What a day on Ray Roberts as 267 North Region Bass Champs teams converged April 2nd to fish for a portion of the purse of over $79,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded in this 101% payback event. Jerry Olds of Arlington, TX and Jason May of Grand Prairie blew the field away catching more than 28 pounds of bass, taking home over $20,000 in winnings.

This was the second event of four regular season tournaments for the North Region, and anglers were on their game bringing in seven sacks over the 20 pound mark and registered a double digit sow for big bass. Knowing the importance of the sponsor incentives, participants qualified for thousands of dollars more making paybacks even bigger. Ray Roberts was three feet high with all of the recent rains, and a cold front came through the night before. The morning started out windy, but by 10am had died down and the bite was on!

Jerry Olds and Jason May are fishing their first season with Bass Champs, and launched into their season with a 1st place win, cashing in over $20,000. “We have fished Ray Roberts a few times in the past, and had a few spots where we had caught some big fish. We started out in one of those spots. It is in the main lake and had a few bushes we were targeting.” They put two keepers in the boat fairly quickly, then Jerry got another bite by one of the bushes. “Jerry threw back on one side of the bush, and I threw in on the other side.” The fish bit Jason’s line. “It was pretty hairy there for a little while. I lost my balance when I set the hook, and nearly fell out of the boat. I got a good hookset on her, but just knew she was going to wrap up in the bush and break off! We managed to get her in the boat, then we were both freaking out and I was shaking.” That bass tickled the ten pound mark! “I retied my hook, but broke off on another good fish. When the bite slowed down, we headed to other areas to try,” Jason explained. Their other areas weren’t producing the fish they were looking for so they went back to their first spot throwing Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hogs. “This spot had three bushes that we just kept rotating to, they just kept reloading with fish.” Their best cull of the day was exchanging a ‘swimmer’ with a five pounder. When they brought their creel to the scales, their big one was weighed first, locking in at 9.98 lbs. Adding in their other four, their total weight was 28.32 pounds, winning the tournament by nearly a five pound margin! Bass Champs presented the team with the guaranteed 1st place check for $20,000 and they also cashed in on the Power Pole and Captain Cash bonuses. “I’d really like to thank Arlington High School Bass Club. I am a captain for them, and they really keep me motivated and on my toes!”

2nd place was won by Kody Haverkamp of Grapevine, TX and Ryan Emmert of Aubrey, TX. “We did some pre-fishing before the tournament, but didn’t do any good,” Kody began. “We had caught some in an area a few weeks before so decided to start there.” It was in the back of a pocket in a main creek arm with isolated stumps and trees 2’-6’ deep. Using Texas rigged Brush Hogs and Senko’s, they had a limit in the boat by 10am that weighed around 17 pounds that included their 7.83 lb kicker Kody caught. “The bite just died for about three hours after that. We left there and checked out some other spots, but ended up coming back to it.” The fish were ready when they came back, and they began culling by pounds. “Our best cull was exchanging a 4-1/2 pounder for a two pound bass.” They were able to make three culls to their final weight of 23.85 pounds, winning 2nd place and a check for $5,600. “We’ve been fishing Bass Champs on and off for around 6 years. We fish them when we can, but sometimes just have to work. This is the biggest check we’ve won so far! We’d like to thank our wives for allowing us to participate in this sport we love.”

Trent Menees of Saginaw, TX and Terry Bollom of Frisco took 3rd place with a 23.04 lb limit. “We love Ray Roberts, and have always done well there,” Trent began. We each did a little pre-fishing separately, and fished both of our spots during the tournament.” They were ready to wrangle potential big catches with 25# test line. “We were using a combination of Strike King Beavers, Brush Hogs, and Berkley Havoc baits.” They caught their first keeper, then soon after Trent caught their kicker weighing nearly eight pounds. By 10am they had a limit in the boat weighing 15-16 pounds. “We just kept looking for isolated stuff along the bank lines. If you could get to the banks, you could find them.” They caught about 18 keepers throughout the day, culling up to their 23.04 lb total and cashing in on a 3rd place check for $4,500. “Jeff and Chad do a great job with these tournaments, and we really enjoy fishing with them.” Trent would like to thank his sponsors for all they do, including Mortiz Chevrolet, Anglers Pro Tackle, Impulse Rod Co., Power Pole, Wave Away and Blue Sky Graphics.

Trevor Romans and Matt McMillan enjoyed a huge payday with their 4th place finish. Weighing in 21.32 lbs, they received $3,500 from Bass Champs, then Skeeter doubled their winnings being the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter boat. They also won the SportsmanÂ’s Auto Network bonus and the Fun N Sun bonus as well. 

More sponsor winnings went to the 5th place winners Matt Moore and Shane Jansen. They won $2,500 for their 21.28 lb limit, then won the Lowrance Gen3 bonus and another $1,000 from SportsmanÂ’s Auto Network.

The top 36 teams cashed in on the winnings, the last $600 check going to Timothy King and Aaron Ashmore weighing in 14.32 pounds. Fun N Sun paid $100 to the first team out of the money, Scotty Galbreaith and Jason Galbreaith.

The biggest bass of the day was weighed in by Mark Child, fishing with Andy Sallee. His big catch tipped the scales to 10.65 lbs, winning $1,000 for that catch. He also won the DELO bonus, Costa Del Mar and UnderArmor bonuses as well!

Halfway through the season for the North Region, the Angler of the Year race is in full swing. The top five leaders are:
601 pts Trevor Romans & Matt McMillan
585 pts Drew Sloan & Terry Hawkins
575 pts Mark Biondi Jr & Mark Biondi Sr
570 pts Jacob Parker & Ryan Golden
553 pts Scotty & Jason Galbreaith

The North Region has two more events in the regular season. The next will be on April 30 at Cedar Creek, and the final event will be June 4 at Tawakoni. In the meantime, Bass Champs staff and crew are headed to Lake Travis for the third Central Region event on April 9. Remember, all Bass Champs tournaments are open to anyone who would like to fish for BIG paybacks, so donÂ’t miss out! Click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274 for more information.