home lake, Lake Norman in North Carolina, I enjoyed fishing the ledges. Fishing in July is tough anywhere and this was no exception, but I am happy with how things went.”
The final regular season event was held in September on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, TN. In the Co-angler division on Old Hickory, Angela Mayo led wire-to-wire and brought a 5.84 lb large mouth to the scales to win the big bass award for day one. Her total two-day weight allowed her to claim the LBAA Old Hickory Wildcard Co-Angler crown.
“For Old Hickory, I spent a lot of time researching the lake. I had several places to check in practice. Being able to stay with DeAnna Lovvorn and practice all week was important.” Mayo went on to say. "I caught several fish in practice on the same bait I caught most of my fish on here last year. After a week of practice, I knew exactly what I was going to throw" Mayo stated. With this win, Mayo secured the 2015 LBAA Co-Angler of the Year award. “It’s great to win this award. I’ve fished hard all year and it’s paid off. I’m look forward to the 2015 Lady Bass Classic on Lake Pickwick, Alabama,” Mayo said.
The final event of the year, the Lady Bass Classic, was held October 15-17 on Pickwick Lake in Alabama. “This is my first and possibly last opportunity to win the Triple Crown in the co-angler division,” stated Mayo. “If everything works out as I have planned, I will be making the move to the pro side next year. Regardless, I'm going to need to be consistent and hopefully have a limit each day.” When asked whether or not a reduced field (15 per division) would add pressure or make a difference at the 2015 LBAA Lady Bass Classic Mayo stated “Having a reduced field increases your odds however, I will be fishing against the best women co-anglers in the county. It's going to be tough, but I am ready." After two days of competition, Mayo was in 3rd place, but only a pound out of first. “I’m really excited to be paired with Lady Pro Amanda Godfrey. She has had a great tournament so far and I’m looking forward to being out on the water with her for the final day.”
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Mayo was able to bring a good limit to the scales on the final day of competition and win the 2015 Lady Bass Classic by over 6 pounds. “When Amanda netted my third keeper, I knew that I had a shot at winning.” “This has been an amazing year for me with the Lady Bass Anglers Association. I won two tournaments, qualified first in points for the Classic and won Angler of the Year in the co-angler division. Now to win the Classic, it’s just unbelievable! The Lady Bass Anglers Association tour is the only trail out there specifically for women and it is a great tour to fish. I’ve had the opportunity to fish with some of the best Lady Pros from all over the country. I’d like to thank each and every one of them for doing what they do. I’d also like to thank my sponsor, FishStyx Custom Rods, for custom building my rods for me this year. Finally, I’d like to thank my coach - also known as my husband when I’m not fishing – for his patience, love and support as I’ve travelled all over the country pursuing my dream.”
About Lady Bass Anglers Association (LBAA)
The Lady Bass Anglers Association was formed by professional bass anglers Cheryl Bowden and Secret York. In four short seasons, the LBAA has developed a popular series of women’s professional bass fishing tournaments and gained fans across the country. The LBAA offers valuable sponsorship opportunities for corporate sponsors and marketing partners. For more information about the LBAA, contact LBAA Headquarters at (214) 738-7518 or visit www.ladybassanglers.com. You are also invited to follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LadyBassAnglers.
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Lake Eufaula To Host 2016 Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship
Lake Eufaula to Host 2016 Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship
The top 500 Ram American Fishing Tour anglers in national points standings for the 2016 season will be invited to attend the 2016 Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, AL on October 16-21, 2016. Event launch and weigh-in will take place at Lakepoint Resort State Park. The 2016 Championship is hosted by the Eufaula-Barbour Chamber Restricted Tourism Committee.
Eufaula Mayor, Jack Tibbs, was on hand at the 2015 Ram AFT National Championship awards banquet at Lake Hartwell to make the announcement of the 2016 event location. "It is my pleasure to let the AFT anglers know that the 2016 Ram AFT National Championship will be at Lake Eufaula. We've hosted several ABA events over the past few years and we are looking forward to another great ABA event for 2016. This is a great event for Eufaula, as this event will include anglers from across the country that will get to experience the excellent fishing on Lake Eufaula and all that the Eufaula, AL area has to offer the anglers and their families during their visit," said Tibbs.
"Lake Eufaula has always been a great place to hold a large scale event. The Eufaula area has everything needed to make a great event, including great restaurants, hotels, and excellent fishing. ABA is excited to be working with the Eufaula-Barbour Chamber Restricted Tourism Committee and Mayor Tibbs in effort to make the 2016 Ram AFT National Championship the our best one yet," said Morris Sheehan, ABA President.
The Ram American Fishing Tour offers low cost, close to home bass tournaments that are designed for the weekend angler. All ABA anglers fish for money and points. The points advance the angler to their divisional championship and the top 500 anglers in the US are invited to the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship. For more information on the Ram American Fishing Tour visit this link.
About: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Open Series, the Ram American Fishing Tour, the American Couples Series, the Military Team Bass Tournament, or the Ram 100% Plus Team Tour visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
American Bass Anglers, Inc. is supported by Ram Trucks, Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, Carlisle Tires, Odyssey Batteries, T-H Marine, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Livingston Lures, Best Western Hotels, Simms Clothing, Garmin, Maui Jim, Power Pole, Dr Dan's, Navionics, and North American Fisherman. American Bass Anglers, Inc. can be contacted at (256) 232-0406 or visit AmericanBassAnglers.com.
Cole Winn And Scott Martin Win The 2015 Cbc Championship On Clarks Hill With 44+ Over Two Days!! Full Results And Pic Here!
Carolinas Bass Challenge 2015 Classic, October 24th, 2015 - Clarks Hill
Cole Winn and Scott Martin completed the 2 Day CBC Classic with a whopping 44.69lbs earning them a Brand New Skeeter ZX200 Package with a 200 SHO Yamaha!
Eric Self and Tyler Beam finished 4th and were our top Skeeter/Yamaha Team earning them a $2,500 Bonus and bumping their total pay day to over $4,800!!
Cole Winn and Scott Martin hold up their 50k winning stringer on Clarks Hill!
| Place | Team Name | Team # | Fish Weighed | Net Weight | Big Fish | Winnings |
| 1 | Cole Winn - Scott Martin | 63 | 10 | 44.690 | 7.070 | ZX200 |
| 2 | Bobby Gaston - David Whyte | 48 | 10 | 29.670 | 0.000 | $8,800 |
| 3 | Rodney Chastain - Jason Snyder | 17 | 10 | 28.270 | 7.130 | $3,800 |
| 4 | Eric Self - Tyler Beam * | 100 | 8 | 27.800 | 0.000 | $4,800* |
| * Includes $2,500 Highest Finishing Skeeter Bonus!! | ||||||
| 5 | Robert Guest - David Heatherly | 104 | 10 | 27.550 | 0.000 | $1,500 |
| 6 | Josh Gardner - Chris Marshall * | 92 | 10 | 27.090 | 7.260 | $2,000* |
| * Includes $1,000 Big Fish Bonus! | ||||||
| 7 | dustin henson - John Gibson | 94 | 10 | 26.110 | 0.000 | $800 |
| 8 | Jason Wilson - Kelly Logan | 98 | 10 | 25.290 | 0.000 | $600 |
| 9 | Robert Walser - Mack Lowe | 25 | 10 | 22.400 | 0.000 | $550 |
| 10 | Greg Davis - Dennis Parks | 110 | 10 | 22.310 | 0.000 | $500 |
| 11 | Bryan Welch - Mark Inman | 1 | 10 | 22.180 | 2.600 | $450 |
| 12 | Bradford Beavers - Dwight Beavers | 111 | 10 | 21.990 | 0.000 | $400 |
| 13 | Todd Garner - Shane Hartman | 54 | 7 | 21.660 | 5.380 | $375 |
| 14 | Glenn Gentry - Bart Blackburn | 3 | 10 | 21.580 | 0.000 | $350 |
| 15 | David Wright - Jeff Coble | 47 | 10 | 21.510 | 0.000 | $325 |
| 16 | Shane Abbott - Brian Jones * | 2 | 9 | 21.370 | 4.690 | $1,800* |
| * Includes $1,500 2nd Highest Finishing Skeeter Bonus | ||||||
| 17 | Jason Quinn - Tony Colacurcio | 82 | 10 | 21.200 | 6.710 | $275 |
| 18 | Thomas Vickers - Brian Huskins | 39 | 10 | 21.000 | 0.000 | $250 |
| 19 | Eric Jeter - Darren Jeter | 87 | 10 | 20.970 | 0.000 | $225 |
| 20 | Dennis Reedy - Jeffrey Thomas * | 42 | 10 | 20.930 | 0.000 | $1,200* |
| * Includes $1,000 2nd Highest Finishing Skeeter Bonus | ||||||
| 21 | Sean Anderson - George Berry | 89 | 10 | 20.800 | 0.000 | |
| 22 | Doug Easton - Pete Bejte | 49 | 10 | 20.700 | 5.380 | |
| 23 | Daryl Watson - Ken McFarland | 52 | 10 | 20.360 | 0.000 | |
| 24 | Brad Nappier - Nathan Luke | 11 | 10 | 20.340 | 0.000 | |
| 25 | Greg Osborne - Wyatt Blevins | 91 | 10 | 20.160 | 0.000 | |
| 26 | Roger Medlock - Todd Lawrence | 37 | 10 | 19.980 | 0.000 | |
| 27 | Audie Brantley - Hunter Ciccio | 51 | 10 | 19.860 | 0.000 | |
| 28 | Darren Sigmon - Brian Huffman | 59 | 10 | 19.810 | 0.000 | |
| 29 | Daniel Howell - Russell Anderson | 65 | 10 | 19.680 | 0.000 | |
| 30 | Robert Osborne - Bobby Osborne | 79 | 10 | 19.670 | 0.000 | |
| 31 | Matt Davis - Mike Guilbeau | 45 | 10 | 19.660 | 0.000 | |
| 32 | Robin Collins - Ronnie White | 77 | 10 | 18.960 | 0.000 | |
| 33 | Dale Surrett - Lee Endicott | 16 | 10 | 18.550 | 0.000 | |
| 34 | Mark Abbott - Jimmy Wilder | 27 | 10 | 18.400 | 0.000 | |
| 35 | Ronnie McCoy - Jason McCoy | 88 | 10 | 18.300 | 0.000 | |
| 36 | Wayne Skipworth - Don Sprinkle | 31 | 10 | 18.290 | 0.000 | |
| 37 | Rick Carson - Ricky Parrish | 9 | 10 | 18.230 | 0.000 | |
| 38 | Chad Hamm - David Carver | 105 | 9 | 18.120 | 0.000 | |
| 39 | Al Odom - Dane Odom | 70 | 10 | 17.990 | 0.000 | |
| 40 | Josh Rennebaum - Ross Burns | 103 | 10 | 17.980 | 0.000 | |
| 41 | Gene Gibbs - Keith Wilson | 19 | 9 | 17.830 | 0.000 | |
| 42 | John Gutierrez - Joe Anders | 85 | 10 | 17.760 | 0.000 | |
| 43 | Butch Zadlo - Bryan Lewis | 5 | 10 | 17.470 | 0.000 | |
| 44 | Chris Heath - Steve Debord | 20 | 10 | 16.940 | 0.000 | |
| 45 | Dwayne McVicker - Eddie Burgess | 57 | 10 | 16.670 | 0.000 | |
| 46 | Larry Moss - Michelle McLain | 40 | 8 | 16.610 | 0.000 | |
| 46 | Richard Greene - Kent Brewer's | 67 | 10 | 16.610 | 0.000 | |
| 48 | Mark Hutson - Gary Elsey | 93 | 10 | 16.540 | 0.000 | |
| 49 | Eric Bozeman - Clint Proudfoot | 101 | 10 | 16.430 | 0.000 | |
| 50 | Jimmy Cummings - Dean Collins | 83 | 10 | 16.330 | 0.000 | |
| 51 | Kevin Brock - Bubba Dennis | 90 | 10 | 16.300 | 0.000 | |
| 52 | Jeff Queen - Carroll Queen | 106 | 8 | 16.120 | 0.000 | |
| 53 | Sean Ravenscroft - Wilson Ravenscroft | 6 | 10 | 16.090 | 0.000 | |
| 54 | Allen Eaker - Kelly Homesley | 38 | 9 | 15.760 | 0.000 | |
| 55 | Julius Ledbetter - Chris Gould | 14 | 10 | 15.480 | 3.970 | |
| 56 | Alan Fletcher - Danny Johnson | 71 | 10 | 14.610 | 0.000 | |
| 57 | Ronnie Britt - Jim Britt | 29 | 10 | 14.530 | 0.000 | |
| 58 | Marty Quesada - Steven Story | 76 | 10 | 14.440 | 0.000 | |
| 59 | Dwight Dellinger - Doug Dellinger | 62 | 7 | 14.380 | 6.650 | |
| 60 | Eddie Smith - Michael Carson | 22 | 10 | 14.160 | 0.000 | |
| 61 | danny houck - Eddie Rogers | 30 | 9 | 14.060 | 3.050 | |
| 62 | brian morgan - anthony Lutz | 75 | 8 | 13.580 | 0.000 | |
| 63 | Jimmy Bass - Jason Baird | 112 | 9 | 13.520 | 0.000 | |
| 64 | Ron Brown - Bobby Brown | 46 | 9 | 13.130 | 0.000 | |
| 65 | Bo Morris - Ricky Roach | 41 | 8 | 11.270 | 0.000 | |
| 66 | Steve Blankenship - Jason Smith | 74 | 7 | 11.130 | 0.000 | |
| 67 | Derrick Compton - jonathan strickland | 26 | 7 | 10.480 | 0.000 | |
| 68 | Scott Allison - John parker | 21 | 5 | 10.270 | 0.000 | |
| 69 | Marcus Leech - Tim Chapman | 64 | 10 | 10.250 | 0.000 | |
| 70 | Rusty Bullard - Eric Martin | 97 | 6 | 10.220 | 0.000 | |
| 71 | Greg Rikard - Eddie Herlong | 68 | 5 | 9.350 | 0.000 | |
| 72 | Thomas Gavin - Bobby Winn | 18 | 6 | 8.890 | 0.000 | |
| 73 | Russell Hoyle - Jerry Pruitt | 13 | 5 | 8.540 | 0.000 | |
| 74 | David Arnold - Billy Collins | 53 | 5 | 8.430 | 0.000 | |
| 75 | Sandy Oliver - Shannon Bryson | 73 | 3 | 8.120 | 0.000 | |
| 76 | Mark Swink - Mike Sprouse | 12 | 5 | 8.100 | 0.000 | |
| 77 | Eric Mora - Donald Miller | 56 | 5 | 8.080 | 0.000 | |
| 78 | Robbie Carroll - Bryan Carroll | 36 | 5 | 7.840 | 0.000 | |
| 79 | Gary Love - Ricky Todd | 81 | 3 | 6.840 | 0.000 | |
| 80 | Greg Creech - Chris McDuffie | 10 | 4 | 6.770 | 0.000 | |
| 81 | Jerry Lineberger - Shane Lineberger | 108 | 5 | 6.730 | 0.000 | |
| 82 | Matt Lowe - Mark Hollifield | 32 | 4 | 6.650 | 0.000 | |
| 83 | Jimmy Counts - Gary Angel | 69 | 5 | 6.640 | 0.000 | |
| 84 | Tim Jones - Chris Bennett | 34 | 4 | 6.430 | 0.000 | |
| 85 | Paul Guthrie - Robert Church | 44 | 3 | 6.400 | 0.000 | |
| 86 | Bobby Wade - Pete Sherbert | 86 | 3 | 6.290 | 0.000 | |
| 87 | Shannon Jordan - Shawn Jordan | 24 | 5 | 6.250 | 0.000 | |
| 88 | Johnny Allen - Scott Stallings | 113 | 5 | 6.230 | 0.000 | |
| 89 | Jon Stringfield - Dan Geurtsen | 23 | 5 | 6.210 | 0.000 | |
| 90 | Tyler Hoopaugh - Chris Hoopaugh | 60 | 3 | 5.860 | 0.000 | |
| 91 | Lyn Langston - Thad Driggers | 35 | 2 | 5.820 | 0.000 | |
| 92 | Milton Yancey - Larry Yancey | 28 | 5 | 5.790 | 0.000 | |
| 93 | Richard Bradshaw - Adam Fincher | 107 | 3 | 5.240 | 0.000 | |
| 94 | Russ Padgett - Meredith Havird | 15 | 3 | 4.630 | 0.000 | |
| 95 | Jerry Goble - Scott Griffin | 84 | 2 | 4.460 | 0.000 | |
| 96 | Ben Parker | 115 | 3 | 4.160 | 0.000 | |
| 97 | Steven Austin - Roger Wood | 55 | 3 | 4.110 | 0.000 | |
| 98 | Ricky Self - Ben Stanton | 7 | 1 | 3.990 | 3.990 | |
| 99 | Kiel Kelly - Chuck Whittaker | 80 | 3 | 3.800 | 0.000 | |
| 100 | Reginald Pickett | 8 | 3 | 3.710 | 0.000 | |
| 101 | Phil Hennessee - Lee Hoilman | 96 | 2 | 3.420 | 0.000 | |
| 102 | Mack Cook - Patrick Cook | 95 | 3 | 3.230 | 0.000 | |
| 103 | Mitchell Cook - Todd Huffman | 72 | 2 | 2.000 | 0.000 | |
| 104 | Dale Luckey - John Brown | 50 | 2 | 1.940 | 0.000 | |
| 105 | Chad Sinclair - Caleb Conner | 114 | 1 | 1.860 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Bradley Gunter - Stan Gunter | 4 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Juddie Revels - David Oxendine | 33 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Chris Dover - Robert Fowler | 43 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Greg Bragg - Christopher Terry | 58 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Dempsey Carter - Ted Mobley | 61 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Bill Grier - Robby Byrum | 66 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Jamie Thames - Barry Thames | 78 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Kevin Rake - Terry Morris | 99 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Jeff Murray - Derrick Murray | 102 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 106 | Johnny Houser - Deron Donohoo | 109 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 | |
Mcmillan Wins Bassmaster Open On Seminole
| Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., wins the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open #3 presented by Allstate held on Lake Seminole out of Bainbridge, Ga. McMillan brought 9 pounds, 13 ounces to Saturday's weigh-in, giving him a three-day total of 49-5.
