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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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Date: | | June 18, 2011 |
Region: | | 2011 East Region |
Tournament: | | Lake Sam Rayburn #5 |
Tournament Trail: | | 2011 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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Bass Champs wraps up 2011 season on Sam Rayburn |
By: Patty Lenderman |
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There was a lot on the line for anglers as Bass Champs wrapped up the East Region tour on June 18 at Umphrey Family Pavilion on Sam Rayburn. Over $47,000 in paybacks to anglers, final points standings for the winners of the Anglers of the Year race, and qualifying to not one, but four championships later this fall. Nine sacks over the 20 lb mark were caught, but the guaranteed 1st place purse went to Jonathan Garrie and Keith Morris with more than 25 pounds.
Summer is definitely here. Triple digit temperatures are becoming regular, and while there are breezes, they are hot too. Add that to the continuing drought, and you’ve got a lot of hot anglers on increasingly skinny water. Anglers were allowed to trailer their boats to closer ramps where they intended to fish.
Jonathan Garrie & Keith Morris brought in the heaviest sack of the day, winning the $20,000 1st place prize with 25.63 lbs. “We had a milk run set up of about 15 or more spots, and just kept on the move hitting each one about three times all day.” They fished in a variety of places, ranging from 10’ to 20’ deep. “We used crank baits and flutter spoons, and the bite was consistent all day. There were two different times when we caught two fish on the same cast!” While they did not bring in a kicker fish, they had one on at one point. “It was probably an 11 pounder. Glad we didn’t need it!” Their tenacity paid off, winning the tournament by more than two pounds. “We’d like to thank 6th Sense Lures, Custom Angle Rods and Hale Tackle for their support.”
Keith Caka and Charles Bebber won 2nd place with their 23.02 lb limit. “The key to our success is prayers,” Bebber explained. “God gets all the credit.” They had done a little pre-fishing prior to the tournament, but hadn’t found anything. “We ended up going to water we haven’t been to in a good while.” Targeting creeks and river bends in 15’ to 25’ depths, they used football head jigs and swim baits. “We caught our three best fish in our first spot within the first 45 minutes of fishing.” Also catching several small ones there, at 10:00 their attention shifted. “Our trolling motor went out. We spent a lot of time trying to get it working again.” While that may have slowed them down, they continued catching one here, one there to their final limit. Bass Champs presented them with a $3,000 check. “First we want to thank the Lord for watching over us. We would also like to thank Straight Shot Trucking, Tiremax, Seaguar, Big Bite Baits and Costa Del Mar for their support.”
Daniel Chambers & Todd Littleton secured 3rd place with their 21.66 lb limit. “It was an all day bite for us. We caught little ones the first part of the day, then around noon the bigger ones started biting.” They were using spinnerbaits, crank baits and chatter baits off the edge of the grass. “We had a small limit by 9am, then around 11:00 we switched to a jig and started catching the bigger ones. We culled all five of our initial limit and only lost one fish today.” The team would like to thank Kistler Rods and H & W Marine. “Most of all we would like to thank our lovely wives for all of their support.”
Top Teams:
1st $20,000 25.63 lbs Jonathan Garrie & Keith Morris
2nd $ 3,000 23.02 lbs Charles Bebber & Keith Caka
3rd $ 2,000 21.66 lbs Daniel Chambers & Todd Littleton
4th $ 1,200 21.58 lbs Ben Vaughan & Michael Latham
5th $ 1,100 21.02 lbs Phillip Crelia & Blain Abshire
6th $ 1,050 20.99 lbs Jody Goodrum & Jake Goodrum
7th $ 1,040 20.46 lbs Eddie Ellisor & Todd Castledine
8th $ 1,030+ 20.25 lbs Bret Bellard & Nick Simon
9th $ 1,020 20.08 lbs Ray Kubiak & Sean Kubiak
10th $ 1,010 19.50 lbs Jeffery Wise & Daniel Blanton
and last in the money
23rd $ 500 + 16.31 lbs Clarence Denby & Daniel Denby
The Big Bass of the day was caught by Clarence & Daniel Denby weighing 7.42 lbs. They received a check for $1,000 in addition to their 23rd place winnings. Because they use Abu Garcia Revo reels, they also won that incentive bonus giving them two additional Revo reels!
Skeeter Bass Champs and their sponsors offer so many ways to win even more! It is very important to read all of the sponsor incentives so you don’t miss out on any.
The Dodge Ram Truck Bonus went to Bret Bellard & Nick Simon. This bonus program gives the team free entries into any Bass Champs tournament for the next 12 months.
Keith White & Brian Branum won the Skeeter Bonus, doubling their $800 winnings to a $1,600 day.
The Anglers of the Year have been determined for the East Region. It has been a tough race, with teams shuffling in the points standings after every event. Ben Vaughan and Michael Latham won the title with 966 points, closely followed by Ricky Newman and Shannon Hale with 962 points. Vaughan and Latham will receive free entries into the 2012 Bass Champs Region tournaments.
There are still a few opportunities to win some BIG money!
North Region #4 – June 25 on Lake Ray Roberts
North Region #5 – July 23 on Lake Cedar Creek
Anyone who has fished all five tournaments in any division automatically qualifies to fish ALL FOUR Championships! A brand new Skeeter ZX 225 powered by a Yamaha 225 SHO will go to the winners in each championship.
North Region Championship - September 17-18 on Lake Cedar Creek
South Region Championship – October 8-9 on Lake Falcon
Central Region Championship – September 10-11 on Lake Belton
East Region Championship – October 1-2
For more information click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274
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