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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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Date: | | May 22, 2010 |
Region: | | 2010 South Region |
Tournament: | | Choke Canyon #2 2010 |
Tournament Trail: | | 2010 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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A dominating win for Stoker & Stone at Bass Champs on Choke Canyon |
By: Patty Lenderman |
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May 22, 2010
Coming in with a strong sack of 27.72 lbs, Spike Stoker and Justin Stone blew away the competition by more than a five pound margin to win over $20,000 at Choke Canyon May 22, 2010. Well over $43,000 was paid back in 21 places representing a 104% return for the anglers.
The morning didn’t start out as they planned. Starting out in shallow water, the bite they were looking for wasn’t there. Regrouping and changing tactics, they headed to deeper water “We found a hump in the middle of the lake,” Stoker began. “It was loaded with blue gill.” The top of the hump was 17’ deep, dropping to 25’ off the sides. Using Carolina rigged Hags F-6 ½ Tornado in green pumpkin red as well as Vertical Jigs, they found the spot also loaded with bass. “In five minutes we had a limit. They bit all day. We left them still biting.” Culling several times, they caught the majority of the fish on the Carolina rig, but the bigger ones came from the jig. “There was a 3 or 4 pounder in our livewell that we just couldn’t cull.” Their 27.72 lb creel was anchored with an 8.26 lb kicker. Bass Champs presented them with the guaranteed $20,000 1st place purse, and they also received the $200 Sure Life Live Release bonus. “We had a great time, caught a lot of fish and had several double hook ups.” They would like to thank St. Croix rods, Hags Tornado, Vertical Jigs and Sandy Creek Marina in Breckenridge.
Elroy Krueger and Charles Wilson won 2nd place with their 22.46 lb limit. “It was pretty windy, and fishing was on the slow side,” Charles said. “The shad are moving up, so it pretty much depended on the shad for the bite.” Targeting ditches and humps in 12’-15’ of water, they started the day by losing a four pound fish. “We kept at it, and landed one about the same size and one other keeper from our first spot.” Going to five different spots, they caught some on crank baits but most on Carolina rigs. By the end of the day, their limit looked like cookie cutters, with their biggest being around 5 ½ pounds. “It was a tough but good day today. We’d like to thank Jesus for his blessings, and I’d like to thank my son James for giving me the time off to fish. I’m also thankful for my partner Elroy, without him it just wouldn’t happen.”
Richard Keylich Jr and David Dove earned their 3rd place finish. “We got on a spot we had found in practice. Then the bottom fell out.” First, their trolling motor went out. So they anchored the boat and worked on re-wiring the trolling motor to get it going again. Then the anchor got stuck, so they put a float on it. Another boat came through, running over the line and they lost their anchor. Then the batteries went dead, and they had to hard wire the trolling motor to their main battery. As far as the actual fishing went, they used a Fury crank bait and a Carolina rigged fluke in 20’ of water. “We really didn’t have much until noon, then we caught our big bass and a 7 pounder back to back. We committed ourselves and just stayed in that one spot all day.” Their limit totaled 20.58 pounds which included an 8.92 lb kicker. “We’d like to thank our wives for letting us come out and fish. Also Mac Haik’s Southway Ford.”
Lots of great kickers were caught and brought in, but Jimmy Johnson, fishing with AR Johnson, caught the Big Bass of the tournament at 9.78 lbs. “It was around 8:00am. I was throwing a Carolina rigged fluke in 14’ of water. All I felt was a light tap, like a perch bite.” He went ahead and set the hook, but thought he had a drum – until it jumped. “After that it was totally cooperative and came right to the boat.” They won $1,000 for Big Bass, and for catching it on a Revo they received the Abu Garcia REVO reel bonus. Finishing in 8th place overall with a total of 16.66 they received another $900. “We really enjoy fishing Bass Champs. It’s a great tournament trail.”
Congratulations to Terry Oldham & Jaime Buitron, Bass Champs South Region Anglers of the Year! This is the third time the team has won AOY. The status gives them complimentary entry into the 2011 South Region events.
All qualified teams will advance to the Championship October 2nd & 3rd on O.H. Ivie. $50,000 is guaranteed in cash & prizes plus there is an optional side pot for even more. Good luck all Championship qualifiers!
For more information click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274.
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