Photo by James Overstreet/Bassmaster
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BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — The fishing on the final round of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open No. 3 presented by Allstate was no different than it was on Thursday and Friday. It was a grind. Although Lake Seminole teems with big bass, October is the toughest month to catch them.
Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., started the day with 39 pounds, 8 ounces, which put him nearly 7 pounds ahead of Trevor Fitzgerald, of Belleview, Fla., who was in second place. Only the Top 12 of the 166 pros and 166 co-anglers fished on Saturday.
McMillan needed that cushion. At 2 p.m. today, he had only three bass with 90 minutes left to fish. He kept his composure and caught the final two bass that filled his pro limit of five fish. Saturday, his five-fish limit totaled 9-13, which paled in comparison to the 19-pound limits he brought in on Thursday and Friday. However, they gave him enough weight to earn the victory with a total of 49-5.
Every bass McMillan caught came by flipping a Zoom Z Craw that was Texas rigged with a 4/0 Mustad hook and a 1 1/4- or 1 1/2-ounce Elite Tungsten Worm Weight. He horsed his bass from the thick grassbeds he was fishing with a 7-foot, 11-inch, G. Loomis flipping rod sporting a Shimano Core reel spooled with 60-pound Gamma braided line.
For winning the tournament, McMillan received a Skeeter ZX200 bass boat powered by a Yamaha VF200LA along with an additional cash prize. He also earned a berth in the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro because he fished all three of the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open tournaments in 2015.
If that were not enough, McMillan also earned the most cumulative points in the Bassmaster Southern Open division. Any Bassmaster Opens angler that finishes among the Top 5 in the overall points standings qualifies for the Elite Series.
Elite Series pro Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., finished second with 45-6. Tharp failed to qualify for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic through the Elite Series. Winning this event was his last chance to qualify for the Classic. He nearly pulled it off.
Tharp also flipped soft plastic baits into dense grassbeds to catch his bass. His 7-foot, 11-inch extra heavy action Halo Twilite rod was paired with 60-pound Gamma braided line. Two lures were his workhorses, Zoom’s Z Craw and Z Hog. One was rigged with a heavy Reins tungsten sinker and the other with a Reins Punch Shot Tungsten weight. The latter weight features a collar to which Tharp attached a skirt.
With a total weight of 44-10 Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn., claimed third place. On Thursday, Friday and most of today, Grigsby caught his bass with a FlippinBug soft plastic lure from Charlie’s Worms. He rigged the bait with a 1 1/2-ounce tungsten weight, 65-pound test Seaguar braided line spooled on a Lew’s baitcasting reel mounted to a 7-foot, 11-inch Halo flippin’ rod.
However, at 2 p.m. today, Grigsby had only two bass. He switched to a Zara Spook topwater plug and promptly caught three more bass, the biggest of which weighed 5 pounds.
Travis Kelehan of Broussard, La., won the co-angler division with a weight of 22-9. His prize was a Triton 179 TrX bass boat with a Mercury 115 Pro XS outboard.
“I fished with three outstanding pros this week,” Kelehan said.
Did he ever. He fished with Randall Tharp Thursday, Elite Series pro Greg Hackney Friday and Timmy Reneau on Saturday. All three of these anglers excel at fishing thick grass, which was just what Kelehan wanted.
Elite Series pro Chad Morgenthaler of Coulterville, Ill., caught the biggest bass on the pro side of the tournament with a largemouth weighing 8-12. He earned the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass award worth $750.
The 6-10 bass caught by Eugene Stinson of Dry Branch, Ga., was the biggest among the co-anglers. Stinson earned a $250 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass award.
For leading the tournament on Friday, McMillan received the $250 Livingston Lures Leader Award. Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Ala., claimed the co-angler Livingston Lures Leader Award, which is worth $250 in merchandise.
The $250 Allstate Good Hand Great Day Award went to Brent Bonadona. Larry Beauboeuf received the $150 Allstate Good Hand Great Day Award for the co-angler.
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open - Lake Seminole Presented by Allstate 10/22-10/24
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Brandon McMillan Clewiston, FL 15 49-05 200 $52,333.00
Day 1: 5 19-14 Day 2: 5 19-10 Day 3: 5 09-13
2. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 15 45-06 199 $17,321.00
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 5 12-15 Day 3: 5 14-15
3. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 14 44-10 198 $12,616.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 4 12-05 Day 3: 5 15-01
4. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 13 42-09 197 $11,288.00
Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 4 09-02 Day 3: 4 15-03
5. Timmy Reneau Del Rio, TX 12 38-14 196 $9,849.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 4 12-14 Day 3: 3 09-09
6. Trevor Fitzgerald Belleview, FL 12 35-06 195 $8,411.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 2 02-12
7. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 13 35-04 194 $7,083.00
Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 3 04-11 Day 3: 5 10-03
8. Scott Luster Prattville, AL 15 33-06 193 $5,644.00
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 06-08
9. George Kapiton Inverness, FL 11 33-02 192 $4,205.00
Day 1: 4 11-03 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 2 04-04
10. Jim Murray Jr Arabi, GA 15 32-14 191 $3,873.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 09-06 Day 3: 5 07-15
11. Kyle Fox Lakeland, FL 14 30-01 190 $3,541.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 12-13 Day 3: 4 05-04
12. Rich Howes Oviedo, FL 9 27-01 189 $3,320.00
Day 1: 4 11-00 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 0 00-00
BASS PRO SHOPS BIG BASS
Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, IL 08-12 $750.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 48 449 1003-05
2 34 360 848-01
3 6 45 101-07
----------------------------------
88 854 1952-13
2015 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open - Lake Seminole Presented by Allstate 10/22-10/24
Lake Seminole, Bainbridge GA.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Travis Kelehan Broussard, LA 8 22-09 200 $30,000.00
Day 1: 2 07-13 Day 2: 3 05-04 Day 3: 3 09-08
2. Bailey Boutries Daphne, AL 6 18-07 199 $5,423.00
Day 1: 3 06-01 Day 2: 3 12-06 Day 3: 0 00-00
3. Scott Kirsch Edgewater, FL 8 16-15 198 $4,095.00
Day 1: 3 06-10 Day 2: 3 08-04 Day 3: 2 02-01
4. Jarrod Anderson New Iberia, LA 8 16-11 197 $2,767.00
Day 1: 2 02-04 Day 2: 3 09-02 Day 3: 3 05-05
5. Douglas Workman Cleveland, GA 9 16-05 196 $2,545.00
Day 1: 3 05-04 Day 2: 3 04-14 Day 3: 3 06-03
6. Marty Spears Tallahassee, FL 5 15-01 195 $2,435.00
Day 1: 3 10-11 Day 2: 1 03-03 Day 3: 1 01-03
7. Judy Reneau Del Rio, TX 7 14-07 194 $2,324.00
Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 3 05-08 Day 3: 1 02-09
8. Luke Koch Campbellsport, WI 6 13-09 193 $2,213.00
Day 1: 3 08-04 Day 2: 2 03-15 Day 3: 1 01-06
9. Eugene Stinson Dry Branch, GA 3 12-03 192 $2,353.00
Day 1: 1 06-10 Day 2: 2 05-09 Day 3: 0 00-00
10. Joe Thompson Clayton, GA 5 11-01 191 $1,881.00
Day 1: 2 06-12 Day 2: 3 04-05 Day 3: 0 00-00
11. Larry Mullikin Lauderhill, FL 3 10-08 190 $1,660.00
Day 1: 3 10-08 Day 2: 0 00-00 Day 3: 0 00-00
12. Mike Spears Jasper, AL 4 10-02 189 $1,549.00
Day 1: 1 01-14 Day 2: 3 08-04 Day 3: 0 00-00
BASS PRO SHOPS BIG BASS
Eugene Stinson Dry Branch, GA 06-10 $250.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 22 156 331-11
2 17 124 274-14
3 3 14 28-03
----------------------------------
42 294 634-12
Lucas Lovelace Wins The Oakley Big Bass With A Massive 9.42 Lb Bf-Full Results And Pic Here!
794 Anglers turned out for the final Oakely Big Bass event of the 2015 season on Lake Guntersville, and holy cow was it a great tournament! The weights below are beyond impressive for October, and the winning angler, Lucas Lovelace, took home a $30,000 boat-motor-trailer package for his efforts! Contrats to all the anglers that helped break the all time record for participation at any Oakly Big Bass event. Pic of Lucas and full results below:
Angler Lucas Lovelace is all smiles with this 9.42 Lb Kicker!
Look at these weights!
