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Results
TEAM TOURNAMENT
Date: June 16, 2018
Region: 2018 North Region
Tournament: Cedar Creek Lake
Tournament Trail: 2018 Bass Champs Tournament Trail
StatsResultsBig BassStoryPhotosPoints
Rome & McBride win last Bass Champs season event on Cedar Creek Hollingshead & Lambert crowned Anglers of the Year
By: Patty Lenderman


It’s been quite a run this 2018 season at Bass Champs. 205 Central Region teams fished the final regular season team event of the year on Cedar Creek, and the top weights were squeaky tight. Nearly $64,000 was paid out in cash and prizes to the top twenty seven teams, but in the end it was Joe Rome and Joel McBride who squeezed out the win by 16/100ths of a pound!

It was a hot summer day June 16th for the mass of contenders vying for a portion of the 105% payback in this event. Every depth was fished with a huge variety of lures. Not only were the overall top weights really tight, the big bass weights were too. All of this added up to an exciting weigh in, keeping everyone on their toes and all eyes on the scales!

Joe Rome & Joel McBride generally prefer to fish shallow water. “That just wasn’t an option for this tournament,” Joe insisted. “I had done a lot of scouting before the tournament. The fish just weren’t in those areas for us.” They had an offshore area picked out, around 20’ deep. “Since we don’t normally fish that deep, we didn’t really know how to fizz a fish that had been caught in deep water. Jeff Welch gave us some education before the tournament to help care for any fish that ended up with an extended bladder from being caught deep.” They drew boat #185, and was worried that there would be other anglers on their spot before they could get there. “No one was there – so we fished it a while – no fish were there either!” Going to another spot throwing mag worms their luck started to change. “Our first fish weighed 4-1/2, then a couple of three pounders. After that we caught our kicker (7.48 lbs) and fizzed it to try to help her out.” It wasn’t long, and they decided to go ahead and bring their big fish in to be weighed so she could be released back into the lake. “We were a little worried about her, she just didn’t seem to be doing as well as we thought she should. Jeff and the Bass Champs crew were great. They scrambled to get her weighed and into their oxygenated release tank as quickly as possible. Apparently we had over-fizzed her, and Jeff taught us a little more about that process to help us get better at it.” They headed back to their spot, but other boats had converged on it. “We left it for a while and came back later. We tried all sorts of baits, but the only thing they seemed to want was the mag worm – with a SLOW presentation.” They sat their boat in 10’, casted to 20’, and got their bites in about 15’ depths. “All of the fish we caught ended up having to be fizzed. We really appreciate Jeff Welch for the advice he gave us.” When it was all said and done, their total weight was 22.39 pounds, winning the 1st place $20,000 check by a nose. Coming into the event, they were also in a good position to win the points race for Anglers of the Year. “It was so close! We want to thank Chad and Jeff. They do an excellent job to run these great tournaments, and we are very grateful for the chance to fish for a $20,000 check. Bass Champs is a class act all the way!”

It would be hard for weights to be much tighter. Brandon Hollingshead and Jeremy Lambert won 2nd place with 22.23 pounds. “We just got lucky,” Jeremy said. “The bite was really slow. We only had seven bites all day.” They came prepared, estimating having about 30 rods rigged and ready. “We stayed on the move, fishing behind other people and just trying to throw something different than other people were.” One by one they started amassing a limit, but it took until around 1:00 to get their fifth fish in the boat. “We just kept at it. Brandon caught our kicker right at the end with only ten minutes left to fish. We had a chance at two others that may have won the tournament for us.” Their kicker weighed in at 7.10 lbs anchoring their 2nd place finish. They were awarded $5,000 plus the Lowrance and Sportsman’s Auto Network bonuses. That’s not all. Hollingshead and Lambert also topped the pack in points over the season to achieve Anglers of the Year. Congratulations to them for earning this prestigious title.

Lee Batson & Jason Greer attained 3rd place with 21.85 pounds. “We had a great day. Any time you have the bites you need to win the tournament, but don’t get them in the boat, it’s bitter sweet,” Batson concluded. “Every year when the schedules are released for the next season, you always hope the schedule hits your lake at the right time. This one was just going to be our event. I told Jason we were going to get the bites we needed on this day.” They started out using 6th Sense Dogma topwater baits. “We caught two of our key fish on that, then we started fishing a rotation between docks and brush piles with ½ ounce 6th Sense hybrid jigs in a candy craw color. It took a while to get set up and figure out exactly where the fish were holding, but we managed a limit by 10am.” They continued catching and culling, amassing all chunks in their livewell. “Around 1:00 I lost a six pounder. In the past, I would have lost my cool over it and it would have really messed me up mentally for a while. I used to have sleep apnea, snored, and didn’t get good sleep – which can really affect your overall attitude toward everything. Thanks to Sleep Rehab, I was able to keep it together and caught a few more to cull with. Better sleep just makes a big difference.” They were awarded a check for $4,000.

Now for the Big Bass. There were a lot of seven pounders caught, but the biggest one weighed in at 7.80 pounds. Drew Sloan caught her fishing with partner Terry Hawkins. “It was around 9:00 when I got the bite, using a green pumpkin Illustrious Action 8” straight tail worm, weightless.” He pitched it in front of a dock in about 7’ of water, and that accounted for their third fish of the day. “We just junk fished all day and ended up weighing in four fish. We had caught five, but had a two pounder in distress so decided to release it. It cost us a little in the standings, but still think it was the right decision to let it go.” They ended up winning $750 for Big Bass, plus they got another $600 for 22nd place.

Everyone is ready to find out where the location of the Championship will be, taking place October 13-14. That information will be released very soon. Stay tuned to BassChamps.com or better yet sign up for the free e-newsletter to get all of Bass Champs news and information sent right to you!

There’s just a few days left to sign up for the biggest one-day team event – The Techron TX Shootout will be launching from the Umphrey Family Pavilion June 23rd on Sam Rayburn. $50,000 is guaranteed to the winners! For more details visit the website or call 817-439-3274. See you there!
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