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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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| Date: | | May 17, 2008 |
| Region: | | 2008 North Region |
| Tournament: | | Cedar Creek #2 |
| Tournament Trail: | | 2008 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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| Harrison & Lewis win Bass Champs at Cedar Creek by more than 4 pounds |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
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The season is winding down for the North Region Bass Champs anglers. There are five tournaments per season before the Championship, and the fourth stop was at Cedar Creek May 17. The paybacks were huge, and twenty two teams received winning checks. Gary Harrison and Damon Lewis won 1st place and won more than $20,000!
“We had a really good day” Damon said about their tournament. The first fish they caught weighed over 7 pounds! “That’s a really good way to start the day. We caught its twin (another 7 pounder) right after that.” They put a good limit together before noon. “We were throwing a variety of baits, mostly plastics and crank baits. We didn’t fish any particular area. Most of our fish were in 10’-14’. We were truly blessed.” They caught more fish in the morning, but they found fish all day. “There was just one two pounder we never could cull. Turns out we didn’t need to after all.” They had the top weight of 21.82 pounds, winning by more than four pounds! Bass Champs gave them $20,000 for winning 1st place plus another $200 from Sure Life for using the product in their livewell. “This is our first Bass Champs check. We’d just like to thank God for giving us this day!”
Trevor Romans & Leslie Kennedy won 2nd place with 17.58 pounds. “We didn’t catch a lot of fish, just some good quality ones” Trevor said. They were pitching tube baits in shallow water, 1’-5’, around docks and boat houses. “Most of the bites came on the initial drop” Trevor explained. “We moved around a lot, we knew we needed that big bite to win.” Romans & Kennedy have fished together for the past six years, and this is their best finish so far. Last month they secured a fourth place finish. Today they won $3,000 for their 2nd place win. They would like to thank Marine Air Conditioning, Hendricks Rods and Shimano Reels for their sponsorship.
The team of Rick Allen & Steve Holland won 3rd place with 17.30 lbs. “We caught a seven pounder on the first cast. It was great to get the big bass out of the way first thing” Steve recalled. Right after that, they managed a good five pounder into the boat, pushing their weight to more than 10 pounds. They were on their way to a good limit of fish. “We used several lures, including a Gambler Ace. I had caught a good bass last week during pre-fish, and it regurgitated a bunch of stuff it had been feeding on. I went home and made a skirt to go on a jig that matched it pretty well. It worked – we caught some good bass with it.” They pitched their jig in fairly shallow water, and later in the day switched to a Carolina rig, backing out to around 17’ depths. “We had a real good day. I’d say we caught around four limits of fish. The bass are finished with their spawn and have moved to deeper water. We were just lucky they were still there after we found them in pre-fish.” They were awarded $2,000 for their finish. “We’d like to thank our sponsors: Gambler Lures, Progressive Insurance and American Rodsmiths. We would also like to thank Bass Champs. They put on a great tournament.”
Scotty Wenzel caught the biggest bass of the tournament weighing 7.72 pounds. His partner Robert Case recalled the day. “We started out with a couple of keepers, nothing big.” They were throwing Carolina rigged Lake Fork Critters in 15’ with Abu Garcia Revo reels and 10# XPS line. “When Scotty set the hook, she jumped out of the water. Scotty got real quiet. That light line concerned him with this big fish. I told him to just back off the drag and play her. He did great. When he got her to the boat, I chased her all the way down the side of the boat with the net to get her in.” They won $1,000 for Big Bass, received two new Abu Garcia Reels, and finished in 15th place overall and got another check for $800. “That fish kept us in Angler of the Year Standings. Scotty saved our bacon today!”
Top Teams:
1st $20,000 21.82 lbs Gary Harrison & Robert Lewis
2nd $ 3,000 17.58 lbs Trevor Romans & Leslie Kennedy
3rd $ 2,000 17.30 lbs Rick Allen & Steve Holland
4th $ 1,200 17.04 lbs Matt Cannon & Steve Cannon
5th $ 1,100 16.10 lbs Kris Chitty & Billy Lawson
6th $ 1,050 15.54 lbs Shonn Blassingame & Shane Elmore
7th $ 1,040 15.34 lbs Joel McBride & Joe Rome
8th $ 1,030 15.16 lbs Alan Perrin & Joe Smith
9th $ 1,020 15.08 lbs Russell Lee & Corey Maples
10th $ 1,010 15.00 lbs Terry Peacock & Steven Peacock
Sponsor Incentive Bonuses:
Skeeter Double Money $1,020 Russell Lee & Corey Maples
Allen Samuels Dodge Bonus $2,000 Shonn Blassingame & Shane Elmore
Line-X of N. Texas $1,000
Fun-n-Sun Bonus $ 500 Russell Lee & Corey Maples
Sure Life Bonus $ 200 Gary Harrison & Robert Lewis
Abur Garcia Revo Reel Bonus Scotty Wenzel & Robert Case, Jr
More than $47,000 was paid back in cash and prizes to the top 22 teams. That is a whopping 107% payback percentage! 171 teams participated, bringing in 1,082.76 lbs of bass. The average weight per fish was 2.36 pounds.
Who will be the 2008 Anglers of the Year for the North Region? With only one tournament left, here’s how the teams are lining up:
691 points Scotty Wenzel & Robert Case Jr
686 points Trevor Romans & Leslie Kennedy
656 points Shonn Blassingame & Shane Elmore
641 points Joel McBride & Joe Rome
625 points Keith White & Brian Branum
The final event for the North Region will be held on Richland Chambers June 28. In the mean time, Bass Champs Tournament Trail will be heading to Choke Canyon with the South Region May 31.
This coming up weekend the Bass Champs crew along with Fish Fishburne will be heading to Lake Whitney for the Fun-n-Sun Skeeter Open. For more details please visit http://www.funnsunboats.com or call 817-447-9191.
The Dodge Mega Bass tournament is just around the corner. Twelve trucks will be given away for the top bass of each hour in this two day event July 26-27 on Sam Rayburn. For more information on any Bass Champs tournament, call 817-439-3274 or click to www.basschamps.com
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