2015 Lake Guntersville, AL
Leaders
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LUCAS LOVELACE | 9.42 |
| 2 | JERRY PERKINS | 8.27 |
| 3 | JOHN PEPMEIER | 7.80 |
| 4 | JAY STUART | 7.70 |
| 5 | SCOTT RICE | 7.48 |
| 6 | TIM BUCKNER | 7.18 |
| 7 | GIL SUMMERLIN | 7.07 |
| 8 | MARK FRAZEE | 6.96 |
| 9 | HENRY BECKETT | 6.84 |
| 10 | KEITH SYKES | 6.45 |
Saturday 8-9
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GIL SUMMERLIN | 7.07 |
| 2 | JAMES GALLMAN | 5.66 |
| 2 | TIM PYERON | 5.66 |
| 4 | RICKY MURPHY | 5.55 |
| 5 | EUBA SHELLNUT | 5.05 |
| 6 | JERRY PERKINS | 4.63 |
| 7 | PHILLIP BROWN | 4.46 |
| 8 | MARK BRADSHAW | 4.35 |
Saturday 9-10
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TIM BUCKNER | 7.18 |
| 2 | RICHARD KROUT | 5.85 |
| 3 | GENE SPARKS | 5.22 |
| 4 | BOBBY SCHARBER | 5.10 |
| 5 | DOUG SARVER | 4.71 |
| 6 | JAMES STOLER | 4.69 |
| 7 | BYRON LUMAN | 4.60 |
| 8 | BO QUINNIE | 4.54 |
Saturday 10-11
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JERRY PERKINS | 8.27 |
| 2 | MARK FRAZEE | 6.96 |
| 3 | HENRY BECKETT | 6.84 |
| 4 | CHASE WHITE | 5.04 |
| 5 | DAVID HUIE | 4.55 |
| 6 | DUSTIN ALBRIGHT | 4.54 |
| 7 | DAMIEN WILLIS | 4.51 |
| 8 | CLINT PRICE | 4.35 |
Saturday 11-12
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JOHN PEPMEIER | 7.80 |
| 2 | MIKE BARNHART | 6.06 |
| 3 | ROBERT SMALLWOOD | 5.38 |
| 4 | MARK BRADSHAW | 5.35 |
| 5 | JAMES STEPHENS | 5.27 |
| 6 | RICKY MCBRIDE | 4.94 |
| 7 | RION SUMMERS | 4.90 |
| 8 | WESLEY PARTON | 4.85 |
Saturday 12-1
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCOTT RICE | 7.48 |
| 2 | CHRIS BLACKMON | 5.94 |
| 3 | JOSH JACKSON | 5.83 |
| 4 | ELI WEAVER | 5.80 |
| 5 | GERALD OREY | 5.56 |
| 6 | ROBERT SMALLWOOD | 5.00 |
| 6 | ANTHONY WASCO | 5.00 |
| 8 | CRAIG LAMAR | 4.82 |
Saturday 1-2
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | KEITH SYKES | 6.45 |
| 2 | DOUG WEBSTER | 6.05 |
| 3 | GREG MIZE | 5.27 |
| 4 | RICHARD GARRETT | 5.03 |
| 5 | HUNTER BROTHERS | 4.95 |
| 6 | JOHNNY CHILDERS | 4.93 |
| 7 | KENNETH SHATZ | 4.89 |
| 8 | ROBERT ABERNATHY JR | 4.82 |
Saturday 2-3
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SHANE JACKSON | 6.14 |
| 2 | MATT THOMAS | 5.66 |
| 3 | DOUG WEBSTER | 5.47 |
| 4 | JACK GUMBERT | 5.40 |
| 5 | LYNN SPEARS | 5.28 |
| 6 | STEVE REASONER | 5.19 |
| 7 | JON STEWART | 5.02 |
| 8 | STEVEN LETSON | 4.54 |
Sunday 8-9
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LUCAS LOVELACE | 9.42 |
| 2 | RICHARD AGNOR | 5.50 |
| 3 | JESSE RIGSBY | 5.49 |
| 4 | JEFF RAGSDALE | 5.31 |
| 5 | SHANE HASLEY | 5.21 |
| 6 | MICHAEL HUGHES | 4.28 |
| 7 | RALPH HOLLIFIELD JR | 4.20 |
| 8 | JOE HIX | 4.06 |
Sunday 9-10
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JAY STUART | 7.70 |
| 2 | BO TALLEY | 6.10 |
| 3 | FRANKLIN MARKLEY | 5.63 |
| 4 | DEWAYNE RICH | 5.12 |
| 5 | BILLY ADAMSON | 4.78 |
| 6 | MIKE JESSEE | 4.08 |
| 7 | FRANKIE OTWELL | 4.06 |
| 8 | LEE ADAMS | 3.87 |
Sunday 10-11
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JULIOUS LIVELY | 6.08 |
| 2 | ROGER BRANCH | 5.93 |
| 3 | JERRY PERKINS | 5.41 |
| 4 | MATT THOMAS | 5.25 |
| 4 | RYAN HANEY | 5.25 |
| 6 | HOWARD HOLLEY | 4.61 |
| 7 | BRANDT TUMBERG | 4.60 |
| 8 | ANDY VANDERPOOL | 4.52 |
Sunday 11-12
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DANNY BAILEY | 4.96 |
| 2 | WILL BATES | 4.47 |
| 3 | MIKE MCCALL | 4.11 |
| 4 | KYLE HOWARD | 3.96 |
| 5 | ANDY POPE | 3.76 |
| 6 | CLINT BLANTON | 3.73 |
| 7 | EDWARD LETSON | 3.63 |
| 8 | SHAWN HORNBUCKLE | 3.60 |
Sunday 12-1
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BOBBY SYKES | 5.30 |
| 2 | BRAD KESLER | 5.24 |
| 3 | TAZ MATETZSCHK | 4.95 |
| 4 | ROBERT SMALLWOOD | 4.72 |
| 5 | DEWAYNE RICH | 4.64 |
| 6 | ANTHONY WASCO | 4.59 |
| 7 | TIM CLEVELAND | 4.54 |
| 8 | REID MCCALL | 4.28 |
Sunday 1-2
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MARK HINTON | 6.07 |
| 2 | COREY CAMPBELL | 5.56 |
| 3 | BRICE MCMASTER | 5.28 |
| 4 | COREY SMITH | 5.22 |
| 5 | CHUCK MAYFIELD | 5.06 |
| 6 | HERSHELL ROBBINS | 4.98 |
| 7 | RANDY BLANKENSOPP | 4.42 |
| 8 | DAYTON WAUFORD | 4.38 |
Sunday 2-3
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRIAN DRAIN | 6.04 |
| 2 | KENNETH SHATZ | 5.15 |
| 3 | STEVEN LETSON | 4.97 |
| 4 | ROBERT ABERNATHY JR | 4.76 |
| 5 | MARK HINTON SR | 4.46 |
| 6 | KEITH SYKES | 4.37 |
| 7 | BOBBY SYKES | 4.36 |
| 8 | MARK BRADSHAW | 4.29 |
Good Weather €“ Finally! €“ Will Allow Anglers Choice Triton Classic On High Rock
The weather looks good – outstanding, in fact – so the Anglers Choice Invitational Tournament Trail finally appears poised to get one of its two classics completed this weekend.With plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s – in stark contrast to torrential rains that flooded vast regions of the Carolinas and Virginia last week – anglers can look forward to enjoying a nice day on the water in the Anglers Choice Triton Classic on High Rock Lake Saturday and Sunday.
The first championship, the Anglers Choice Ranger Classic, originally scheduled for Oct. 3-4 on Kerr Reservoir, had to be rescheduled for Nov. 7-8 back on Kerr out of Occoneechee State Park.
“The Governor of Virginia declared a state of emergency that weekend, so for everybody's safety, we put it off until that weekend in November,” said tournament director Chris Lucas. In a letter posted on the Anglers Choice website, Lucas cited heavy flooding which made it dangerous to travel to and from the lake plus the danger posed by trees and other debris floating in the lake. The Dan River, which feeds into Kerr, reached the 19-foot flood stage late in the week, with that water estimated to pour into the lake by the afternoon before the tournament began.
“I think everybody was in favor of erring on the side of safety and caution and I think it has worked out all right,” Lucas said. “The fish will will be biting in November and if the weather stays like it is now it should be a good tournament.”
Prior to the original date for the Ranger Classic on Kerr, Lucas said he expected 130 to 140 boats and he hopes most of those will compete in the re-scheduled tournament in November.
“The only problem is it will be hunting season by then, but even though guys might rather be hunting they will be fishing for a new boat.”
Lucas said the entry at High Rock this weekend will be considerably less, probably 50 to 60 boats, but that actually favors the anglers.
“The odds of winning a new boat will be a lot more in your favor,” he noted.
While the weather has cleared off, he said, the water apparently has not. One angler told Lucas that he went to the mouth where the Yadkin River runs into High Rock and it is still muddy in that area.
“I haven't heard a lot other than the water is a little muddy at High Rock,” he said. Muddy water at High Rock is not that unusual, but I figure the weights will probably be down a little bit.”
But, he added, “One guy told me he caught some fish. They'll just have to catch them in the mud.”
David Wright and Jeff Coble repeated as points champions, he said, and they will have their entry fee paid for the B.A.S.S. Toyota Team Championship. Lucas said Anglers Choice will send 12 teams to the Toyota Championship at Lake Guntersville in December.
“We had one team finish second in the Toyota Team Championship this past year and one angler, Brandon Gray won the individual title and went on to fish in the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell. We are hoping to repeat that success this year,” he said.
Lucas said he expects to post the 2016 schedule on the website this week.
Anglers Choice Triton Classic
Oct 17-18, 2015
High Rock Lake
Southmont Wildlife Area Access
Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844
Colorado Mesa Team Familiar With Grand Lake, Site Of College Southern Conference Championship
The Colorado Mesa University Fishing Team is already somewhat familiar with Oklahoma's Grand Lake where the FLW College Southern Conference Championship will be fished this weekend, having won a Southern Conference qualifier there in June 2014.
“We have a little experience on this lake so we are really excited. We have some idea of what the lake looks like and we know it holds some decent amounts of fish,” said Kennedy Kinkade of Midvale, Utah.
“I love that lake. It's a beautiful lake to fish on,” added Josh Worth of Grand Junction, Colo. “There are a few areas we already have mapped out, so we will divide up the lake for pre-fishing this week and see what that produces for us.”
Colorado Mesa University is in Grand Junction, in western Colorado, so what are these guys doing fishing the FLW College Southern Conference?
Kinkade explained:
“The first school out of Colorado to fish the FLW College Division was Colorado State on the other side of the state. Since they would have had to cross the Rockies to fish the Western Conference tournaments, FLW gave them the choice.
“FLW has given us the choice to fish the Western Conference, but we are happy in the Southern Conference. We have done well there, especially on this lake, so we thought it better to stay in the Southern Conference. We kind of know our competitors and we have some idea about the lakes.”
Kinkade added that they don't get to fish a lot of lakes like the ones they do in the Southern Conference tournaments.
“It's a lot of fun to be able to go down to the Southern tournaments and fish real southern lakes with real southern bass,” he said. “We had done a little recreational fishing in lakes and rivers around here, then in June 2014 we decided to do the college fishing competition,” Worth added.
Kinkade, a senior majoring in fisheries biology, and Worth, a senior majoring in biology with plans to become a teacher, have done really well since organizing the fishing team a little over a year ago. They won their first tournament on a southern lake – Grand Lake, in June 2014. They finished 14th on Lake Texoma in February. And they weighed in three limits, including the heaviest stringer in the championship round, for better than a 3.2-pound average to place 4th in the FLW National College Championship on South Carolina's Lake Murray in April.
Until now they have been the entire fishing team at Colorado Mesa, but some other students with boats have joined the team and plan to compete when qualifying starts in 2016.
As for the Southern Conference Championship this week, Kinkade said. “We are hoping to get a top 10 and make it back to the national championship.”
With the record these Western boys have made down South don't count them out.
FLW College Fishing Southern Conference Championship
Oct 17-18, 2015
Grand Lake
Wolf Creek Park
Super focus will be key for Anders in BFL Regional on Lake Wateree
The key for Michael Anders in the BFL Regional on Lake Wateree this weekend will be to focus on what he is doing and not worry about what anybody else is doing.
Anders, the Savannah River BFL points champion, will lead his division anglers against those from the North Carolina, Shenandoah and Volunteer Divisions in the Regional Championship on Wateree Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“I've been on Wateree twice, in two separate tournaments in previous springs, and it's a lot different from springtime fishing,” said Anders who is practicing on the lake this week right up to the tournament. “The fish are already in a fall pattern and they are biting good.”
Anders said about two-thirds of the lake is muddy from the torrential rains over the past week and a half and the other third has a moderate stain.
While there is muddy water from all the rain, surprisingly the lake is not overfilling its banks, Anders said.
“It's surprising because I thought we'd be fishing a lot dirtier water,” he said. “From what I read on the Duke Power website they dropped the lake level in anticipation of the heavy rains. I think that allowed the volume of water than came in not to top the banks.”
But, while he is looking forward to competing in the regional later this week, Anders admitted he feels guilty being able to fish while people less than 30 minutes away are displaced from their homes and many have lost everything in the flooding last week.
“We did not get near the rain in Anderson that the Midlands got. I am trying to keep a positive attitude and praying for those people,” he said. “But I know we have a great state and strong people.”
Although he has come close in the past, Anders won the Savannah River Division points title for the first time this year, thanks to three top 5 finishes, a top 15 and a top 25. His worst tournament was finishing 22nd at Keowee in February, but he rebounded with a 4th at Lake Russell in March, finished 15th at Hartwell April 11, then won at Hartwell two weeks later, and finished the year with a 2nd place at Clarks Hill in September.
“I guess I made the right decisions this year, although I did not change the way I fish from any other year,” he said. “I was fortunate to get the win on Hartwell in late April. I had the bites to win the early April tournament on Hartwell, but just did not execute.”
Although he started out slow on Keowee, he said, things picked up in the next tournament on Russell and continued from that point on.
“I wish things could go that way all the time, but I'm fishing against some of the best fishermen in the state. A couple of years ago I was second in points going to Clarks Hill and had a terrible tournament. This year things came together for me and I really crushed them on Clarks hill.”
Anders said he will work with a variety of baits and try to maintain super focus during the regional this week.
“I am on a lot of fish. I have to have tunnel vision and not worry about the boat in front of me or the boat behind me. I'll just keep the trolling motor on high and keep my head down,” he said.
