Repola & Roach reel in 1st place on Belton and win over $25,000 at Bass Champs 

By: Patty Lenderman

Repola & Roach reel in 1st place on Belton and win over $25,000 at Bass Champs

Bass Champs Central Region had their second event of the season on Lake Belton March 5, 2016 with 215 participating teams fishing for a total pot of $66,100 in cash and prizes. Vince Repola and Darryl Roach found the only limit over 20 pounds, giving them a payday of over $25,000.

Belton Lake can be a tough lake to fish, but the conditions were perfect with a warm spring day, very few clouds and gentle breezes. Temperatures started out in the 40Â’s but warmed to the 70Â’s by the afternoon.

It had been a long time since Vince Repola of Ft. Worth and Darryl Roach of Benbrook, TX had been on the lake. “I lived on Belton for a few months, and fished it every day while I was there. It has been 11 years since I’ve been back to it before this tournament.” Remembering his old fishing days there, they had one spot picked out. “The area we wanted to fish was a rock pile on an underwater point with trees on each side. Fish seem to stay in that area year round, you just have to figure out where exactly for the given time you are there. We decided to just go fishing, and hoped to stumble across something good.” They rigged up to fish shallow water. “The first hour was uneventful. The fish were not where we expected.” Easing out to deeper water, closer to the trees, they switched to jigs and Carolina rigs. “We had to slow our fishing way down, but we found them in that deeper water.” Once they found where the fish were staged, the action became fast and furious. “We put a decent limit in the boat, but bigger ones were biting between 10:30-1:00.” Vince caught their kicker during that time weighing in at 6.27 pounds. “Darryl made our last cull around 2:00. At that point we decided to pack up and go weigh them in. They were still biting when we left!” They stayed in the same area all day, saying that they beat it up for all it was worth. They brought in the only limit over 20 pounds, having 21.13 lbs total. When all the teams finished weighing, it was worth 1st place and the guaranteed purse of $20,000! They also qualified for the Sportsmans Auto Network bonus, putting their total winnings over the $25,000 mark. “I’d like to thank my partner Darryl. We make a great team!”

2nd place winners James Olson and Bobby Thrasher, both of Gatesville, TX, also had a great day on the water. “The day went really well for us. It started by drawing boat #7, so we had a great start and we made it to our first spot before anyone else.” It was a main lake point in water ranging in depth from 6’ to 20’. The fish were biting as soon as they got there, and they had a limit in the boat within an hour! “We used Texas rigs all day. Bobby caught our big one around 1:00. She was in 7’ of water, and it was a little hairy for a while getting her in! She got up in a tree, but Bobby hung on to her and she eventually swam out and we got her in.” That catch weighed in at 7.46 pounds, anchoring their 2nd place finish and winning Big Bass of the day. “It was hard to leave that spot and come in to weigh. They were still biting when we left!” All total their weight was 19.83 lbs, and Bass Champs paid the team $5,000 for their overall finish, plus another $1,000 for Big Bass. They also won the $200 Chevron Delo bonus and the $200 Under Armour bonus. “We’ve been fishing Bass Champs for about 10 years, and this is our best finish so far. I’d like to thank God, my wife, my partner Bobby, Bass Champs for having a great circuit for us to fish, and other people that just help make our lives better.”

Brandon Feltner of Liberty Hill, TX and Chris Connor of Jonestown, TX secured a 3rd place win with 17.74 lbs. “We started out early in transition areas with depths 6’ to 20’ leading into spawning areas,” Chris explained. They were using Carolina and Alabama rigs all day, and put an initial limit together weighing around 15 pounds. “We culled little by little all day, and probably caught around four limits. We had a blast!” They ‘shot hay’ in around four spots, hitting each of them multiple times throughout the day. “We just kept a positive mental attitude all day. Brandon made our last cull of the day, exchanging a 1-1/2 pounder for a five pound bass. We lost three A-rigs, but our winnings made it worth it!” They were awarded $4,000 for their 3rd place finish, then Skeeter doubled their money being the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter boat! They pocketed even more winning the Lowrance GEN3 bonus as well. Brandon would like to thank his wife for her unwaivering support. “I have to say thank you to my wife as well,” Chris added. “She’s always there for me 100%, encouraging me and taking care of things while we’re away. We are going to treat both of them out to a really nice dinner and do some other things for them with our winnings as well!”

Bass Champs paid the top 28 teams, and Trey Grose & Joe Bill Hale caught the last $600 check having a limit weighing 12.13 pounds.

There are only two Central Region tournaments left in the season. The next one is April 9 at Lake Travis, and the last one will be May 14 at LBJ. In the meantime, Bass Champs staff and crew are headed to Sam Rayburn March 12 for the third East Region event. Remember – all Bass Champs tournaments are open to anyone who would like to fish for their chance to win some BIG money!

Also – The Mega Bass event is getting closer! The worldÂ’s richest one day hourly big bass event will be on Lake Fork March 20th. $20,000 will be paid out every hour of the tournament, and the angler who catches the biggest bass of the day will receive $15,000 cash AND a new Skeeter ZX200 bass boat! Up to fifteen anglers will receive a check each hour, and there are more chances to win for being the first to bring in an even weight bass of 2.50, 3.00, 7.00 or 8.00 pounds! What does it cost to enter for your chance to win this big? $160 per person. Check out all the details at www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274.

Champs hold up their $25,000 Stringer on Lake Belton