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Results
TEAM TOURNAMENT
Date: October 18, 2008
Region: 2008 Championship
Tournament: 2008 Bass Champs Championship
Tournament Trail: 2008 Bass Champs Tournament Trail
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Landan Ware and Rick Scott dominate the field to become 2008 Skeeter Bass Champs Champions and take home $30,000
By: By Patty Lenderman

The climax of the Skeeter Bass Champs 2008 team tournament trail culminated on Eagle Mountain Lake with the top 100 teams from all over Texas competing for more than $100,000. Presented by Yamaha and the City of Fort Worth, the top teams who qualified to fish this lucrative championship event from the North, South, East and Central regions gathered on this neutral lake and competed in this two day event were challenged by unfamiliar water, low lake levels and blue bird skies. Landan Ware and Rick Scott from the East region took a decisive win by nearly 10 pounds!


Twenty five teams from each region qualified to participate in the Championship. The
top 10 teams in each region by points, the top 10 finishers at the final event (that
was not already qualified), the top Junior Team, the top team at the final event
with a qualified Skeeter, and the remainder by random draw.


Most of the competitors arrived Wednesday night in order to be on the water early Thursday morning for the first day of official practice. The lake has been off-limits since October 1st, but all of the anglers were allowed to practice Thursday and Friday. There was live entertainment at the worlds largest honky tonk, Billy Bobs Texas, with concerts from Trent Willmon on Friday, then Joe Nichols on Saturday. Free tickets to both concerts were provided for all Championship Anglers.

The weekend began with a BBQ dinner and a meeting October 17th at Eagle Mountain Marina at 5:00pm. Official tournament days were Saturday and Sunday, October 18th & 19th at Eagle Mountain Marina (on the west side of Eagle Mountain Dam). Daily weigh-ins began at 3 PM each day. All 200 anglers blasted off from the marina at
approximately 7:15 AM Saturday and Sunday morning after a prayer and the playing of
the National Anthem. Teams headed out in pre-determined order by qualifying rank and division, then the order was reversed on day two.

It was a tough weekend for these skilled anglers trying to scratch out a limit. In two days, only three teams brought in back to back limits. These teams made the top three places.

Landan Ware and Rick Scott representing the East Region brought in 10 bass totaling 37.64 pounds and claim a decisive win! “In practice, we found a few around the docks.
During the tournament, we found out that they were bigger than we thought!” When Saturday morning arrived, the team decided to start by fishing the rip-rap with crank baits. Getting three keeper bites there, they headed to the docks and switched to jigs. It was the right move, catching a five pounder backed up by their biggest for the weekend weighing 6.28 pounds and wrapping up a limit. The second day their first stop was at the docks. Ware explained “there was a little wind out of the south on Sunday. It changed things for us. We couldn’t hardly get bit on the jigs, so we switched to white spinnerbaits.” He stated that they were fishing much shallower water than most. “Our trolling motor was literally in the mud, and we were pitching shallower than that!” They wrapped up their final limit around 2:00, securing their 1st place finish. Skeeter Bass Champs awarded the team $30,000. “We’d like to thank our sponsors – Power Tackle Rods and Santone Spinnerbaits & Jigs.”

Trevor Roman and Les Kennedy representing the North Region also brought in limits both days of the event. Focusing their efforts around docks, they reported catching two right away in their first spot. “We covered lots of water, throwing shad colored crank baits and black/blue jigs in 3’ or less water. We just kept moving.” Their two biggest bass came from deeper water, around 6’. They managed a limit by around 10am and was able to cull up four times to sit in 3rd on the leaderboard on day 1. “We both live fairly close to this lake, and know several spots. We must have hit 40 or 50 of them.” They went to new water the second day, and started catching solid keepers right away. Wrapping up a limit by 11:00, they were able to cull three times before weighing in with a final total of 28.84 lbs and a 2nd place win. Skeeter Bass Champs presented them with $20,000. “We’d like to give kudo’s to Bass Champs. They really do a terrific job running these tournaments. Thank you for today!” They would also like to acknowledge their sponsors: Marine Air Conditioning of Texas, Hendrix Rods and Liberty Baits.