Walmart BFL Regional
Oct 15-17, 2015
Lake Wateree
Clearwater Cove
Jeremiah Carr Wins The Oakley Bb On Douglas Lake With A 7.20 Lb Catch
Big weekend on Douglas Lake for the Oakley Big Bass Event as 644 anglers showed up to see what kind of big boy bass they could bring to the scales over the two day event. In the end it was Jermiah Carr who brought in an impressive 7.20 Lb fish to claim the $30,000 Boat-Motor-Trailer pkg! Great tournment with lots of impressive hauls-here is a pic of the winner and full results below:
2015 Douglas Lake, TN
Leaders
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JEREMIAH CARR | 7.20 |
| 2 | JOEY FRANKLIN | 6.29 |
| 3 | CASEY LEAMON | 6.24 |
| 4 | TONY MCVEY | 6.15 |
| 5 | ROGER JONES | 6.02 |
| 6 | DUSTIN TURNER | 6.00 |
| 7 | TIM CAIN | 5.85 |
| 8 | ROBERT COUGHLIN | 5.51 |
| 9 | TONY PIERSON | 5.47 |
| 9 | CODY HARRIS | 5.47 |
Saturday 8-9
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CASEY LEAMON | 6.24 |
| 2 | MIKE HOBBY | 5.26 |
| 3 | JEFF HOLT | 5.18 |
| 4 | BART HARRIS | 4.78 |
| 5 | GUY TAYLOR | 3.69 |
| 6 | CHARLES HOPKINS | 3.36 |
| 7 | ROGER MCCRAY | 3.22 |
| 8 | GUNTER ODELL | 2.87 |
Saturday 9-10
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HENRY MAYNOR | 5.40 |
| 2 | WILLIE BRYAN | 5.34 |
| 3 | LOGAN BOHNERT | 5.23 |
| 4 | DEREK SAMPLES | 4.71 |
| 5 | NICK HATFIELD | 4.06 |
| 6 | GREG IRESON | 4.01 |
| 7 | JIM GRIIFIN | 3.83 |
| 8 | DANNY WHALEY | 3.65 |
Saturday 10-11
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ROGER JONES | 6.02 |
| 2 | ALLEN SMITH | 5.18 |
| 3 | BILL COFFEE | 4.92 |
| 4 | RYAN ROGERS | 4.70 |
| 5 | KEITH ANDIES | 4.66 |
| 6 | DAVID MUNDY | 4.47 |
| 7 | NICK HATFIELD | 4.44 |
| 8 | GREG IRESON | 3.94 |
Saturday 11-12
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TOM HALL | 5.11 |
| 2 | SCOTT GARDNER | 4.86 |
| 3 | JEFFERY KIRK | 4.78 |
| 4 | JOSH ROARK | 4.38 |
| 5 | MARK BROWN | 4.22 |
| 6 | RONNIE DENTON | 3.82 |
| 7 | EDDIE COFFEY | 3.75 |
| 8 | JUNIOR MCGEORGE | 3.53 |
Saturday 12-1
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | OSCAR BAILEY | 5.20 |
| 2 | ALLEN SMITH | 4.96 |
| 3 | BUDDY RUNYON | 4.69 |
| 4 | RICK GILL | 4.62 |
| 5 | KEVIN BARBER | 4.55 |
| 6 | TONY ALLGEIER | 4.08 |
| 7 | WILLIE BRYAN | 4.07 |
| 8 | ANN SMITH | 3.84 |
Saturday 1-2
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CODY HARRIS | 5.47 |
| 2 | JAKE GARDNER | 5.04 |
| 3 | HENRY MAYNOR | 4.77 |
| 4 | CHARLES RAMSEY | 4.39 |
| 5 | ROD O'BARR | 4.32 |
| 6 | JEFF HORTON | 4.20 |
| 7 | TIM KIDWELL | 3.75 |
| 8 | MARK BROWN | 3.63 |
Saturday 2-3
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DARYL HOBBY | 4.94 |
| 2 | RONALD MUSGRAVE | 4.88 |
| 3 | ERIC LAINHART | 4.51 |
| 4 | RUSTY REED | 4.42 |
| 5 | SCOTT GARDNER | 3.99 |
| 6 | RYAN JOHNSON | 3.87 |
| 7 | MICHAEL SAMMONS | 3.80 |
| 8 | STEVE REDMOND | 3.69 |
Sunday 8-9
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JEREMIAH CARR | 7.20 |
| 2 | JORDAN PAYNE | 5.22 |
| 3 | DANNY WHALEY | 4.89 |
| 4 | CLINT HARRISON | 4.08 |
| 5 | RONNIE KING | 3.73 |
| 6 | LARRY LAWSON | 3.67 |
| 7 | KEVIN ROBINSON | 2.95 |
| 8 | CHRIS TAYLOR | 2.74 |
Sunday 9-10
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DUSTIN TURNER | 6.00 |
| 2 | TIM CAIN | 5.85 |
| 3 | HAROLD DOTSON | 4.96 |
| 4 | BRADLEY FRANKLIN | 3.93 |
| 5 | MICHAEL SAMMONS | 3.84 |
| 6 | TONY OWNBY | 3.79 |
| 7 | TONY CRUZ | 3.78 |
| 8 | MARK MARSHALL | 3.63 |
Sunday 10-11
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JORDAN WRIGHT | 5.14 |
| 2 | BENNETT MAY | 4.04 |
| 3 | BRANDON HALL | 3.50 |
| 4 | BURTON BRYAN | 3.35 |
| 5 | MIKE GOLDEN | 3.26 |
| 6 | SHERIDAN TAYLOR | 3.24 |
| 7 | DAVID PICKELL | 3.06 |
| 8 | JEFF RUSSELL | 2.82 |
Sunday 11-12
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ROBERT COUGHLIN | 5.51 |
| 2 | TONY PIERSON | 5.47 |
| 3 | JOSH ROARK | 4.80 |
| 4 | TRISTAN COLLINS | 4.11 |
| 5 | TIM WACKER | 4.07 |
| 6 | JEFF RUSSELL | 3.82 |
| 7 | CASEY FOX | 3.43 |
| 8 | KEVIN BARBER | 3.30 |
Sunday 12-1
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EDDIE COFFEY | 5.38 |
| 2 | DUSTIN TURNER | 5.03 |
| 3 | NICK KIRKLAND | 4.82 |
| 4 | CLINT HARRISON | 4.71 |
| 5 | BRIAN HOLT | 4.37 |
| 6 | KELLEY MILLSAPS | 4.24 |
| 7 | JOHN VINSON | 4.05 |
| 8 | MIKE JOHNSON | 3.99 |
Sunday 1-2
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TONY MCVEY | 6.15 |
| 2 | MICHAEL LIVESAY | 5.23 |
| 3 | STEVEN HEADY | 4.35 |
| 4 | JOSH ROARK | 3.97 |
| 5 | RANDALL PENNY | 3.85 |
| 6 | DREW PAYNE | 3.67 |
| 7 | LEE MONDAY | 3.59 |
| 8 | BRYAN FAWVER | 3.40 |
Sunday 2-3
| Rank | Angler | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | JOEY FRANKLIN | 6.29 |
| 2 | EVAN KEITH | 5.44 |
| 3 | JOSH ROARK | 5.28 |
| 4 | KEVIN MULLINS | 5.08 |
| 5 | LARRY ROLEN | 4.95 |
| 6 | JOSEPH BRAKEBILL | 4.58 |
| 7 | LEE HORNER | 4.30 |
| 8 | BUTCH GODDARD | 4.13 |
Powered by A Leaderboard © 2014
Alabama Bass Trail Champs: Billy Sharp And Kevin Stubblefield Crush The Field At Wheeler
Sharp and Stubblefield Win 2105 Alabama Bass Trail Championship
Guntersville Area Team Runs Away with Phoenix Prize Boat
by Dan O’Sullivan
When the staff and crew of the Alabama Bass Trail began talking about the 2015 Alabama Bass Trail at Wheeler Lake out of Decatur’s Ingalls Harbor, the consensus was that fishing was tough. With ever changing weather conditions, the Tennessee River impoundment had yet to reach its fall pattern. The thought was that the winning team would weigh a little over 30 pounds.
Billy Sharp and Kevin Stubblefield shattered that estimate.
The Albertville and Guntersville, Ala. team placed consecutive limits that eclipse the 20-pound mark on the ABT scales and walked away with a victory and a nearly nine-pound margin of victory. Their total weight of 41.41 pounds earned them the keys to a Phoenix Boats prize package complete with a Mercury 200Pro XS, Garmin electronics, Garmin Virb cameras, HydroWave and a trolling motor valued at more than $40,000.
It was their first major victory. “This is an unbelievable feeling that hasn’t sunk in at all,” said Sharp and Stubblefield. “We would never have thought that we’d have been in the position to do this; it is an absolute blessing.”
In limited practice, the pair located an area that held quality bass that struck a green pumpkin orange colored Bo’s Jig and Strike King Rage Craw combo. After catching a couple solid fish in their final practice day, they decided to count on the main river spot less than two miles from Ingalls Harbor, and went looking for more.
When they returned on tournament morning, the fish were schooling. “We tied on bone colored Super Spooks and threw those to the school,” they said. “We caught our first fish at about seven o’clock the first morning and had the limit we weighed by nine o’clock; we had our final limit today by eight.”
They reported searching for similar areas, but did not find any that produced strikes. “We really weren’t concerned because we never saw another boat come within a quarter mile of us,” they said. “We had it to ourselves, and just had to go about executing.”
They reported catching a total of 15 keepers for the two-day event, and only losing one fish that would have added to their weight; a reported six-pound smallmouth that jumped off their topwater bait.
The team of Tim Hurst and Mark McCaig started the tournament in disappointing fashion with a 11-pound limit, but they brought a 20-pound limit to the scales on day two that brought their final weight to 32.48 pounds; good enough for second place and the $5,000 runner up prize. “We didn’t expect for things to go this well today after yesterday,” they said. “We started the day out of the money and had the goal of just getting a check; this is a lot better than we could have expected.” They reported catching fish on shad colored spinnerbaits and crankbaits as well as a jig on areas with significant presence of bait in the mid lake area.
The rest of the top 10 finishers of the 2015 Alabama Bass Trail Championship are as follows:
| 3 | Jonathan Canada/Bo Hunter | 5/0 | 30.82 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4000 | |
| 4 | Adam Bain/Kris Colley | 5/0 | 28.59 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3000 | |
| 5 | Damien Willis/Mark Steward | 5/0 | 28.53 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2500 | |
| 6 | Jeff Shelton/Tim Arnold | 5/0 | 28.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2000 | |
| 7 | John Welborn/Wesley Sams | 5/1 | 27.51 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 1800 | |
| 8 | Jimmy Mason/Lance Walker | 5/0 | 26.57 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1700 | |
| 9 | Greg Tucker/Dillon Tucker | 5/0 | 26.32 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1600 | |
| 10 | Jesse Wiggins/Jordan Wiggins | 5/0 | 26.18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1400 |
ABT CHamps Billy Sharp and Kevin Stubblefield After thier big win!
Day One quality at the ABT CHampionship on Wheeler Lake
| 1 | Billy Sharp/Kevin Stubblefield | 5/0 | 41.41 | 0.00 | 5.76 | Phoenix Boat | |
| 2 | Tim Hurst/Mark Mccaig | 5/0 | 32.48 | 0.00 | 5.87 | 5000 | |
| 3 | Jonathan Canada/Bo Hunter | 5/0 | 30.82 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4000 | |
| 4 | Adam Bain/Kris Colley | 5/0 | 28.59 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3000 | |
| 5 | Damien Willis/Mark Steward | 5/0 | 28.53 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2500 | |
| 6 | Jeff Shelton/Tim Arnold | 5/0 | 28.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2000 | |
| 7 | John Welborn/Wesley Sams | 5/1 | 27.51 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 1800 | |
| 8 | Jimmy Mason/Lance Walker | 5/0 | 26.57 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1700 | |
| 9 | Greg Tucker/Dillon Tucker | 5/0 | 26.32 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1600 | |
| 10 | Jesse Wiggins/Jordan Wiggins | 5/0 | 26.18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1400 | |
| 11 | Waylon Hancock/Timothy Little | 2/0 | 26.09 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1200 | |
| 12 | Craig Daniel /Jackie Flack | 5/0 | 25.99 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1200 | |
| 13 | Blake Hall/Dustin Connell | 5/0 | 25.91 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1200 | |
| 14 | Tony Boyett/Brian Metcalf | 5/0 | 25.73 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1200 | |
| 15 | Larry Blount/Robert Blount | 5/0 | 25.34 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1200 | |
| 16 | Tullis Lanier/Joey Davidson | 5/0 | 25.16 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 17 | Nicholas Turner/Joe Lay | 5/0 | 25.07 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 18 | Gabe Aldridge/Wes Wiggins | 5/0 | 24.48 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 19 | Nathan Brewer/Michael Brewer | 5/0 | 24.12 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 19 | Rickie Knight/Randall Carter | 5/0 | 24.12 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 21 | Josh Bragg/Joe Hartley | 5/0 | 24.03 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 22 | Hadley Coan/Scott Keeling | 5/0 | 23.57 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 23 | Keith Dees/Tommy Walley | 5/0 | 23.56 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 24 | Brock Mosley/Danny Mosley | 5/0 | 23.39 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 25 | Taylor Lamar/Mac Lamar | 5/0 | 23.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1100 | |
| 26 | John Davis/Payton McGinnis | 5/0 | 22.99 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 27 | Michael Szokoly/David Shoop | 5/0 | 22.93 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 28 | Greg Griggers/Barry Landrum | 5/0 | 22.86 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 29 | Kyle Glasgow/Luke Glasgow | 5/0 | 22.80 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 30 | Tony Hogan/Keith Craft | 5/0 | 22.68 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 31 | Kevin Dees/Jim Smith | 5/0 | 22.41 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 32 | Jeremy Tomlin/Greg Tomlin | 5/0 | 22.31 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 33 | Rowdy Wade/Chad Hazel | 5/0 | 22.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 34 | Foster Bradley/Britt Lemley | 5/0 | 21.86 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 35 | George Crain/Allan Glasgow | 5/0 | 21.73 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 35 | Scott Luster/Jerry Cook | 5/0 | 21.73 | 0.00 | 5.97 | 0.00 | |
| 37 | Charlie Cummings/Greg Pugh | 5/0 | 21.27 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 38 | Scott Ashley/Taylor Ashley | 5/0 | 21.07 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 39 | Brian Morris/Brian Jett | 5/0 | 21.03 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 40 | Ralph Moseley/Terry Stevens | 5/0 | 20.94 | 0.00 | 4.66 | 0.00 | |
| 41 | Jeff Richey/Howard Richey | 5/0 | 20.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 42 | Jamie Smith/Michael Rains | 5/0 | 20.84 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 43 | Eddie Jewell/Bobby Simmons | 5/0 | 19.87 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 44 | Andrew Warbington /Taylor Teague | 5/0 | 19.49 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 45 | Jimmy Cook/Joey Mann | 5/0 | 19.40 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 46 | Lanny Guthrie/Lee Hurley | 5/0 | 19.32 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 47 | Craig Bellew/Jason Morgan | 5/0 | 19.07 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 48 | Scott Montgomery/Les Bratcher | 5/0 | 18.79 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 49 | Chris Minor/Chase Benson | 5/0 | 18.69 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 49 | Brandon Staggs/Jerry Wright | 4/0 | 18.69 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Eric Self And Tyler Beam Hold On To Win The Cbc Div Champ On Norman
148 boats with about 140 limits (Not really, but that's what it felt like!!) Great turnout on one rainy, rainy day! Congrats to Eric Self and Tyler Beam with their huge win! Payouts were strong as usual and real kudo's to all who fought thru a downpour from blast off to weigh-in!
