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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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| Date: | | March 21, 2009 |
| Region: | | 2009 South Region |
| Tournament: | | Choke Canyon #1 |
| Tournament Trail: | | 2009 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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| Kuyrkendall & Wilson win a Record Setting Day on Choke Canyon with Bass Champs |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
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Skeeter Bass Champs South Region anglers got a taste of Hawg Heaven at Choke Canyon March 21, 2009. Record numbers of double digit bass were weighed in including two monster hawgs over 15 pounds! This was the biggest turnout for the South Region so far this year, and the most participation ever at Choke Canyon. Five sacks over 30 pounds were weighed in, but Kuyrkendall & Wilson topped the pack with more than 38 pounds winning over $26,000!
“I have never seen a day like this” commented Chad Potts, President of Bass Champs. “I was astounded at the first 15 pounder weighed in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one up close before. Then the second one was brought up. WOW – it was just incredible!” Those weren’t the only sows. There was also a 13 pound bass registered and “I can’t tell you how many over 10 were brought in after that. There were a lot of them that we didn’t individually weigh.”
The biggest of the two weighed 15.56 lbs by the 1st place team of Derick Kuyrkendall of Bergheim, TX and Forrest Wilson of Bulverde, TX. It anchored their 38.82 lb stringer for the win. “I caught the big one on my second cast” Derick reported. They were positioned on a rocky point fishing in 7’-10’ of water. “I didn’t think it was a big fish at first. In fact, I told Forrest that it was just a little one. Then she jumped about 3’ out of the water and I changed my mind!” The team was quite shaken at the site of the monster bass, and when Forrest went to net her the net broke! “The handle came completely off. Forrest had to hold the hoop to get her in.” What a great start to the day! Wrapping up a limit there consisting of 2-3 pound bass, around 11:30 they made a move. Changing to Carolina rigs and Football head jigs, they moved shallower to flip trees. They were able to cull all of their smaller fish, the best cull of the day exchanging a 3 pounder for a 9 pound bass. “We’ve been fishing Bass Champs since they first started, but this is our first win.” They won the guaranteed 1st place purse of $20,000. They were also fishing out of a qualified Skeeter boat winning that bonus of $5,000. We’re not done – they also won $1,000 for Big Bass, $200 from SureLife and the AllStar Rod bonus. All total their winnings were nearly $27,000! “We’d like to thank South Texas Marine Center, Skeeter Boats, Daiwa, Spro Fishing Line, Jo Baby Lures and of course our wives for their support!”
Elroy Krueger of Three Rivers, TX and Charles Wilson of Pearsall, TX reeled in the other 15 pounder, just shy of big bass at 15.20 lbs. Their total stringer weighed 36.96 lbs for a 2nd place finish. “We only went to four spots today” Elroy explained. Using june bug and watermelon lizards and Senko’s just off of humps 3’-4’ near deeper water, they report catching their big one around 9:00. “We had a limit, but the rest were smaller fish. Around 1:00 bigger ones started to bite and we culled all but the big one.” They were presented with $5,000 for their 2nd place win.
The 3rd place team had caught all of their fish early, and weighed in their 35.68 lb sack around 11:30. James Bray and Ben Stogsdill both of San Antonio, TX targeted points 11’ deep throwing Carolina rigged watermelon flukes. “Our first five fish limit probably weighed around 10 pounds” James recalled. “The bass were biting really well, and just kept getting bigger as the day went on.” Their biggest for the day weighed 9.42 pounds, reporting their best cull was to exchange a four pounder for a seven. “We’d like to thank Tech Industrial, Don McCaray & Assoc., Wade Stogsvill and our wives for their support.” Bass Champs presented them a check for $3,000.
There were 207 teams participating in this tournament and 462 bass were weighed in. “We kept a tally of what it would take to be in the money” Chad stated. “Conservation of our resources is key in the future of this industry. Therefore we have set up a Conservation Bonus for those teams who elect, if they know they will not qualify for a check, to go ahead and release their fish instead of weighing them in. For doing that, their names are put in a drawing to win $500.”
A total of $50,750 was paid out to the top 26 teams, taking 18.18 pounds to grab a check. More than half a million dollars has been doled out to anglers so far in this 2009 season.
The South Region has two more regular season tournaments. Here’s how the Angler of the Year points race is looking so far:
578 Mike Bates & Tye Heineman
577 Cody Martin & Charles Simmons
568 Lee Leonard & Scott Bronder
545 Derick Kuyrkendall & Forrest Wilson
544 Ray Hanselman & Jeffrey Piel
Don’t miss any opportunities to fish with Bass Champs!
South Region schedule:
1/17/09 Lake Amistad PAID - $50,750
2/21/09 Lake Amistad PAID - $55,750
3/21/09 Choke Canyon PAID - $50,750
4/18/09 Falcon Lake
5/16/09 Choke Canyon
East Region schedule:
1/24/09 Sam Rayburn PAID - $71,410
2/28/09 Sam Rayburn PAID - $65,110
3/28/09 Sam Rayburn NEXT – Don’t miss it!
5/09/09 Toledo Bend
6/13/09 Sam Rayburn
Central Region schedule:
2/07/09 Travis PAID - $60,250
3/07/09 Belton PAID - $62,260
4/04/09 LBJ
5/02/09 Belton
6/06/09 Travis
North Region schedule:
2/14/09 Richland Chambers - PAID $51,600
3/14/09 Cedar Creek PAID $68,200
4/25/09 Lake Fork
5/30/09 Lewisville
6/27/09 Tawakoni
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