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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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| Date: | | February 15, 2014 |
| Region: | | 2014 South region |
| Tournament: | | Lake Falcon #1 |
| Tournament Trail: | | 2014 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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| Huge Sacks & Monster Bass weighed in on Lake Falcon at Bass Champs |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
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The Bass Champs South Region had their second 2015 event February 15 on Lake Falcon, the day after Valentine’s Day and oh, how sweet it was! Limited to weighing in only three fish per team, three sacks over twenty pounds were registered at the scales. But it gets even better! The Big Bass of the day was incredible, weighing in at over 15 pounds! If that wasn’t enough, the payback percentage for this event was a whopping 125%.
A total of 170 teams launched their boats, vying for not only a part of the prize money, but the Ford truck that would be awarded to the top team. $57,990 in cash and prizes was on the line for the top 22 teams and they pulled out all the stops to win it.
Derick Kuyrkendall and Forrest Wilson landed a 1st place win with three fish weighing 26.52 lbs. “The day went real good for us, and we caught quite a few fish,” Derick began. They chose a creek channel that was wooded with vegetation. “The fish were holding in water 6’ to 10’ deep. We started out with Jo-Baby spinnerbaits, and caught three back to back.” That was just the beginning for them. They landed their kicker, about ten pounds, on a spinnerbait for their first cull. “We went a few hours without a bite at all, but stayed in the same place all day.” Finally, about 2pm they made one last cull after they switched to a Senko; catching one over eight pounds to their final weight. Bass Champs awarded them the Ford F-150 truck, and they chose the cash option worth over $25,000 and Sure-Life added an additional $200 to their winnings. “We’ve been fishing Bass Champs since they started in South Texas. This is really great!” They would like to dedicate their tournament to their fallen friend Jimmy Johnson, and thank their sponsors: Jo Baby Lures, Boerne Marine, “and we’d also like to thank Jeff and Chad for putting on such a great tournament trail.”
Allan and George Luedtke of Midlothian, TX captured a 2nd place win weighing in 23.03 lbs on three fish. They won $4,250 then Skeeter Boats doubled their winnings being the highest finishing team in a Skeeter boat to an $8,500 day.
The last sack over 20 lbs was weighed in by Tim Blanchette and Tommy Collier. “Our day started out really good,” Tim reported. “We went up in a creek, and threw spinnerbaits up to the bank and back out to nine or ten feet of water.” They caught a solid keeper, then switched to a Yum Wooly Hawgtail creature bait and caught one about six pounds to add to their creel. “About 10:30, Tommy caught one over seven pounds, and at 11:30 I did too” Tim continued. At that point they had a three fish limit and close to twenty pounds in the boat. “We tried a few other spots, then about 2:00 Tommy caught one over six pounds that culled our first fish.” It got caught in a tree, but they managed to keep her on the line and land her. That was the one that finished their total weight of 20.93 lbs and a 3rd place win. “We only got four bites all day, but they were all solid fish!” Bass Champs awarded them $2,400 and they would like to thank Waterloo rods, Boerne Marine, Yum, Booyah “and our families for always being so patient with us when we spend time on the water.”
Bruce Benedict Jr. and J.C. Trevino only weighed in two fish, but one was a giant! Heaving their biggest fish on the scales, this monster bass weighed a whopping 15.37 pounds! “We were in the right place, the right time, with the right bait” lucky angler Bruce Benedict stated. “We were fishing a brush line that had a combination of brush and trees off a point about 4’ deep with a spinnerbait. We were throwing our baits so they would actually hit the brush, then bring it back to the boat. I have always caught something in that spot, so I had a lot of faith in it but didn’t expect this.” It was around 10am when it happened. “My line went extremely tight. Then I saw her head, and knew she was a hawg! She didn’t jump out of the water – she couldn’t – she was too big!” Holding his excitement at bay the best he could, he got her to the boat so J.C. could net her. “He missed the first time. She was just too big for the net!” Then she took a dive, and got tangled in a tree. “It seemed like an eternity when she got tangled. It was probably only two or three minutes. I gave her a little slack and she came out of it.” Getting another stab at her, J.C. managed to get her in the boat and they brought her right in to the scales to weigh her. “She qualified for the Texas Sharelunker Program, and we thought about calling Texas Parks & Wildlife to enter her. It may have taken a very long time for them to get there to receive her, so we decided to release her back into the lake as quickly as we could.” The excited duo went back out and caught one more fish to add to their total weight, giving them a 4th place win overall with a 19.03 lb total. They won $1,900 for their 4th place finish, another $500 for Big Bass and Costa Del Mar awarded them an additional $200 for wearing their sunglasses when they weighed in the monster bass.
It took 12.24 lbs to be in the money in 22 places paid. Brian Fleming Jr and Mike Fleming won the last check for $500.
The next stop for the Bass Champs crew will be on Sam Rayburn for the East Texas Region second event of the season. The South Region will fish again March 15 on Amistad during yet another full moon and more monster bass are anticipated to be seen!
The Anglers of the Year points race is already starting off tight. The top five teams after two events are:
350 pts Mike Bates & Tye Heineman
340 pts John Anderson III & Adam Pereira
340 pts Richard Bacon & Brendan Kennell
334 pts Tim Blanchette & Tommie Collier
326 pts Tret Huckaby & Tyler Young
For full results and more information, click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274
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