|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
TEAM TOURNAMENT
|
 |
|
|
| Date: | | June 14, 2008 |
| Region: | | 2008 East Region |
| Tournament: | | Sam Rayburn #4 |
| Tournament Trail: | | 2008 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
|
|
|
      |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
| Vaughan & Kirby wins with over 28 pounds, taking home more than $20,000 at Bass Champs on Sam Rayburn |
| By: Patty Lenderman |
|
June 14 marked the final event for the Bass Champs East Region on Sam Rayburn at the Umphrey Family Pavilion. There were 172 boats spreading out in all directions on the hunt for a winning stringer of bass. At the end of the day $47,600 in cash and prizes was dispersed to the top twenty three teams. There was more at stake than that. Teams were jockeying for top overall standings in points to qualify for the Championship this coming October. Only the top 25 teams from each region will advance to this free event where more than $100,000 cash is guaranteed to be paid out. In addition, the 2008 Anglers of the Year would be determined at the conclusion of this tournament.
Sam Rayburn has been consistently fruitful in its bounties of bass to tournament anglers. Seven teams weighed in more than twenty pounds, but Ben Vaughan & Clint Kirby took a decisive win with 28.86 lbs!
“We fished outside the grass edges and at deep drops” Clint explained. They went to the deepest vegetated areas they could find and started out throwing crank baits. “The morning bite was really good, we really smoked ‘em.” Most of the early fish they caught were small. When the crank bait bite slowed down, they switched to Texas and Carolina rigged redbug Zoom Old Monster worms. “Ben caught our first kicker, about 7 pounds, on a Carolina rig around 7:30. It was a good fight, she was pulling some drag.” By 8:00 they wrapped up a limit that totaled around 15 pounds. Over the next couple of hours the bite was pretty slow, but they steadily culled fish. Their last cull was around noon when Clint (throwing a Texas rig) caught their biggest fish. “We were fishing around 11 or 12 feet deep. That’s when that eleven pounder hit. It was quite a battle, she fought hard coming in to the boat.” They fished for a little while after that, but was concerned about their fish, especially the big one. “She was pretty stressed out after the fight she gave. We decided to head on in and get her in the release tank at the weigh in so she would have a better chance to recover.” They went slow all the way back in to give their fish a gentle ride back and weighed in around 1:30. They were the first to come in, taking an unchallenged lead and an ultimate win for $20,000. They also won Big Bass honors with the 11.16 lb kicker for an additional $1,000. Since they had an Abu Garcia Revo Reel in their boat they also won two more Revo Reels.
Todd Littleton & Daniel Chambers won 2nd place with a 24.16 lb limit. They traveled north for their catch, and as soon as they started the bite was fast and furious. “We put a limit together pretty fast on topwaters” Todd said. “It was great. By 7:15 we already had 20 pounds in the boat. It’s a pretty great tournament day when that happens.” When the topwater bite slowed down, they backed off to deeper water with a Carolina rigged Brush Hog. “We made one cull, around 8:30 and traded a one pounder for a five pounder. Our day was pretty well over after that.” Bass Champs presented them with $3,000 for their 2nd place win. Their sponsors include Bayou Outdoors and Champion Boats.
Michael Freck & Daniel Chambers won 3rd place with 21.84 lbs. “We had a slow morning” Michael explained. “We were flipping grass in 8’-10’ at main lake points with a craw worm and a jig. Didn’t have a keeper in the boat until 9:30.” They had eight spots picked out, and throughout the day most of them gave up a few good fish. By noon they wrapped up a limit and was able to cull up three times before heading in. They won $2,000 for their 3rd place finish, and they were the highest qualified team for the Skeeter Boats Bonus money and doubled their winnings for a $4,000 finish. “I’d like to thank Skeeter Boats and American Rodsmiths!”
