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Results
TEAM TOURNAMENT
Date: May 4, 2013
Region: 2013 South Region
Tournament: Lake Amistad #2
Tournament Trail: 2013 Bass Champs Tournament Trail
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Leonard & Bronder cash in over $15,000 with three fish weighing over 20 pounds at Bass Champs
By: Patty Lenderman


Lake Amistad fortified many livewells with hefty bass on May 4 as Bass Champs South Division held it’s fourth of five region events. $42,550 was paid out in cash and prizes in this 106% payback tournament. Lee Leonard and Scott Bronder seized 1st place and over $15,000 weighing in over twenty pounds on three fish!

The winners started their day along shallow points using square bill crank baits. “We didn’t catch anything at our first spot, so we hit a few other areas,” Lee explained. They had three primary areas targeted, and started catching a few at their second stop. “We worked our way to deeper water, also throwing flukes.” Catching a few more at their third area, they decided to start back at the beginning of their milk run. “By 9:05am, we had 16 pounds in the boat. By the time we got back to our first spot, the bass had replenished and we started catching some there too.” At 10am, Lee caught their first kicker weighing about 8 pounds. “We kept catching fish, just nothing to cull with after that.” Nothing, at least, until 1:30pm when Scott caught an even bigger kicker, weighing 8.76 lbs! Their three fish total was 20.56 lbs, taking 1st place by a two pound margin. Bass Champs presented the duo with the guaranteed $15,000 check, then Sure Life added another $200 to their winnings for using the product in their livewell. “We’ve been fishing with Bass Champs for five or six years now, and while we had a 2nd place finish at Falcon last year, it feels really good to finally win one.” They would like to thank Wood Brothers Custom Rods, Tire Factory Outlet in San Marcos and the Police Officers Association for their support.

Brothers Cody and Chance Hundley caught 2nd place with their 18.58 lb limit. “It was a good day. Not one of those where you catch fish all day long, fish after fish. It was more of a sporadic bite.” They started out with a quick limit. “We had a limit in the boat in about eight casts, but they were all small fish.” They were throwing a combination of topwater lures, swim baits and Carolina rigs along a big long flat. “Later on we found the better fish hanging along a bigger tree line just before the water dropped off from 10 ft to 20 ft.” At 9am, they made their first big cull with a seven pounder. They upgraded their other two small fish, but not by much until noon when they boated another seven pounder. “We caught our last weigh fish at 1:30.” Their 2nd place win paid off to the tune of $5,000. “We’ve been fishing with Bass Champs since April of 2005. While we’ve had several top 10 finishes, this is our best one yet. We’d both like to thank our wives for putting up with us being gone fishing every weekend, and our parents for teaching us and introducing us to the sport. We’d also like to thank Skeeter and Yamaha for making great products.”

Will Blaine and Thomas Parr trekked to the Mexico side of the lake first thing in the morning and found a limit of small keepers in the first five minutes. “We continued to catch fish, but they were all small. At noon we only had six pounds in the boat.” They knew they had to do something different to find and catch bigger bass. They meandered to an area they had never fished before. “It was a shallow perch bed area, and we started throwing Carolina rigs and crank baits.” The change in spots and tactics paid off! In fifteen minutes, they culled everything they had. They were in the right place at the right time. “At one point, Thomas had just set the hook on one, and that’s when I got the big bite,” Will recalled. Thomas’ fish jumped, and they got a good look at it. “At that point we thought for a second that we might both be hooked on the same fish.” Then the one on Will’s line jumped, and it was a big one. “Thomas had a three pounder on the end of his line, but he just threw his pole down when we saw mine and grabbed the net!” That catch weighed in at 8.82 lbs, garnering a $1,000 check for biggest bass of the tournament. It also anchored their 3rd place win for another $3,000 check. These guys did their homework and cashed in on several sponsor bonuses as well. Being decked out in their UnderArmour clothing and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, using a Revo Reel and using BioBor in their gas tank, they received all of those bonuses as well.

Skeeter Boats doubled the winnings for Trent Huckaby and Tyler Young for being the highest finishers in a qualified rig.

146 teams signed up to fish this tournament, and it took 11.30 lbs to catch a check. Jeremy Bawcum and Bodley Thornton won the last $600 check for 20th place.

With only one tournament left to go in the South Region, the top five teams in the Angler of the Year race are:
614 pts Lee Leonard & Scott Bronder
605 pts Steve Wilson & Raymond Cantu
570 pts Scott Saunders & Cody Johnson
567 pts Gene Lathrop & Rick Helmcamp
564 pts Ira Lynn & Bill Garza Jr

The final tournament of the season for the South Region will be on Lake Falcon on June 1st. There are only six tournaments remaining for all of Bass Champs regions, so don’t miss a single one!

May 11 – (North) Tawakoni
May 18 – (Central) Travis
June 1 – (South) Falcon
June 8-9: Skeeter Owners Tournament on Fork
June 14 – (East) Sam Rayburn
June 22 – (North) Ray Roberts
June 29 – (Central) Belton

Bass Champs will be hosting the 20th Annual Skeeter Owner’s Tournament on Lake Fork June 8-9. There will be $250,000 up for grabs in this commemorative event, including an all new Skeeter FX20 with a Yamaha SHO250 for the biggest fish caught over the slot, and a Skeeter ZX200 powered by Yamaha will be awarded to the angler catching the biggest fish under the slot! With family activities, several divisions to compete in, more prizes being given away, all hosted by the renowned Fish Fishburn – it is a tournament you don’t want to miss!

Also make plans to participate in the 8th Annual Berkley Big Bass tournament on Lake Fork October 19-20. Ten places will be paid each hour, plus exact weight bonuses! Two Skeeter boats will be won, each powered by Yamaha, to the biggest fish over and the biggest fish under the slot.

So many opportunities to win! For information on any Bass Champs tournament, click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274
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