| Place | Team Name | Team # | Fish Weighed | Net Weight | Big Fish | Points | Winnings |
| 1 | Eric Self - Tyler Beam | 127 | 5 | 17.190 | 0.000 | 310 | TZX190 |
| 2 | Nathan Webber - Dale Webber | 39 | 5 | 15.360 | 4.680 | 309 | $10,000 |
| 3 | Butch Zadlo - Bryan Lewis | 97 | 5 | 15.280 | 5.150 | 308 | $4,500 |
| 4 | Adam Waters - Dylan Fulk | 1 | 5 | 14.970 | 4.880 | 307 | $3,000 |
| 5 | Johnny Guffey - Wesley Bell | 43 | 5 | 14.760 | 0.000 | 306 | $2,000 |
| 6 | Scott Hamrick - Roger Hoover | 137 | 5 | 14.630 | 0.000 | 305 | $1,400 |
| 7 | David Winters - Russell Winters | 21 | 5 | 14.270 | 3.550 | 304 | $1,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Vickers - Brian Huskins | 2 | 5 | 14.000 | 0.000 | 303 | $800 |
| 9 | Steve Addington - Matt Stout | 29 | 5 | 13.870 | 0.000 | 302 | $750 |
| 10 | Cory Leonard - Paul Rigsbee | 63 | 5 | 13.770 | 0.000 | 301 | $700 |
| 11 | Graham Rushing - Artie Phillips | 131 | 5 | 13.450 | 0.000 | 300 | $650 |
| 12 | Jason Wilson - Kelly Logan | 75 | 5 | 13.440 | 0.000 | 299 | $535 |
| 13 | Greg Whittington - Danny Hucks | 102 | 5 | 13.380 | 4.560 | 298 | $475 |
| 14 | Doug Easton - Pete Bejte | 146 | 5 | 13.200 | 0.000 | 297 | $445 |
| 15 | Michael Smith - Roger Pope | 57 | 5 | 13.190 | 0.000 | 296 | $420 |
| 16 | Wayne Hauser - Anthony Rife | 37 | 5 | 13.090 | 0.000 | 295 | $385 |
| 17 | Ricky Byrd - Chris Graham | 42 | 5 | 12.820 | 4.850 | 294 | $360 |
| 18 | Steve Dyer - Derek Lilley | 110 | 5 | 12.810 | 0.000 | 293 | $330 |
| 19 | Russell Hoyle - Jerry Pruitt | 89 | 5 | 12.710 | 0.000 | 292 | $315 |
| 20 | Robin Collins - Ronnie White | 68 | 5 | 12.640 | 0.000 | 291 | $300 |
| 21 | Aric Dwyer - Robert Anderson | 120 | 5 | 12.590 | 0.000 | 290 | $290 |
| 22 | Robert Osborne - Bobby Osborne | 111 | 5 | 12.410 | 0.000 | 289 | $270 |
| 23 | Johnny Allen - Scott Stallings | 69 | 5 | 12.370 | 0.000 | 288 | $250 |
| 24 | Marvin Godard - Robert Adams | 70 | 5 | 12.080 | 0.000 | 287 | $225 |
| 25 | Chris Wagner - Chase Deal | 7 | 5 | 12.020 | 0.000 | 286 | $200 |
| 26 | Adam Fillmore - Matt Queen | 129 | 5 | 12.000 | 0.000 | 285 | |
| 27 | Wayne Ingram - Chris Brown | 90 | 5 | 11.950 | 0.000 | 284 | |
| 28 | Klaus Hadschin - Jerry Hadschin | 91 | 5 | 11.920 | 0.000 | 283 | |
| 29 | Bill Grier - Robby Byrum | 55 | 5 | 11.870 | 4.100 | 282 | |
| 30 | Michael Kinard - Tony Lambert | 58 | 5 | 11.870 | 4.210 | 281 | |
| 31 | Stacey Richards - Brian Triplett | 96 | 5 | 11.760 | 0.000 | 280 | |
| 32 | Tyler Hoopaugh - Chris Hoopaugh | 135 | 5 | 11.600 | 0.000 | 279 | |
| 33 | Dennis Hensley - Steve Yoder | 80 | 5 | 11.570 | 0.000 | 278 | |
| 34 | Jeff Coble - David Wright | 8 | 5 | 11.370 | 0.000 | 277 | |
| 35 | Ricky Self - Ben Stanton | 144 | 5 | 11.280 | 0.000 | 276 | |
| 36 | Mike Davis - Gerald Ritchie | 62 | 5 | 11.150 | 0.000 | 275 | |
| 37 | Thomas Richmond - Reggie Pollock | 100 | 5 | 11.120 | 0.000 | 274 | |
| 38 | Kenny Seagle - Thomas Simmerson | 17 | 5 | 11.040 | 0.000 | 273 | |
| 39 | Eddie Smith - Michael Carson | 140 | 5 | 11.040 | 0.000 | 272 | |
| 40 | Zack Jeney - Mike Smith | 107 | 5 | 11.010 | 0.000 | 271 | |
| 41 | Joshua Queen - Mike Queen | 114 | 5 | 11.000 | 0.000 | 270 | |
| 42 | Craig Chambers | 141 | 5 | 11.000 | 0.000 | 269 | |
| 43 | John parker - Scott Allison | 61 | 5 | 10.970 | 0.000 | 268 | |
| 44 | Milton Yancey - Larry Yancey | 31 | 5 | 10.930 | 0.000 | 267 | |
| 45 | Jerry Craig - Bobby Lateuch | 128 | 5 | 10.890 | 0.000 | 266 | |
| 46 | brian morgan - anthony Lutz | 123 | 5 | 10.820 | 0.000 | 265 | |
| 47 | Thomas Hardwick - Tommy Williams | 27 | 5 | 10.800 | 0.000 | 264 | |
| 48 | Dale Duncan - Donnie Woody | 119 | 5 | 10.750 | 0.000 | 263 | |
| 49 | Jeff Queen - Carroll Queen | 25 | 5 | 10.730 | 0.000 | 262 | |
| 50 | Michael Kelley - Terry Wike | 50 | 5 | 10.610 | 0.000 | 261 | |
| 51 | Paul Guthrie - Robert Church | 134 | 5 | 10.610 | 0.000 | 260 | |
| 52 | Bryan Welch - Mark Inman | 4 | 5 | 10.590 | 0.000 | 259 | |
| 53 | john drew - mitch drew | 56 | 5 | 10.560 | 0.000 | 258 | |
| 54 | Drew Stankwytch - Dave Whitehead | 72 | 5 | 10.490 | 0.000 | 257 | |
| 55 | Greg Osborne - Wyatt Blevins | 145 | 5 | 10.490 | 0.000 | 256 | |
| 56 | Adam Ridings - Chris Beaird | 19 | 5 | 10.460 | 0.000 | 255 | |
| 57 | Reginald Pickett - Larry Kirk | 139 | 5 | 10.410 | 0.000 | 254 | |
| 58 | Robert Walser - Mack Lowe | 23 | 5 | 10.390 | 0.000 | 253 | |
| 59 | Vince Parker - Mark Parker | 22 | 5 | 10.330 | 0.000 | 252 | |
| 60 | Mike Ray - Orlando Giles | 59 | 5 | 10.300 | 0.000 | 251 | |
| 61 | Allen Eaker - Kelly Homesley | 79 | 5 | 10.190 | 0.000 | 250 | |
| 62 | Brian Travis - Ashley Brotherton | 99 | 5 | 10.190 | 0.000 | 249 | |
| 63 | Dale Surrett - Lee Endicott | 44 | 5 | 10.180 | 0.000 | 248 | |
| 64 | Terry Wien | 15 | 5 | 10.140 | 0.000 | 247 | |
| 65 | David Clanton - Brent Sanders | 105 | 4 | 10.110 | 4.680 | 246 | |
| 66 | Eric Moser - Mark Beck | 92 | 5 | 10.010 | 0.000 | 245 | |
| 67 | Robert Mixon - Robert Lambert | 112 | 5 | 10.010 | 0.000 | 244 | |
| 68 | Mike Clark - Chris Anderson | 24 | 5 | 10.000 | 0.000 | 243 | |
| 69 | Rodney Bell - Tommy Jones | 148 | 5 | 9.980 | 0.000 | 242 | |
| 70 | Greg Bragg - Christopher Terry | 6 | 5 | 9.930 | 0.000 | 241 | |
| 71 | Steven Austin - Roger Wood | 26 | 5 | 9.870 | 0.000 | 240 | |
| 72 | Nick Beaver - Roger Beaver | 143 | 5 | 9.850 | 0.000 | 239 | |
| 73 | Dwight Dellinger - Doug Dellinger | 94 | 5 | 9.780 | 0.000 | 238 | |
| 74 | Jimmy Cummings - Dean Collins | 122 | 5 | 9.560 | 0.000 | 237 | |
| 75 | Jason Quinn - Tony Colacurcio | 53 | 5 | 9.530 | 0.000 | 236 | |
| 76 | Jody Jones | 41 | 5 | 9.450 | 0.000 | 235 | |
| 77 | Mark Lamb - Robert Griswold | 85 | 5 | 9.430 | 0.000 | 234 | |
| 78 | Larry LeHew - Greg Deal | 117 | 5 | 9.360 | 0.000 | 233 | |
| 79 | Rich Szczerbala - Rick Dunstan | 60 | 5 | 9.300 | 0.000 | 232 | |
| 80 | Bo Morris - Ricky Roach | 108 | 5 | 9.240 | 0.000 | 231 | |
| 81 | Danny Nifong - Matthew Nifong | 67 | 5 | 9.200 | 0.000 | 230 | |
| 82 | Robert Bauguess - Rodney Morrow | 14 | 5 | 9.140 | 0.000 | 229 | |
| 83 | Dale Luckey - John Brown | 9 | 5 | 9.120 | 0.000 | 228 | |
| 84 | Dan Funderburk - Rod Cozart | 40 | 5 | 9.090 | 0.000 | 227 | |
| 85 | Larry Denton - Chris Guest | 87 | 5 | 9.030 | 0.000 | 226 | |
| 86 | Dempsey Carter - Ted Mobley | 104 | 5 | 8.910 | 0.000 | 225 | |
| 87 | Todd Garner - Shane Hartman | 109 | 5 | 8.880 | 0.000 | 224 | |
| 88 | Larry Horton - James Marshall | 34 | 5 | 8.860 | 0.000 | 223 | |
| 89 | Bernie Davis - Bobby Snyder | 84 | 5 | 8.820 | 0.000 | 222 | |
| 90 | Israel Gibson - Brian Silvers | 49 | 5 | 8.790 | 0.000 | 221 | |
| 91 | Matthew McBee | 71 | 5 | 8.700 | 0.000 | 220 | |
| 92 | Gary Love - Ricky Todd | 11 | 5 | 8.630 | 0.000 | 219 | |
| 93 | Chris Dover - Robert Fowler | 13 | 5 | 8.540 | 0.000 | 218 | |
| 94 | Wesley Cashwell - Shane Doughtie | 45 | 5 | 8.400 | 0.000 | 217 | |
| 95 | Tanner Stirewalt - Josh Brady | 77 | 5 | 8.400 | 0.000 | 216 | |
| 96 | Jerry Cross - Bryce Owen | 113 | 5 | 8.270 | 0.000 | 215 | |
| 97 | Reggie Guffey - Tommy Chapman | 125 | 5 | 8.190 | 0.000 | 214 | |
| 98 | Mark Swink - Mike Sprouse | 138 | 5 | 8.140 | 0.000 | 213 | |
| 99 | Richard Greene - Kent Brewer's | 83 | 5 | 8.040 | 0.000 | 212 | |
| 100 | Mark Hollifield - Matt Lowe | 16 | 5 | 7.800 | 0.000 | 211 | |
| 101 | Denny Parunak - Tony Blevins | 10 | 5 | 7.480 | 0.000 | 210 | |
| 102 | Wayne Skipworth - Don Sprinkle | 30 | 4 | 7.240 | 0.000 | 209 | |
| 103 | Phil Hennessee - Lee Hoilman | 73 | 5 | 7.150 | 0.000 | 208 | |
| 104 | Jonathan Spivey - Derick Livingston | 116 | 4 | 6.350 | 0.000 | 207 | |
| 105 | Thomas Gavin - Bobby Winn | 121 | 4 | 5.920 | 0.000 | 206 | |
| 106 | Ronnie Britt - Jim Britt | 78 | 3 | 5.770 | 0.000 | 205 | |
| 107 | Mason Boyd | 124 | 3 | 5.350 | 0.000 | 204 | |
| 108 | Brendon Schneider - Kyle James | 132 | 2 | 3.550 | 0.000 | 203 | |
| 109 | Ben Parker | 3 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 202 | |
| 110 | Jerry Lineberger - Shane Lineberger | 5 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 201 | |
| 111 | Doug Punch - Rocky Franklin | 12 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 200 | |
| 112 | Todd Sumner - Robert Parrish | 18 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 199 | |
| 113 | Nick Miller - Brandon Brickweg | 20 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 198 | |
| 114 | Brent Berry - Steve Shaw | 28 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 197 | |
| 115 | Dennis Cable - Tim Harrison | 32 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 196 | |
| 116 | James Wall - Jimmy Wall | 33 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 195 | |
| 117 | Louie Hull - Chuck Montgomery | 35 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 194 | |
| 118 | Marcus Leech - Tim Chapman | 36 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 193 | |
| 119 | Chuck Morton - Kevin Sheppard | 38 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 192 | |
| 120 | Eric Jeter - Darren Jeter | 46 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 191 | |
| 121 | Kevin Toler - Rodney Lambert | 47 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 190 | |
| 122 | Tony Stafford - Joshua Stafford | 48 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 189 | |
| 123 | Hunter Hicks - Bobby Rice | 51 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 188 | |
| 124 | Shaun Simmons - Nick Greene | 52 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 187 | |
| 125 | Brian Stowe - Shannon Stowe | 54 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 186 | |
| 126 | Keith Speece - Wendell Ireland | 64 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 185 | |
| 127 | Rick Carson - Ricky Parrish | 65 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 184 | |
| 128 | Nathan Royal - David Brookshire | 66 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 183 | |
| 129 | Greg Sims - Michael Huffman | 74 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 182 | |
| 130 | Mitchell Cook - Todd Huffman | 76 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 181 | |
| 131 | Phillip Frady - Dirk Porter | 81 | 5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 180 | |
| 132 | Douglas Fowler | 82 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 179 | |
| 133 | Marc Grigg - Tracy Schiff | 86 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 178 | |
| 134 | Dwayne Hughes - Micheal Gibson | 88 | 5 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 177 | |
| 135 | John Gutierrez - Joe Anders | 93 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 176 | |
| 136 | Michael Cribb - Roger Cribb | 95 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 175 | |
| 137 | John Martin - Christopher Allard | 98 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 174 | |
| 138 | David Blanton - William Blanton | 101 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 173 | |
| 139 | Jerry Goble - Scott Griffin | 103 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 172 | |
| 140 | Darren Sigmon - Brian Huffman | 106 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 171 | |
| 141 | Brian Hall - Doug Stallings | 115 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 170 | |
| 142 | Duke Denison - Jamie Denison | 118 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 169 | |
| 143 | Clint Benbow - Jeremi Beatty | 126 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 168 | |
| 144 | Tracy Brown | 130 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |
| 145 | Michael Webster - Guy Eaker | 133 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 166 | |
| 146 | Lester Elton - Chris Martin | 136 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 165 | |
| 147 | Parks Jones - Daniel Hill | 142 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 164 | |
| 148 | Mike Branch - Brian Branch | 147 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 163 |
Scott Martin joins LIVETARGET staff
Gary Abernethy, marketing manager of LIVETARGET commented on the selection of Scott Martin to the LIVETARGET team: “Scott brings to LIVETARGET a great blend of proven tournament fishing excellence along with one of the best media outlets via his TV show and recognized personality. We’ve talked to Scott over the years, and with his recent Angler of the Year achievement on the FLW Tour, and our ongoing growth at LIVETARGET, it was the right time to add Scott onto our team.â€
Abernethy added, “Scott will help us in promotions with the media elements, but as with all our ProStaff, we look to use Scott and his proven skills as a leading bass angler to help us with our continued lure designs. It is great that Scott is also a multi-species angler, and that works well to help us across a product line that now has over 750+ lure models. We have plans to have Scott present tips and techniques to anglers so they can become better fishermen with LIVETARGET lures.â€
Martin had his own interest in seeking a partnership with the LIVETARGET brand. “LIVETARGET is a company that has won a “Best of Show†lure award for 5 out of the past 6 years at ICAST, and man, they have some great lure designs. Not only are the designs impressive, but as a travelling tournament angler and television producer, I need a very wide spectrum of lures to use. LIVETARGET offers me the most impressive lure selections, and I really like the Match-the-Hatch® strategy of matching the lure to the local forage base. As a tournament angler, we all want a competitive edge, and the LIVETARGET brand will give me that advantage to win.â€
Anglers will be able to view the Scott Martin Challenge TV show, which will air on multiple networks beginning in January (check local and cable listings for air times), plus learn tips and tactics he shares on his Facebook page, YouTube Channel and website: http://www.scottmartinchallenge.com
In addition to Scott Martin, the current roster of LIVETARGET Pro Staff anglers includes: Dave Mercer, host of Facts of Fishing; Patrick Campeau, Canadian journalist and author; Henry Waszczuk, host of Fishing the Flats; Jason South, host of “Florida Adventure Quest†and two Bassmaster Elite Pros, Stephen Browning and David Walker. See ProStaff content online at: http://www.livetargetlures.com/livetarget-pros
Anglers Face Two Choices In Alabama Bass Trail Championship Smallmouths Or Largemouths
Anglers in the Alabama Bass Trail Championship on Wheeler Lake this weekend basically have two choices, according to veteran tournament angler Mark McCaig: run up the river and fish for smallmouth in the tailrace behind Guntersville Dam or stay down lake and fish the channel edges and shellbeds for largemouths.
