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BIG BASS TOURNAMENT
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| Date: | | April 6, 2014 |
| Tournament: | | Ford Mega Bass 2014 |
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| DeWayne Thomas tops a field of 1,643 anglers to win 6th Annual Ford Mega Bass tournament on Lake Fork |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
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Acclaimed as the BIGGEST one-day big bass tournament on the planet, Bass Champs hosted the 6th Annual Ford Mega Bass tournament on Lake Fork April 5, 2014. Coming from all over the country, representing thirteen states, 1,643 anglers competed for seven new Ford F-150 trucks given away. DeWayne Thomas of Ferris, TX caught the largest bass of the day and also won a Skeeter ZX200 bass boat!
Anglers competed for seven hours on Lake Fork, and the top fifteen bass each hour were awarded cash and prizes. The biggest bass each hour won a new Ford F-150 pickup truck! Lake Fork is a slot lake, meaning only bass under 16” or over 24” are legal. Anything in-between must be released back into the lake immediately. That's a lot of 5, 6, 7 – even eight pound bass that cannot be weighed in!
Chris Sinkey of Lewisville TX won the first truck of the day with a 2.77 lb catch. It was the very next hour that the first fish over the slot – and the biggest bass of the tournament was weighed in.
“My cousin's husband had asked me to fish this tournament with him,” Thomas began. “Neither of us had ever fished a Ford Mega Bass tournament before, and he had never been on Lake Fork – but I had a boat and was a little familiar with the lake.” They decided to go to a point that DeWayne had caught fish on before. “When we got there, someone else was already on it. We fished down the shoreline going into the cove, and before long, the guys that were fishing the point started fishing the shoreline behind us.” With his coveted spot now available, they quickly meandered back to the point. “Up until that point, neither one of us had gotten a single bite.” Using a red shad Texas rigged Zoom Ol' Monster worm, his third cast on the point at 8:30am is when he got the bite. “I knew it was a good one right away. She came straight out of the water shaking her head.” He got her to the boat, and lipped her in. “We headed straight in to get her weighed.” She tipped the scales at 9.94 lbs, winning the 9am hour and the second Ford truck given away. Deciding not to go back out, it was a long grueling wait for them as scads of anglers continued fishing and weighing in their catch to see if it would hold up to the end of the day. Three more bass over the 24” mark were brought in, but none of them were able to beat their weight. At the end of the day, DeWayne was awarded not only the Ford F-150, but also a Skeeter ZX200 powered by a Yamaha 200 SHO, fitted with the Minn Kota / Humminbird package valued at nearly $70,000. “I'm really glad we decided to fish this tournament! We'll be back to do it again next year!”
A total of seven pick-up trucks were awarded throughout the day. The line-up of truck winners were:
9.94 lbs DeWayne Thomas Ferris, TX
9.51 lbs Archie Hayley Mount Vernon, TX
9.05 lbs Richard Carroll Magnolia, AR
8.38 lbs Gary Jackson Flower Mound, TX
2.77 lbs Chris Sinkey Lewisville, TX
2.62 lbs Robert Cooksey Amity, AR
2.57 lbs James Burrow Conway, AR
“This just keeps getting even more exciting every year,” stated Bass Champs President Chad Potts. “There is no other one day tournament in the world that this kind of payback. We'd like to thank everyone who came and fished with us, and congratulate all of our winners. We have several more opportunities for everyone to compete this year and win big!”
Bass Champs hosts team events in four regions all over Texas, plus more. The 21st Annual Skeeter Owners Tournament will be June 14-15, then October 18-19 they will host the 9th Annual Berkley Big Bass event – both on Lake Fork.
For a full schedule of events and more information, click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274.
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