Top Teams:
1st $20,000 + 28.86 lbs Ben Vaughan & Clint Kirby
2nd $ 3,000 24.16 lbs Todd Littleton & Daniel Chambers
3rd $ 2,000 + 21.84 lbs Michael Freck & Roney McMillen II
4th $ 1,200 21.30 lbs Todd Driscoll & Larry Byrd
5th $ 1,100 21.16 lbs Landan Ware & Rick Scott
6th $ 1,050 20.26 lbs Bill Hudspeth & Ricky Potts
7th $ 1,040 20.12 lbs Joel James & Sam Creel
8th $ 1,030 19.24 lbs Clayton Boulware & Roger Boulware
9th $ 1,020 18.92 lbs David Ozio & Kevin Wing
10th $ 1,010 18.82 lbs Cory Rambo & Jason Woods
and last in the money
23rd $ 500 16.52 lbs Dewey Vines & Johnny Vines
Sponsor Incentive Bonuses:
Skeeter Boats $2,000 Michael Freck & Roney McMillen II
Abu Garcia Revo 2 Reels Ben Vaughan & Clint Kirby
Big Bass: 11.16 lbs $1,000 Ben Vaughan & Clint Kirby
Consistency is the key in the points race. Kris Wilson & David Harvey had a hefty 60 point lead coming into this event, and stayed ahead of the pack in points to win the Angler of the Year race for the 2008 East Texas Region. Their tournament fees will be waived in 2009 in this region, they have secured their Championship qualification, and will be joining Bass Champs anglers from other regions in the annual International Challenge tournament in July. Congratulations!
The Championship will be a two day event October 18-19 on a body of water in Texas that is not a regular tournament site for any of Bass Champs trails. The location will be kept secret for the next few months, so stay tuned to www.basschamps.com for updates. This will be a free event for the 100 qualified teams from all four regions, fishing for an all cash payout of more than $100,000.
The qualifiers from the East Texas Region are as follows:
Angler 1 Angler 2 How they Qualified
Kris Wilson David Harvey 1st Angler of the Year
Richard Weeks II Andrew Upshaw 2nd Angler of the Year
David Fox George Jeane Sr. 3rd Angler of the Year
Strider Browning Allen Shelton 4th Angler of the Year
John Lynch Bill Rogers 5th Angler of the Year
Clayton Boulware Roger Boulware 6th Angler of the Year
Brian Shook Cody Goodman 7th Angler of the Year
David Pierret William Caraway 8th Angler of the Year
Pete Shivers Allan Shivers 9th Angler of the Year
Terry Helgeson Athony Clemens 10th Angler of the Year
Todd Littleton Daniel Chambers 1st Qualifier at final event
Michael Freck Roney McMillen 2nd Qualifier at final event.
Todd Driscoll Larry Byrd 3rd Qualifier at final event
Landan Ware Rick Scott 4th Qualifier at final event
Bill Hudspeth Ricky Potts 5th Qualifier at final event
Cory Rambo 6th Qualifier at final event
Russ Carter Scott Bailey 7th Qualifier at final event
Charles Bebber Keith Caka 8th Qualifier at final event
Dicky Newberry John Gunnels 9th Qualifier at final event
Rick Barnes Shawn Malone 10th Qualifier at final event
Travis White Keith White Top Junior Team
Brandon Tingey Terry Tingey Top with qualified Skeeter
Brian Sewell Matt Byrd Random Draw
Terry McFarlain Tony Coburn Random Draw
Larry Weppler Ronnie Milner Random Draw
The next Bass Champs hosted tournament is on Lake Fork June 20-22 at the Skeeter Owners Tournament. Skeeter is celebrating 60 years of history as a leader in the fishing industry, and is offering more than $150,000 in cash and prizes. The weekend is open to the public and will have a host of family-fun activities.
The 2nd Annual Dodge Mega Bass tournament is just a month away! Twelve trucks will be given away to the biggest bass of each hour in this world’s richest two day hourly big bass tournament. It will be July 26 & 27 at Sam Rayburn at the Umphrey Family Pavilion. Sign up now!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