“A lot of people will make the run up to Guntersville Dam and that is where a lot of fall tournaments are won,” said McCaig, who with teammate Tim Hurst, both of Oxford, Ala., is ranked 5th in points in the ABT North Division. “But there are some good largemouths in the back of Flint Creek which runs by the the ramp and I think that will be a player, too.”
Recent rains have poured a lot of water in the Tennessee River system, which creates current, and that will boost the tailrace fishing. However, this time of year Wheeler goes through an annual draw down, which has pulled the water off shoreline structure down the lake, causing the bass to move out to the channels and scatter, McCaig said.
“It's down about two feet now,” he said, “which eliminates a lot of flats areas. A lot of those fish may be drawn out and are on the shall beds. I think there will be some fish on the shell beds and up the creeks.”
The choice, McCaig said, is for anglers make the run up to the Guntersville tailrace and fish for a few bites or stay down the lake and fish for more bites.
“I am not crazy about fishing in the tailrace. It's kind of an all-in deal. You don't have to time to go anywhere else if it doesn't pan out. But if you catch five up there, some of them will be big ones. There are some really good 3-0 to 4-pound fish up there.”
Conversely, he said, if you fish down the lake you will likely get a lot more bites, but you might not have but 11 or 12 pounds. Or, you could have a lot more weight than that.
“I think it will take 17 to 17 ½ pounds a day to win it and I think I can fish down the lake and have 17 pounds a day,” he said.
Anglers will be fishing for a complete boat package for the first place prize – a Phoenix 819 Pro complete with a 200 Mercury, Garmin electronics, 2-Garmin VIRB Elite cameras, HydroWave H-2, T-H Marine Atlas Hydraulic Jack Plate and Minn Kota trolling motor.
Alabama Bass Trail Championship
Oct 9-10, 2015
Wheeler Lake
Ingalls Harbour
Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425
Low Water On Wylie Forces Cbc North Carolina Championship Move To Lake Norman
Ironically, while much of the rest of South Carolina and parts of North Carolina were experiencing flooding at historic levels due to the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the region, the water level on Lake Wylie is too low, so the Carolinas Bass Challenge North Carolina Division Championship this Saturday has been moved to Lake Norman.
“We had to move the championship to Lake Norman because of low water levels and ramp closures at Lake Wylie,” said tournament director Brett Collins. The championship will now be held out of Queens Landing (McCrary Creek) on Lake Norman.
“Lake Norman water levels have risen and with the recent rains the water color will be good for shallow fishing,” Collins said. “I look for 18 to 20 pounds to win it, with several good bags brought in.”
Collins said more than 180 teams are eligible to enter the championship, which has a 2016 Skeeter TZX190 with a 150 Yamaha HPDI outboard as a first prize.
“The rest of the field will be paid 100 percent of the entry fee which could total over $40,000,” Collins said, adding that the Big Fish winner will get $1,000 and there will be a three-place Skeeter bonus with $2,500 to the top finishing Skeeter team, $1,500 to the second place team and $1,000 to the third place team.
Collins said the Championship Saturday will cap another banner year for the North Carolina Division.
“Our membership increased with many new faces and the NC CBC averaged 180 teams this year.”
Jason Wilson and Kelly Logan won the points championship and the top points prize of $1,000. Thomas Hardwick and Tommy Williams were second and earned $500, while Wayne Ingram and Chris Brown finished third and won $250.
The 2015 Carolinas Bass Challenge season will conclude Oct. 23-24 with the CBC Classic on Clarks Hill Lake out of Wildwood Park, featuring teams from both the NC and SC divisions. First place in the Classic will be a Skeeter ZX200 with a Yamaha 200 SHO Engine, and the highest finishing Skeeter/Yamaha Team will win $5,000.
Collins also announced the 2016 regular season schedule for both the North Carolina and South Carolina divisions, with lakes and times to be announced later for the division championships and the 2016 CBC Classic.
The North Carolina Division schedule includes: Feb. 6, Lake Wylie; March 19, Lake Norman; April 2, High Rock Lake; and April 30, Lake Hickory. The South Carolina Division schedule includes: Feb. 20, Lake Wateree; March 5, Santee Cooper; April 23, the Waccamaw River; and May 14, Lake Murray.
Carolinas Bass Challenge - NC Div Championship
Sat, Oct 10, 2015
Lake Norman
Queens Landing
Call Brett Collins 803-413-7521
www.carolinasbasschallenge.com
$5000 Guraranteed For 1St Place At Every Fom Event In 2016!
Ok folks the raffle is finished and the SC Upstate Fishers of Men Trail will be a guaranteed $5,000 for first at every event. Only stipulation is that one of the anglers must be at the pretournament meeting. That is as good as it gets on a $150 entry fee. Thanks goes out to all of my team members that put the time and effort in on selling raffle tickets. As well, be looking at the www.fomntt.com site every day in the month of October as the guns will be given away daily. Daily winners will be posted.
Finally put black Friday on your schedule as the day after thanksgiving we will be holding the 3rd annual black Friday black bag and giving away $10,000 in cash and prize values guaranteed.
ONE FISH $5000 could be a very good day.
Along with the $5000 every tournament this year we will also have brand bonuses amd the Palmetto Boat Center buyer money at every event. God is good and thanks for those who helped and purchased tickets. Look forward to seeing you all the last Saturday of the month from January to May. Other bonuses will be announced soon as well, so stay tuned for an awesome 2016. 
Anthony Gagliardi Rolls Out New Rod Line-Full Preview Of Level Rods With Ag At The Flw Cup!
FLW Tour Pro and Sportsman's Warehouse Pro Anthony Gagliardi takes a few minutes to go over his new ROD Series with us called LEVEL RODS. With AG an engineering degree, something tells us these should be pretty good!
Anglers Choice Ranger Classic On Kerr Rescheduled For Nov 7-8, 2015
Chris Lucas had been pulling his hair out this week, eyes glued to the weather reports on television, facing the bugaboo of all fishing tournament directors: the possibility of having to postpone a year-end championship because of unsafe weather conditions.
The first of two championships for the Anglers Choice Invitational Team Trail HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED to be fished Saturday and Sunday, Nov 7-8 on Kerr Reservoir. Having consolidated the Virginia and North Carolina divisions of the Anglers Choice Trail, the series scheduled the Ranger Classic on Kerr and the Triton Classic on High Rock Lake Oct. 17-18.
But this weekend Lucas was facing an extremely muddled weather picture. A recent tropical depression moving up the East Coast has dumped tons of rain on the Carolinas and Virginia, creating dangerous flooding is some areas. To compound the situation, Hurricane Joaquin is poised to hit the North Carolina coast by early next week if it stays on its current track – and more rain and high winds could come in well ahead of the main storm.
“That could bring in a ton of rain and high winds this weekend,” Lucas said. High winds associated with major storms this time of year are another factor that could pose real danger to the anglers, Lucas said.
“There are about 12 different paths the storm could take and it could stay out in the ocean,” he said. “It could come in and bring 5 to 8 inches of rain and that would not have bothered us much, but the threat of high winds did bother us,” he said.
The Governor of Virginia, having declared a state of emergency DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER AND THE THREAT OF HURRICANE JOAQUIN, made the decision for Lucas and has forced him to reschedule the tournament for Nov 7-8, 2015 on Kerr.
Lucas said more than 100 boats had already pre-registered and he hopes to have 130 to 140 boats fish the Classic at Kerr in November.
David Wright and Jeff Coble repeated as points champions, he said. The 2015 points championship team will have their entry fee paid for the B.A.S.S. Toyota Team Championship. Lucas said Anglers Choice will send 12 teams to the Toyota Championship.
“We had one team finish second in the Toyota Team Championship this past year and one angler, Brandon Gray, won the individual title and went on to fish in the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell. We are hoping to repeat that success this year,” he said.
Anglers Choice Invitational Team Trail Classic
Nov 7-8, 2015
Kerr / Buggs Island Lake
Occoneechee State Park Ramp #1
Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844
Central Open On Table Rock Will Probably Be A 'junk Fishing' Tournament For Browning
Fishing is tough, the weather appears poised to make it worse, and Stephen Browning has not found anything close to a solid pattern to bank on, so he plans to “just go junk fishing” when the third and final Bassmaster Central Open Tournament starts Thursday on Table Rock Lake.
“We've got a cold front about to blow through and that is not going to help the situation,” Browning said. “Table Rock is notorious for fogging in and if we get some cold in the morning and there is no wind to blow that front out of here our day may be cut pretty short.”
If that happens, Browning said, he plans to fish pretty close to the launch site and try to make the best of whatever he can come up with.
“I don't have a set game plan. I am kind of waiting to see what tomorrow morning brings,” the Little Rock, Ark., pro said. “This is one of those deals where I am getting a few keeper bites a day. It's just old junk fishing. I don't have anything to put a solid pattern together, so I am going to continue doing what I have been doing – fishing a little shallow, fishing a little deep and fishing a little in between.”
It's not like there are limited options, he said. Table Rock offers a lot of different ways to catch fish – boat docks, timber in the water, brush piles, rock piles and other structures.
“All I need to do is go out there and fish what the conditions dictate, fish to my strengths and hopefully get something going tomorrow that will continue all three days,” he said. “After all, it doesn't matter what you do in practice, it's what you do in the tournament.”
Browning would love nothing better than to win on Table Rock and get the automatic bid to fish the 2016 Bassmaster Classic on the Grand Lake O' the Cherokees at Tulsa, Okla., next March.
He placed 5th in the Central Open on Ross Barnett in March and 5th again in the second Open on Fort Gibson Lake two weeks ago, so the division final on Table Rock represent his last shot at making the 2016 Classic field.
“I was in pretty good standing in the Elite Series, but I messed around and fell out of contention the last couple of tournaments. So I am mighty hungry. If I don't win I am not going to the Classic,” Browning said.
There is one other goal in the Central Open Final this week – the points title. Browning and veteran pro Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., are in a virtual tie for the title going into the last Open. Biffle, who finished 3rd at Ross Barnett in March and 6th at Fort Gibson Lake in September, leads Browning by a single point.
“Tommy and I are the only two guys who have had two pretty good tournaments, so it basically means if I cash a check in this tournament and finish ahead of him I'll get the title,' Browning said. “But I sure would like to win it and go to the Classic.”
Bassmaster Central Open
Oct 1-3, 2015
Table Rock Lake
Table Rock State Park
Fishing Solo Means Eku Angler Will Have To Fish Smart In Flw College Central Conference Championship
In his college career, Ethan Snyder and his Eastern Kentucky teammates have won three FLW College Central Conference qualifiers, but he will be navigating uncharted waters in the Central Conference Championship this weekend on Carlyle Lake in Carlyle, Ill. He actually knows the lake itself, but he will be fishing it solo – an unfamiliar situation, for sure.
Shaw Owens, who teamed with Snyder to win the Central Conference tournament on Kentucky Lake last month, had some school issues that will keep him out of competition this weekend.
“We were fortunate to win at Kentucky Lake together,” said Snyder. “This will be my first college tournament where I had to go on it on my own. It will be different from the standpoint of not having someone in the boat with me to kind of help eliminate water, suggest different things. It is definitely going to be a whole lot different.”
The lake itself, he said, also presents a challenge.
“I went out to Carlyle to practice two weeks ago on Saturday and Sunday and it seemed pretty tough. The lake was a lot lower than it was when I was there three years ago. Conditions were also tough. The wind was blowing and that lake limits you when the wind blows.”
Although the lake encompasses 26,000 acres, Snyder said it only has a half dozen or so small creeks feeding it so there is not nearly as much shoreline to fish as most other lakes.
“When the wind blows it really fishes small,” he said.
