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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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| Date: | | February 23, 2013 |
| Region: | | 2013 Central Region |
| Tournament: | | Lake Travis #1 |
| Tournament Trail: | | 2013 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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| Harms & Garner bests 168 teams to win Bass Champs Central Region kick-off |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
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The Central Region anglers of Bass Champs kicked off their season on Lake Travis February 22, 2013 with 168 teams vying for a portion of over $46,000 paid back in cash and prizes – a 101% ratio! The hunt for kicker fish was on as each team is only allowed to weigh in three fish at the scales. Brian Harms and Travis Garner found the three they needed to win 1st place taking home more than $15,000.
“We started our day down the lake fishing creeks like we had done in practice,” the team explained. “We only managed one 3 pounder from there, and around 10:00 we started hitting main lake points.” Using both shallow and medium diving crank baits, they finished their limit. “We kept moving, and also went to southern rocky banks and found some fish on them. At 3:00 we boated our biggest fish, 5.88 lbs.” That was the cull they needed to secure their 1st place win with a weight of 13.68 lbs for $15,000. They also received $200 from Sure-Life for using the product in their livewell. “We’ve been fishing Bass Champs for about five years now, and we’d like to thank them for providing these great tournaments.” This is the second time this team has enjoyed a 1st place win, they took their first win on Belton two years ago. “We’d also like to thank our wives for always letting us go fishing, and the Good Lord for a great day of fishing.”
2nd place was won by the team of Chris Clements and Chris Woehl with 12.86 lbs. “Our day started out with two good ones right off the bat.” They were fishing shallow water with spinnerbaits, and had their first two solid fish in the livewell by 8am. Changing tactics, they went to a crank bait and finished a limit with their third fish at 10am. “We caught fish all day, some on jigs, others on crankbaits.” While they were catching a lot of fish, they only caught one to cull with. “Our one cull was caught on a jig, and it upgraded our weight by about a pound and a half.” Bass Champs presented them with a $5,000 check for their 2nd place finish. Clements and Woehl have been fishing Bass Champs for the last five years. “We like this new format. It is an exciting change.” They would like to thank Live To Fish Foundation (Live2fish.org) and Omega Custom Tackle.
The 3rd place winners overcame more obstacles than most. “My partner David (Cosner) was in a nine day coma just two months ago, and is just now getting back in action,” Cody Clements began. The awe, respect and pride for his partners’ strength and tenacity was resounding in his voice. “Our day started out alright, but we didn’t have anything in the livewell until nearly 10am. At that point we started catching small keepers, and had a small limit by 11:30.” Fishing what they describe as ‘typical Travis style’, their lures of choice were jigs and creature baits. “We decided to go back to a spot where we have caught some good ones in the past.” That’s when David landed their kicker. “I was using a watermelon Jewel ½ ounce finesse football jig with a craw trailer. It was the only keeper I caught all day,” David laughed. “We had a great day.” Their total weight for the day was 12.60 lbs winning 3rd place overall for $3,000. They nearly won Big Bass with their 7.36 lb kicker, only missing it by a margin of 0.04 on the scales. Cody would like to thank Champion Toyota of Austin, Renewal by Anderson, Temple Fork Outfitters, Fins Braid, TTI Blakemore, Stanley Jigs and the Kids Outdoor Zone. David would like to thank Ducket Fishing, Jewel Jigs, Get Five Lures, the Tackle Warehouse, Hags Tornado Baits “and the Good Lord for letting us have a great day on the lake. It’s a good day to be alive.”
Rounding out the top five were 4th place winners Wayne and Ronny Anthony with a weight of 11.79 lbs. They received a $4,000 check plus won the Dodge Ram Truck Bonus, giving them free entries into any Bass Champs tournaments for the next 12 months – a $7,500 value!
Wes Michael and Prentice Cox weighed in 11.12 lbs to win 5th place and $1,500. They took home an additional $1,000 for weighing in the biggest bass of the tournament at 7.40 lbs. They also won the Abu Garcia Revo Bonus and received two more Revo Reels.
Gerald Mueller Jr and Gene Fuessel won the Skeeter bonus, doubling their 12 place $800 winnings to a $1,600 payday.
All total 22 teams were awarded checks, with the last one going to John Mills and David Achilles having 9.03 lbs.
The countdown is on for the remaining opportunities to fish Bass Champs 2013! All events are open to anyone who would like to have a chance at winning thousands of dollars at every tournament. How many can you fish in this year?
3/02/13 North Fork
3/09/13 South Falcon
3/16/13 East Sam Rayburn
3/23/13 Central LBJ
4/13/13 East Sam Rayburn
4/20/13 North Ray Roberts
4/27/13 Central Belton
5/04/13 South Amistad
5/11/13 North Tawakoni
5/18/13 Central Travis
6/01/13 South Falcon
6/15/13 East Sam Rayburn
6/22/13 North Ray Roberts
6/29/13 Central Belton
7/13/13 North Cedar Creek
Don’t forget to sign up now for the worlds largest one day Big Bass tournament on Lake Fork! Bass Champs is hosting the 5th Annual Dodge Mega Bass tournament April 7. Fifteen places will be awarded each hour, and the 1st place angler of EVERY HOUR will win a Dodge Ram Truck! The angler who catches the biggest bass of the tournament will additionally receive a Skeeter ZX 190 bass boat. This is one you can’t afford to miss.
For more information on any Bass Champs tournaments, click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274.
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