3rd place was won by Richard Weeks of the East Region, who fished alone both days. “I didn’t have a lot of luck finding fish during practice” Weeks began. “I stumbled across a crank bait bite, but the keepers were few and far between.” Using a Lucky craft BDS1, on Saturday he went to the only spot he knew to go. “It was around old wooden docks. The metal and floating docks weren’t showing any promise. The bite literally just materialized.” After catching three fish, he went searching for similar areas. “I’d cast 40-60 times at each dock, just picking it to pieces.” He managed to scratch out a 10 pound limit, putting him in 11th place overall on day 1. The second day he went to the same spots as the first. Something had changed, and he wasn’t getting the keeper bites. “I changed the color of the crank bait I was throwing, and still didn’t have any luck. I turned around to leave, and saw a very small dock.” Going there, he landed a three pounder, then one 4 ½ pounds. Keeping on the move, he managed his fifth fish at 3:00. His total weight was 25.20 lbs securing a 3rd place win and $10,000. “I always wondered how I would stand up by myself against these guys. Now I know – at least for this time!” Richard also expressed appreciation for his family for their support as he pursues his fishing goals. His sponsors include American Rodsmith, Rat-L-Trap, Yellow Magic, V&M/Cyclone Lures and Eclipse Solar Gear.

The biggest bass of the weekend was caught on the final day by Scott Dire. He and his partner Jeff Pitrucha were fishing a small rock pile, about 8’ deep, with a Carolina rigged plum apple Ol’ Monster worm. On Scott’s third cast, around 7:25am, he set the hook on this bass weighing 6.84 lbs. That hookset added another $1,000 to the team’s 12th place winnings of $2,100. “It was a fantastic weekend. Bass Champs always puts on a great event!”

The 4th place team of Mike Kernan and David Weber were the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter boat. They doubled their $5,000 win to $10,000 with this sponsor incentive.



Jeff Gilbert, owner of Fun N Sun Sports Center with three locations in Cleburne, Granbury, and Hurst, and now just opened in Lewisville, TX had more money available to win in the Championship. Fun N Sun offered $10,000 to the winner of the event if they purchased a boat from them since the last Bass Champs Championship. Since the winner was not eligible, it went to the highest finisher, Stan Lawing who was presented $5,000 from Fun N Sun. A great bonus from a super sponsor. Stan will be eligible for the next two years as part of this sponsor incentive with that buy.



Chad Potts, President of Bass Champs stated, "We are extremely excited to have held the 2008 Championship in our home town. The folks with the City of Fort Worth are very gracious, and have gone over and above to make sure the event was a success. This is the first time we have ever held an event on Eagle Mountain, but it was a great tournament. The weather was perfect." Potts continued, "The Championship event is one that these anglers have worked very hard all year to qualify for. It was their chance to compete against all of the top anglers in other regions. It was an exciting weekend."

The 2008 Anglers of the Year in each region were recognized and awarded:
North Region - Scotty Wenzel & Robert Case Jr
South Region - Derrick Kuyrkendall & Forrest Wilson
Central Region - Allen Shelton & Heath Moody
East Region – Kris Wilson & David Harvey
The 2009 entry fees for these Anglers of the Year winners are waived in each of their regions. Congratulations!

This two day Championship was filmed by Bass Champs TV crews both days and will be aired Nationally on The Outdoor Channel in two original episodes of the Bass Champs TV show.

Participants in the Skeeter Bass Champs tournament trails have won more than $2 MILLION dollars during the 2008 season. What can anglers expect in 2009? Bigger – better – MORE! Stay tuned to www.basschamps.com for all of the details coming soon!
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