Snyder plans to leave very early Thursday morning to get in two days of practice before the tournament starts on Saturday.
“I am going to try to figure something out different than what I know everybody else will be trying to do,” he said. “I'm not going to burn a lot of gas and I'm not going to fish any of the areas we were in two weeks ago. I'm going to try to keep an open mind and hopefully find something that will help in the tournament.”
Ironically, while Snyder – who teamed with Kyle Raymer to finish 3rd in the FLW College National Championship on South Carolina's Lake Murray in April – is representing Eastern Kentucky University, he actually is now a grad student at the University of Kentucky, working on a Master's Degree in plant and soil science.
“I graduated from EKU back in May with a degree in agronomy and natural resources,” he said. “This will be my 5th year of eligibility, but I probably won't have time to fish with all the time needed for study and research that goes into a Master's program.”
And, he said, when he gets that graduate degree he will be seeking a job in the agriculture industry as an agronomist or crop consultant, although the idea of fishing professionally is not completely off the table.
“Maybe, if the money is right, I'll fish the Rayovacs or B.A.S.S. Opens. Then one of these days if the opportunity presents itself and I am still able, I would definitely consider it,” he said.
Meanwhile, there is the Central Conference Championship this weekend on Carlyle Lake with the opportunity to win the $4,000 first prize and earn a berth in the FLW College Fishing National Championship.
To get there Snyder will have to do it without any help.
“Fishing solo is going to be tough to do,” he said. “But, if I keep my head straight and make the right decisions, hopefully I can put every fish that bites into the boat.”
FLW College Fishing Central Conference Championship
Oct 3-4, 2015
Carlyle Lake
Dam West Boat Ramp
Finding groups of bass in the grass will be key in FLW College Southeastern Championship on Pickwick
The FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship on Pickwick Lake this weekend is going to be about one thing and one thing only – grass.
Not the kind you mow in the front yard. This is hydrilla, the most seen on Pickwick in years, and that's where the bass are, said SE Conference angler Patrick Walters of the University of South Carolina.
“They had a mild winter and now there are miles and miles of hydrilla,” said Walters, who teamed with Gettys Brannon to win the FLW College Fishing National Championship on Lake Murray in April. Walters, of Summerville, S.C., is teamed with Josh Rennebaum of Chapin, S.C., for the 2015 FLW College season.
“Once you get that much hydrilla in a lake it all looks the same.”
The key, Walters said, will be to be patient and work down the grass, finding the pockets of bass hiding in the hydrilla – and fish error-free.
“It's going to be tough. You are only going to get five or six bites a day, so you have to be consistent and put those five or six fish in the boat. Just don't make any fishing mistakes.”
Walters noted that it only took 32 pounds to win the Walmart BFL Mississippi Division Super Tournament on Pickwick last weekend.
“That's a 16-pound average per day, so we figure 12 pounds a day will put us in the top 10,” he said. Forty-five college teams have qualified for this event and will be competing for a top award of $4,000 and a berth in the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“We'll be working a jig in the grass, some topwater and probably a frog, that kind of stuff,” Walters said. “Somebody will have a smallmouth in the bag, but the tournament won't be won on smallmouth bass. To win you are going to have to have largemouths.”
Walters left for Pickwick Wednesday and Rennenbaum will join him Friday to practice before the tournametn begins.
“We'll be refining techniques, but mainly we'll be looking for pockets of fish,” Walters said, noting that during the summer anglers could find one school of fish and catch 30 to 40 bass out of it every day, but that is no longer the case.
“Now if you find a pocket of fish it may hold only four or five fish. We will need to find different areas holding fish. They are getting so much pressure that one or two groups of fish won't hold up over two days. We will need multiple pockets of fish.”
Rennebaum and Walters qualified for the Southeastern Conference Championship on Pickwick Lake by finishing 8th in the Southeastern Conference tournament at Guntersville May 2. They also finished 6th at the end of May on Lake Hartwell.
While they hope to finish in the top 10 and advance to the 2016 National Championship, Walters said they will be fishing to win at Pickwick.
“If you are not fishing to win you don't fish as hard as you should be fishing. You don't try to fish as hard as you can. I am not setting my goal to just come in the top 10, but if you fish to win you can be happy with a top 10 finish,” he said.
FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship
Sep 26-27, 2015
Pickwick Lake
McFarland Park
East Wind On Lake Erie Affecting Fish And Fishermen In B.a.s.s. Northern Open
The weather is always a factor for tournaments on Lake Erie and it's no different for the Bassmaster Northern Open which begins Thursday.
In fact, on the surface, the weather looks pretty nice for the tournament. Even on a normal day winds can kick up 3- to 4-foot waves and on a windy day they could be rolling 8 or 9 feet high. But the forecast for this weekend is for a mild East wind creating waves no more than 1 to 2 feet high.
The problem, said veteran Lake Erie bass angler Dave Lefebre, is not the velocity. It's the direction.
“The prevailing wind on Lake Erie is West and there is tons of current in Lake Erie, so this just throws everything off a little bit. It makes the current not work right and everything about it is just unnatural.”
Not to mention, Lefebre said, with a West wind all the places everybody fishes – on the East sides of the islands – all the community areas, are all better off.
“But this East wind throws a monkey wrench into the fishermen and the fish.”
After two days of practice, Lefebre, who is leading the Angler of the Year standings in the Bassmaster Northern Opens, said fishing is a lot different than it was three weeks ago in the FLW Fishing Northern Rayovac tournament on Lake Erie. He finished “a disappointing 3rd” in that tournament, a scant half-pound under the winner, and ended up 2nd in the Northern Rayovac AOY race.
“The fish were just starting to flirt with the fall deal in that tournament and I figured they would be in full-blown fall phase by now, but the fishing is pretty tough right now,” he said. “I still think the weights will be up there because we are fishing on Lake Erie, but if we had a West wind it would definitely be better.”
The key to winning the tournament, said Lefebre who lives on the lake at Erie, Pa., will be to catch “bigger fish.”
“There are a zillion 3-pounders in the lake and they don't do you any good at all here. The key is finding fish bigger than 3 pounds.”
Lefebre fished B.A.S.S. early on in his career, making six top 20s from 2001 to 2003. His high was 7th place twice – the 2002 Maryland Eastern Open on the Potomac River and the 2002 Northern Open on the St. Lawrence River. He also finished 22nd in the 2003 Bassmaster Classic on the Louisiana Delta.
Starting in 2003 he has won 6 tournaments and has 51 top 10 finishes in FLW competitions, earning more than $1.8 million, with two Northern Rayovac Series AOY titles, one FLW Series title, seven top 15s in FLW Tour standings and five top 15s in the Forrest Wood Cup, finishing as high as 2nd place in 2008.
From 2011 to 2015 he scored four top 10s in B.A.S.S. Northern Open tournaments, including 8th on the James River in July and 6th on Oneida Lake in August, which has him leading the points going into the final this weekend on Lake Erie.
A first place finish would mean an automatic bid to the 2016 Bassmaster Classic, but Lefebre said he will not go for broke to earn that invitation.
“I am known for making really long, crazy runs and I am worried about doing that in this tournament. If I were to break down it would mess up my chances to finish in the top five in the points and qualify for the Elite Series next year,” he said.
“My mentality going into this tournament is just don't do anything stupid, catch 17 ½ pounds a day, finish in the top five in the AOY race – and go to the Elites next year.”
Bassmaster Northern Open
Sep 24-26, 2015
Lake Erie
Shelby Street Public Boat Ramp
Sandusky, OH
Best Bet For A Winning Fish In Oakley Big Bass Bash On Lake Murray Likely Will Be Shallow Topwater Bite
The majority of the fish caught in the Oakley South Carolina Big Bass Bash on Lake Murray this weekend likely will be schooling fish, but the top hourly winners and the overall Grand Prize winner will probably come on a shallow topwater bite or by flipping wood cover in the upper end of the lake, said veteran local angler Andy Wicker of Pomaria.
Wicker and his dad, Steve, finished second in the Carolina Anglers Team Trail tournament on Lake Murray Sept. 12 with a limit that weighed 15.66 pounds.
“Most of the fish we caught were schooling fish, but we caught one pretty good one on a topwater bait shallow around a dock on the bank early in the day,” Wicker said. “All the others we caught on Spooks and flukes, schooling over deep water.”
This weekend weather-wise looks to be similar to two weekends ago, he said, with overcast skies and the possibility of rain cooling things down.
“That will probably hurt the deep water schooling bite, but it will make the shallow topwater bite even better and that is where the bigger fish will be caught,” said Wicker who plans to fish the Big Bass tournament with his brother, Gary. “Probably all the hourly winners will come shallow. You will probably see a lot of 3 ½- to 4-pounders weighed in.”
More than $66,000 is on the line in prize money for the tournament, with the overall grand prize for the largest bass weighed over the two days a 2015 Nitro Z7 with a Mercury 150HP ProXS motor, valued at $30,000. Hourly paybacks will total $36,750, paid as follows: 1st $1,000, 2nd $500, 3rd $300, 4th $250, 5th $200, 6th $150, 7th $125, 8th $100. Weigh in Times both days: 8-9 a.m., 9-10 a.m., 10-11 a.m., 11 a.m.-12 p.m., 12-1 p.m., 1-2 p.m., 2-3 p.m.
Entry fee for the South Carolina Big Bass Bash on Lake Murray is $110 per day or $160 for two days per angler. Registration will be held at Dreher Island State Park from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday for any anglers who have not already registered and paid their entry fees.
The Oakley Big Bass Tour is open only to amateur anglers. Anglers who have guided for a fee of any kind on Lake Murray within the past 12 months and anglers who have competed in tournaments with entry fees of $1,000 or more in the past 12 months are not eligible.
There are also contingency programs available to anglers in the Big Bass Tour: Nitro BPS, www.tournament-rewards.com; Optima, https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/experience/optima-true-blue; Talon Rewards, http://www.minnkotamotors.com/talonrewards/; and Toyota Bonus Bucks, www.toyotafishing.com.
Oakley Big Bass Trail
Sep 26-27, 2015
Lake Murray
Dreher Island State Park
Call Mark Jones 214-605-4600
Mack And Patrick Cook Win The Cbc Sc Championship On Santee With Record Breaking Day!
98 teams showed up on a beautiful Sat for the CBC SC Championship on Santee...........as we predicted earlier in the week, the weights were unbelievable, with 9 bags over 20 Lbs including the Champions sack of 27.73 Lbs! The lake is down over 4 feet, and being as shallow as it is, this had an impact on everyone with regards to safety and being extremely aware of stumps and newley exposed area's. With the conditions what they were, most fish were caught on frogs and spinnerbaits. Here are some pics of the winners as well as some other fantastic sacks including the 8.59 LB Bigfish! Congrats to Mack and Patrick Cook on the win, and their new $35,000 Boat-Motor-trailer package! Attached are the full results and some pics from the weigh-in at John C Land:
Bradford and Dwight Beavers hold up their 2nd place bag of 26.48 Lbs!
Greg Davis and Dennis Parks with 24.34 Lbs to start the weigh-in!
This 8.59 LB BF was a BEAST!!
CBC Santee Champions Mack and Patrick Cook talk about their massive 27.73 Lb Winning Day!
What a day on Santee for Mack and Patrick Cook! 27.73 Lbs on 5 fish let them ride home with a $35,000 Boat-Motor-Trailer package! They share their record breaking day with us right here...
Sportsman's Warehouse Santee Preview Report
Sportman's Warehouse fishing Manager Craig Baird takes us thru the HOT BAITS everyone is using down on Santee right now. Click here to see what could win $40,000 Sat!!
CBC Championship Preivew with Tournament Director Brett Collins
CBC Tournament Director Brett Collins shares with us what could be one of the best Championships in years down on Santee Sat...click here for the full story!
Extreme Low Water Presents Serious Challenges For Cbc-Sc Championship At Santee Cooper
Dangerously low water levels in the Santee Cooper Lakes will present serious challenges – both from a fishing standpoint and personal safety – to anglers fishing in the Carolinas Bass Challenge South Carolina Division Championship this Saturday.
“It's getting pretty low,” said CBC angler Bradford Beavers of Summerville. “It's about 4 ½ feet low in the upper lake and 3 ½ feet low in the lower lake.”
On normal lakes like Lake Murray, Beavers said, that drop in water levels would not present nearly as serious a problem, but he noted, “On Santee, when it gets two feet low it starts getting pretty treacherous.”
The low water levels have also left normal fishable structure high and dry and the fish have pulled off into different areas on different types of structure, he said.
“I think the low levels will concentrate some of the fish. There is just not a lot of real estate up shallow right now, not a lot of flooded vegetation. A lot of trees people normally fish don't have enough water on them to fish now. Even the local guys are having to re-learn the lake because it is not fishing like it would typically.”
Beavers, who fishes the CBC with his dad, Dwight Beavers, also of Summerville, said the swamp area in the upper lake has been where most of the tournaments have been won this year, but the low water makes it challenging to fish.
“Fishing frogs around the vegetation has been a big pattern, but finding the fish and being able to get to them with all the stumps and sandbars is going to be the challenge. It's going to be hard to get back safely to where you found them earlier.”
The key in the championship will be to find the right vegetation flooded in 2 to 3 feet of water, he said.
“The floating heart is what is flooded right now in the upper end of the upper lake, hyacinths and flooded heart. It's fishable, but it's hard to find any fishable vegetation in the lower lake right now.”
Another key is the shad migration, he added.
“I am going to be looking for areas where the fish have been moving up into, like shallow bars, places like that,” Beavers said. “A lot of shad are starting to push shallow right now so I am going to be looking for concentrations of fish, groups of fish moving up and feeding on the shad.”
While the extremely low water levels present serious challenges to the fishermen, Beavers said some anglers will still catch sizable bags of fish.
“There was a Berkeley tournament recently and two guys weighed in bags of 27 and 28; pounds. In my mind, I am think 28 pounds will win Saturday, but it would not surprise me if somebody came in with over 30 pounds.”
The winning team in Saturday's championship will trailer home a 215 Skeeter TZX190 with 150 Yamaha HPDI outboard.
All anglers who fish the S.C. Division Championship at Santee Cooper will qualify for the Carolinas Bass Challenge Classic, along with anglers from the North Carolina Division Championship, on Clarks Hill Lake Oct. 23. The Classic Champions will win a Skeeter ZX200/200SHO.
