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Results
TEAM TOURNAMENT
Date: March 12, 2011
Region: 2011 South Region
Tournament: Lake Amistad #2
Tournament Trail: 2011 Bass Champs Tournament Trail
StatsResultsBig BassStoryPhotosPoints
Close race to the finish as Meza and Jimenez wins Bass Champs on Amistad
By: Patty Lenderman


Bass Champs South Region anglers went to Lake Amistad March 12, 2011 for the third event of the season. The weigh in was exciting with all of the hefty bags brought in.
Weights stair stepped all the way down the line, but in the end Rene Meza and Jose Jimenez topped the field winning $20,000 and added thousands more with all of the bonuses they cashed in on.

Amistad is a shared lake between Texas and Mexico. The lake has grown in fame and popularity with many lunker bass coming out if it in recent years. Nearly $57,000 was up for grabs in cash and prizes in 28 places paid, a whopping 104% payback to participating anglers. This was a day when fish care was of the utmost importance.

After experiencing boat trouble, William and Joseph Tompkins were the first to come weigh their creel. “This was only the second time we’ve been to this water. The last time Bass Champs was here and then this time,” William explained. After drawing boat #33, they headed to a familiar spot to begin their day. “Within 10 minutes, we caught a good one. My wife Tiffany custom makes our soft plastics for us.” Using a 7” senko style worm, they started their day with one over 6 pounds. “Joseph caught another good one, and from then on all we caught were solid fish.” Once they had a limit together, they switched to green pumpkin purple jigs with one of his wife’s trailers on them. “The bass just attacked the baits!” At 9:30am, the team had 29 pounds in the boat. “We continued to fish, then at 11:30 we started having electrical problems. The motor was dead. We switched batteries, but it quickly went dead again.” After switching batteries one last time, the team decided to bring their fish on in to weigh. They had 29.12 lbs, but had caught their fish deep and one did not make it in live so the team suffered a 1 lb penalty making their official weight 28.12 lbs. They had several hours ahead of them to wait and watch as the other teams brought in their sacks.

Out of 210 participating teams, their weight held top spot until Rene Meza and Jose Jimenez heaved their sack to the scales. Excited, the team told their tale. “We had registered the morning of the tournament, and drew boat #1. Right away, we felt it was some kind of good omen.” They headed to an area they’ve fished before, seeing there was already a few boats there. Using a Swim Bait Striper, their day started with an 8 pounder. “We threw again and caught the big one!” Their big one weighed 10.05 lbs, garnering them an additional $1,000 for Big Bass of the tournament. “We decided we were not going to move from that spot. Jose switched to a 10” worm and caught a six pounder. There were still lots of boats around us. At 11:00 we only had four fish in the boat.” Their fish weren’t biting any more, although they could see others still catching fish. “We decided to move up river and cross the border.” After catching their fifth fish, they began working their way back to the weigh in site. Their weight nudged over the leaders with 28.59 lbs to win the tournament. “We are both jet airplane mechanics at Lawson AFB. We’d like to thank God for being with us.” Bass Champs presented the team with a $20,000 check for 1st place, a $1,000 check for Big Bass, $200 from Sure Life, the Abu Garcia, WFN and Costa Del Mar bonuses.

Falling to 2nd place still paid quite well for brothers William and Joseph Tomkins. They were presented with a $5,000 check for 2nd place plus won the Dodge Ram Bonus. This bonus entitles them to FREE entry fee’s to any Bass Champs events for the next 12 months! “This is really great for us. We’re looking forward to fishing in several of the other regions, all the way to Sam Rayburn! Next we’re going to have to see what my wife will have to cook up for us to use on Choke Canyon at TLCBaits.com! We’d also like to thank Kistler Rods for providing us with superior gear, and our mom and dad for having us.”

Trent Huckaby and Tyler Young won 3rd place with 27.50 lbs. “We had a good day today. We were fishing 10’-15’ water using crank baits, swim jigs and spinnerbaits.” Throughout the day, they managed around 30 keepers. “We just couldn’t find a kicker!” Nevertheless, their sack of all solid fish netted them a paycheck of $3,000 for their finish.

Tournament statistics:
Total Entries: 210 Teams
Total Collected: $54,600
Total Payback (C & P): $56,750
Payback Percentage: 104%
Total Fish: 582
Total Weight: 2058.93 lbs
Average Weight: 3.54 lbs
Number of limits: 114

The Angler of the Year points race is still anyone’s game. After three events, here are the leaders:
560 pts Alton Jones Jr & David Ridley III
553 pts William & Joseph Tomkins
544 pts Timothy Griffin & Ramiro Reyes
537 pts Billy & Jack Hopkins
532 pts Will Welch & John Basinger

South Region anglers will head to Choke Canyon for their fourth event on April 30. In the mean time, Bass Champs staff and crew will head to Sam Rayburn for the next East Region tournament.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Dodge Ram Mega Bass event on Lake Fork March 27th! This is the world’s richest one day event, with a new Ram Truck to be won every hour! For additional information and rules go to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274.
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