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TEAM TOURNAMENT
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Date: | | September 11, 2010 |
Region: | | 2010 North Region |
Tournament: | | Cedar Creek |
Tournament Trail: | | 2010 Bass Champs Tournament Trail |
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McCollum brothers dominate the field on Cedar Creek to win over $20,000 at Bass Champs |
By: Patty Lenderman |
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Cedar Creek set the stage for the final Bass Champs North Region tournament 2010. Originally scheduled in January, the extreme winter conditions caused a cancellation, and was rescheduled for September 11. Nearly 150 teams duked it out as lake levels fluctuated with recent rains. Sam and Paul McCollum went deep and won by a landslide.
Only 42 limits were weighed in out of 149 teams. Taking into consideration the high caliber of anglers fishing, it was a testament to the difficulty it was to find quality keeper bass. There had been several rain storms through the area the week before the tournament, causing lake levels to elevate. Still, many had gone for the shallow bite. The McCollum brothers decided to take a different approach.
“This is amazing!” stated Sam McCollum after he and his brother Paul won the event. “Paul and I have been partners basically our whole lives, and have fished Bass Champs for years. I am shocked that we won this event. There are a lot of really good teams that fish Bass Champs, and to win one of these things is just phenomenal.” They had done some scouting prior to the tournament, and found a couple of spots that were holding quality bass. “We drew boat #105, and figured by the time we got there someone would be on our spot.” They had targeted main lake points with deep drop-offs. “Surprisingly, no one was even around except for some white bass fishermen.” The plan was simple. Sit in about 20’ of water, throw up to about 10’ and bring it back. In the first five minutes, they caught a solid 3 ½ pounder, then another keeper. “When the bite slowed down, we went to our second spot.” They tried crank baits, but weren’t getting bit. “We used 10” Carolina rigged worms and creature baits and just went back and forth between the two spots all day.” Their two best fish were their two last keepers of the day. “We just stuck to the grindstone all day and it paid off.” Bass Champs awarded the team $20,000 for 1st place with their 21.61 lb stringer. They also received the $200 Sure Life Bonus. “It’s important to get kids interested in fishing. I’d like to invite every kid 16 and under and their families to our 11th annual Hooked on Fishing event September 25 at IOOF Park on Lake Corsicana. It’s free, and there will be plenty of prizes and fun for everyone.”
Scott Dean and Allen Shelton won 2nd place with their 15.84 lb limit. “We were really nervous about the tournament,” Scott explained. “We had a good practice, but we had a lot on our mind too.” Dean and Shelton were sitting in 2nd place in the overall Angler of the Year standings coming into this event. Targeting docks in shallow water, 1’-4’ deep, they started the day throwing square billed crank baits. “We had a limit in about an hour, but they were all small. As the day wore on we switched to a Double ZZ 6” shaker on a shaky head with 10# line on a spinning rod. We kept on the move, hitting lots of docks.” One by one, they steadily culled all of their initial limit to a 2nd place winning weight. Bass Champs awarded them $3,000 and they were the highest qualifying team in a Skeeter boat and doubled their winnings to $6,000. They won an additional $500 bonus from Fun N Sun Marine. In addition, they also won Anglers of the Year for Bass Champs North Region 2010. “We’d like to thank Skeeter for their incentive program with Bass Champs, Hi Seas Flourocarbon line, Falcon rods, Daiwa Reels, and Double ZZ Custom Lures for their support.”
3rd place was won by Landan Ware and Russell Lee with 15.69 lbs. “We know this lake, we’ve been fishing it for about 20 years.” Utilizing jigs and crank baits, they targeted docks in 2’-5’ all day. “We put a limit together by around 9a.m., weighing about 11 pounds. Staying steady at it, they culled up the rest of the day to win 3rd place. They would like to thank Power Tackle Rods and Fun N Sun Marine in Cleveland for their support.
There were a lot of solid fish brought in, but the biggest single bass was caught by the team of Michael Allbright and Tonya Anderson weighing 6.41 lbs. They won $1,000 for that catch which helped to place them in 43rd place overall.
Bass Champs paid back over 110% in 20 places. It took 12.21 lbs to win a check, the last place won by Bobby Boyd and Bradley Bracey.
The Championship will be held October 9-10 on Toledo Bend for the North & Central Regions. $50,000 is guaranteed in three places for this no entry fee event. Optional side pot for additional places are available to the teams, with the top 10 in AOY standings receiving free side pot money. All teams who have participated in all five events in their region qualify to fish the Championship.
For more information call 817-439-3274 or click to www.BassChamps.com
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