Carolinas Bass Challenge - SC Division Championship
Sat, Sep 19, 2015
Santee Cooper Lakes
John C. Land III Landing
Brett Collins 803-413-7521
Flw College Southern Conference Anglers Will Be Fighting Heavy Tournament Pressure On The Red River
Fishing is “kind of tough” and it could get even tougher Saturday in the FLW College Fising Southern Conference tournament qualifier on the Red River near Natchitoches, La., said collegiate angler Blake Alford of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
“There is a 200-boat tournament coming out of Shreveport and another tournament with about 100 boats, so you are going to have over 300 boats on the river Saturday,” Alford said. “That's going to be a big factor, with all that boat traffic pressuring the fish.”
The heavy pressure means a lot of anglers will have to wait their turn to fish a particular spot, he said.
“You will be fighting boats to get to a place, so you will have to be patient, fish behind other people and hope you can catch them.”
The heavy boat traffic is not the only factor that the collegiate anglers will face Saturday, Alford said.
“I fished a lot of backwater areas. I figured they would be in the backwaters, but it was just not happening in the backwaters for me,” he said. “I think that has to do with all the flooding that occurred. It took away most of the vegetation in the backwaters.”
As a result, he said, most of the shad he has seen were either out on the main river or towards the mouths of the backwater areas.
“The fish are in fall transition right now and they are definitely relating to the shad,” he said. “The fish I found in practice that I think could possibly win the tournament were on the shad.”
Alford said he fished the river last Friday and had a “pretty good” day, catching nearly 20 bass with his best five weighing 13 to 14 pounds. His best fish was a 5-pounder.
“Fishing is tough, but what I figured out is that if you get some bites they are usually pretty decent fish,” he said. “I think the tournament will be won shallow. I caught my fish in 3 to 4 feet of water.”
Alford is a senior majoring in general studies from West Monroe, La., “about 10 minutes from Duck Dynasty,” he said. And, yes, he is a duck hunter, too. His teammate, Slade Daniel, is a senior nursing major from Hale, La.
They are both familiar with the Red River. Monroe, La., is just a little over 100 miles north of Natchitoches, about a two-hour drive from school.
FLW College Fishing Southern Conference
Sat, Sep 19, 2015
Red River-LA
Grand Core Recreation Area
Anglers Will Need Their 'a-Game' In Airport Marine Classic On Mystery Lake
Shades of the first few years of the granddaddy of all bass championships – the Bassmaster Classic. The year-end Classic for the Airport Marine Tournament Trail will be fished on a mystery lake Saturday.
They won't load the anglers on an airplane and fly them off to waters unknown, announcing the mystery lake when they reached their destination like B.A.S.S. did in the early years of the Bassmaster Classic. But the Airport Marine anglers won't know what lake they will be fishing – and neither will Airport Marine officials – until the name of the lake is pulled out of a hat at the mandatory angler's meeting Thursday night at the boat dealership in Alabaster, Ala.
“We'll put Coosa River lakes in a hat and draw one out,” said Clint Nail, tournament director. “It could be Guntersville, Martin, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell or Jordan. They are all great lakes.”
There could even be a 'wild card' lake in the mix, Nail said.
“We have the top 40 percent of our field qualified and these are probably some of the better fishermen in the South. The winner will need to bring their A-game.”
One thing is certain, he said. Current is a major factor in all the Coosa River lakes in the summer and early fall, so a lot will depend on how much water Alabama Power is moving on Saturday.
Top prize in the classic is $5,000 which is guaranteed for first place. And one lucky angler will also trailer home a new boat. Airport Marine will hold a drawing and present the boat at the weigh-in, Nail said. The winners of another $5,000 have already been determined, he said.
“Jon Canada and Bo Hunter ran away with the Angler of the Year race. They really dominated,” he said.
In fact, although Canada and Hunter finished 23rd in the first tournament of the year on Lay Lake in February, they roared back to win the second tournament on Lay Lake in March, then took second on Lake Logan Martin in May and wrapped up the championship by winning the final tournament on Lake Logan Martin in June.
The Airport Marine Trail averaged more than 70 boats a tournament this year, which almost doubled the participation from the year before, Nail said. And, he added, he is looking for another excellent year in 2016.
“We may change a lake or two or maybe the times when we fish a particular lake next year, but we are looking for things to be the same as they were this year – or maybe even better,” he said.
Airport Marine Tournament Trail Classic
Sat, Sep 19, 2015
Lake TBD
Clint Nail 205-482-1301
Roy Hawk Wins The Bass Us Open On Lake Mead
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Winnning will be 'anybody's ballgame' in NC BFL on Lake Norman this weekend
The way the fish are biting, the North Carolina BFL two-day final on Lake Norman this weekend could be anybody's ballgame, said veteran BFL angler Maurice Freeze of Concord, N.C.
“I think there will be a lot of fish caught,” said Freeze, who is sitting in third place in the standings. “I think it will be a matter of whoever gets those 2 ¼- to 2 ½-pounders the most consistent both days will be the winner.”
Freeze predicted it will take 13 pounds a day and 26 to 27 pounds for both days to win the final, but an angler with 11 pounds on Saturday will make the cut to fish on Sunday.
“You should be able to fish a bunch of different ways. There will be some fish deep and some relatively shallow,” Freeze said. “You could catch them on a little bit of everything, jigs, topwater, a Carolina rig. There will be a lot of fish caught on a drop shot on deep brush, but generally those fish won't be the right size.”
Freeze, whose strength is fishing shallow, will fish shallow at Norman, but he noted it will not be the normal shallow bank fishing most anglers prefer.
“The lake is down a good 4 feet and Norman is fishing different because of the low water so the choices for bank cover will be docks, rocks and stumps. A lot of the piers you normally catch fish on, the places there where you normally catch fish have no water.”
Between 2006 and 2014 Freeze won the NC Division points title three times and placed 2nd two other times. In two of those years when he was on top in North Carolina he finished 1st and 2nd in the South Carolina Division, too. Last year he was ranked 10th at the end of the NC Division season.
He is sitting 3rd in the points going into this weekend's two-day final, 36 points behind John McDonald of Thomasville, who is leading, and 24 points behind Scott Hamrick of Denver who is in 2nd place.
“With the way the fish are biting I don't think any of us three at the top are going to struggle,” Freeze said. “The guy in the lead has consistently caught them all year and Scott Hamrick lives on the lake, so I don't think I'll get the championship.”
But if the top two do struggle, Freeze has proven over the years he is more than able to take charge.
“We'll be swinging at them,” he promised.
WalMart BFL North Carolina Division
Sep 12-13, 2015
Lake Norman
Pinnacle Access
Only The 'good' Grass Will Do In The Flw College Northern Division Championship On Chesapeake Bay
Aquatic grass will be a major key in deciding the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Championship on the Chesapeake Bay this weekend, but it will have to be the right grass, said Thomas Arens of Shenandoah University who teamed with his brother, Billy, to place 8th in the tournament on the bay in 2014.
“You can find them on the grass – if you can find healthy grass,” Arens said. “The grass is not as good as it was last year. There is not as much milfoil as there used to be so a lot of fish are gravitating towards hard cover like rocks and docks. Last year the grass was a lot healthier. Now it seems like there is more eel grass and it's hard to find the milfoil patches.”
After a couple of days of practice on the bay and its arms, Arens said the bass appear to be a little confused.
“It's not like it was last summer, that's for sure,” he said. “The quantity is not there. There have always been some good ones, but it's a lot harder to find fish than it was last year. Last year you could pull up on an area and catch fish; this year you you can pull up on six areas and draw a blank.”
The Arens brothers have found some promising spots, mostly back in the creeks, not out on the flats in the bay, he said.
“It's almost like it was three or four weeks ago when the Elite Series was here and the weights were down severely. No one really fished out there. You might get one or two out on the flats in the early morning, but it was the arms that were producing the best.”
Arens said in their previous practices they found the most success with black and blue spinnerbait combos, chatter baits, a drop-shot and a paddletail swimbait in a near chartreuse shad color.
“Hopefully, we will go Friday and get in some practice fishing. We've had classes all week, so hopefully that last day of practice will help us keep things together,” said Arens who said they will spend Friday looking for backup areas.
The brothers started fishing competitively in their high school fishing club, making the Junior Bassmasters twice, but their collegiate fishing careers were on hold while they played baseball for Shenandoah – Thomas, a biology major, in the outfield, and Billy, a criminal justice major, at shortstop.
“My brother holds all the accolades,” Thomas said. “He was All Old Dominion Conference, Regional All-Academic and Division 3 All American at shortstop. Once our eligibility was up we got back into fishing.”
Forty-five college teams qualified for the Northern Division Championship, competing for a top award of $4,000 and a berth in the 2016 FLW College Fishing National championship.
TRAIL: FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Championship
Sep 12-13, 2015
Chesapeake Bay
Anchor Marina
For Carter, the best strategy will be to 'just go fishing' in the Bama BFL final on Lake Mitchell
Kip Carter had never been on four of the five lakes on the Walmart Bama BFL schedule this year – much less fished on them – but that suited him just fine.
Carter doesn't believe in over thinking a tournament or being overwhelmed by information overload; he just believes in going fishing and doing what it takes to find his spot among the leaders at the weigh-in on a consistent basis. It's a philosophy that has worked extremely well over the years.
Since 2000 Carter has finished in the top 10 in the BFL Bulldog Division standings six times, including the points championship in 2006, 2009 and 2010.
This year, while still fishing the Bulldog Division, he has competed in the Bama Division for the first time and served notice he can fish just as strong in Alabama waters as in those in Georgia, sitting in second place going into the two-day final this weekend. He finished 25th in the first tournament on Lake Eufaula in February, followed by 8th place at Lake Martin in April, 17th at Lake Logan Martin in May and 16th on Lay Lake in June.
“I made the move because the Bama Division Regional is going to be in Georgia on my home lake – Lake Sinclair,†Carter said.
The move meant fishing a line-up of lakes Carter knew very little about and he did not bother to ask around or do much research on any of them before showing up to fish.
“I just like to go and do my thing, regardless of whether I have been somewhere or not. I did not know anybody to talk to about this lake (Mitchell) and that's never been my style anyway. I do know it's a small lake with a lot of grass and it has a tailrace that will play big time in the tournament.â€
Carter said he would figure out a tournament strategy in his two days of practice Thursday and Friday.
“I'll be more or less just looking for places to fish. I just try to go fishing and try to figure out how aggressive the bite is and then let that tell me what to do. I try not to have that feeling that I know what to expect, for sure.â€
In practice, he said he will try to figure out a shallow pattern on docks, wood and in grass and whether the best areas are in the main lake or the creeks.
“I try to figure out where the fish are and then go with it. I keep an open mind and just try to let the fish talk to me,†he said.
So far that philosophy has worked on the first four lakes on the schedule and Carter will rely on it for the two-day final this weekend on Lake Mitchell.
“I've just gone fishing at every tournament this year, kept it simple and gone fishing. That is how I will treat this one and hope I can keep this run going.â€
WalMart BFL Bama Division
Sep 12-13, 2015
Lake Mitchell
Higgins Ferry Park
Noogastrong Benefit Tournament On Chickamauga To Aid Families Of Chattanooga Terror Attack Victims
When five service members were gunned down in an apparent lone wolf terrorist attack in Chattanooga July 16 Larry Brown knew the families they left behind would need help – and he knew the fishing community in and around Chattanooga would be willing to provide that help.
“I knew someone who babysits one of their kids,” Brown said. “I said we will hold a small benefit fishing tournament. These families have kids that will soon start back to school and will need school clothes, school lunch money etc.”
Brown, who founded the Hydrilla Hawgs bass club to conduct a benefit tournament for devastated families in Ringgold, Ga., where he lives, following a tornado there in April 2011, soon realized “small” was not the operative word for the NoogaStrong Memorial Bass Tournament. To hold the tournament, he had reserved Chester Frost Park which is a main launch site for tournaments on Lake Chickamauga.
“Within five days I knew I was in trouble,” he said. “Chester Frost holds 154 boat parking spaces. There was no way it could hold the tournament.”
Brown contacted Shane Frazier, president of the Chattanooga Bass Club which has held tournaments on Chickamauga for 38 years and has drawn as many as 90 boats for regular season tournaments this year, for help. The two of them approached Dennis Tumlin, director of the Fish Dayton organization and the Rhea County Economic and Tourism Council, who welcomed the tournament to the Dayton Boat Dock, a mega-event facility capable of handling major tournaments.
The Heartland Anglers Trail held a tournament out of the Dayton Dock with 386 boats. Brown said there are currently 157 boats registered for the NoogaStrong tournament, but he expects a lot more fishermen to show up for the tournament.
“We can put eight boats in at one time at the Dayton Dock,” he said. “One ramp is five lanes wide and we will launch the pre-registered boats at that ramp. The other is three lanes wide and ones registering at the tournament will launch on that ramp. We've got a bunch of golf carts donated, so as soon as they get their truck parked we'll load them up and carry them to their boats.”
Brown said he expects around 150 more boats to enter the tournament by the time of the launch on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 12, but he'd love to see even more.
“The Heartland had 386 boats. I'd love to be able to say we had 387,” he said.
The event got a huge boost when FLW Fishing stepped to the plate and arranged to bring its Rayovac weigh-in team to the event. FLW will provide the weigh-in stage and equipment, event staffing and promotional support. Brad Knight of Lancing, Tenn., who won the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas Aug. 23, plans to participate and other FLW pros have indicated they will be there as their schedules allow.
“We have a rich history with the Dayton and Chattanooga communities, so to have the opportunity to help these families is truly an honor and a privilege,” said Bill Taylor with FLW.
Entry fee for the event is $100 per boat, $75 for active duty or retired service members, or police, fire and emergency medical service members. Payback will be determined by the number of boats registered.
Brown said the goal is to raise $75,000 for the families of the slain servicemen. Part of it will be raised by entry fees and the rest from auctions and other activities the day of the tournament, he said. Moccasin Creek, a Southern country/rock band will perform following the weigh-in.
“We are going to have activities and live music there all day. We'll have a kid's zone, corn-hole games, kayak rides and other activities. Walmart has donated 2,000 hamburgers and 2,000 hot dogs and we will be cooking all day, serving plate lunches at 5 dollars. And when the anglers come in we will feed them, also.”
Anglers can learn more or register for the event at noogastrong.fish. You can also mail donations to:
Chattanooga Bass Association
Attn: NoogaStrong Benefit Tournament
PO Box: 22605
Chattanooga, TN 37422
Chattanooga Strong Memorial Benefit Tournament
Sat, Sep 12, 2015
Chickamauga Lake
Dayton Boat Dock
