“This is a double points tournament and we have Scott Beatty and Drew Montgomery tied for first place,” explained tournament director Scott Hyder.

Beatty and Montgomery have 1195 points each, Hyder said. He is also looking for a big tournament this weekend, with with this being the last event on the schedule before the Championship Jan. 24.

“We hope to see some of the guys from the other tournaments around the lake come and fish with us and have a good time,” Hyder said. “We’re providing a free coupon for a gallon of oil for any new teams that fish with us and we are waiving the membership fee on the last two tournaments.”

Hyder said the series has averaged from 15 boats up to 22 and 24 boats during the winter trail season, but he hopes to increase that number to 25 to 30 boats per tournament for future Denver Marine tournaments.

“We are setting up our dates for the spring trial to make sure we don’t fish on top of anybody else’s tournament,” he said. “I guarantee we won’t interfere with anybody.”

Hyder said he is also making plans for a really good championship on the 24^th.

“We’ve been putting money back all season so there will be a great payoff for the championship,” he said. And, he added, he is working to make the Denver Marine tournaments even more attractive to the anglers.

“We are going to upgrade the tournaments. We just want fishermen to come fish with us,” he said.

Anglers pay a $20 membership fee to participate in the Denver Marine Monster Bass series and teams pay a $75 entry fee per tournament, which includes $10 for Big Fish. However, the membership fee is waived if the angler bought or buys his boat from Denver Marine.

The tournament series has other bonus money for anglers who qualify. An angler who wins while fishing out of a Denver Marine Ranger Boat, no matter what year, will earn bonus money. Also, anglers fishing out of another make of boat that was bought from Denver marine also can earn some bonus money.

The Ranger Cup is available for anyone in a Ranger Boat 10 years old or newer that was bought from Denver Marine as long as there are 20 or more boats entered in a tournament. Monster Bass Bucks are available for Rangers up to 10 years old purchased from Denver marine – with a 20-boat minimum. The boats must have a Team Denver Marine windshield sticker and bass displayed for both bonus programs.

There is even a special lure program. An angler who wins with a Shane’s Finesse Rigg by local luremaker Shane Lehew will earn up to $100 in a regular season tournament and $250 in the year-end championship.

Even the less than lucky anglers have something to shoot for. The team with the lowest weight for a 5-fish limit will win $75 provided by Key Properties.

But, perhaps the biggest bonus is the chance to win an entry into the highly popular Jim Ledbetter Cancer Tournament on Lake Norman next March. The top 10 in points in the Monster Bass series will receive a free entry to the Ledbetter Tournament, plus all the boats will be entered in a drawing for an entry into the Ledbetter Tournament.

The winner of the Jim Ledbetter Cancer Tournament will take home a 2015 Ranger Boat, provided by Denver Marine, Ranger Boats and Evinrude.

 

Denver Marine Monster Bass Invitational Winter Trail

Sat, Jan 10, 2015

Lake Norman

Midway Marina

Scott Hyder, 704-861-3163

www.denvermarine.com