Fishing one particular patch of brush, both anglers suddenly hooked-up at the same time! A small chunk of about 2 lbs on one line with a solid “hawg” wallowing about on the other. Desperately yelling for his partner to get the net, the mega-bass angler held on tight as “Moby Dick”, slowly swam by the boat, eyeballing his tormentor. But before his partner could flip his bass in and grab the net, the huge bass made one final lunge to free itself from the hooks!
Sealy Outdoors, Inc. held it’s first “Open Super Team Splash®” bass tournament event on February 5th and 6th. Revamped for the 2005 season the Team-Splash tournaments now consist of two, 2-day, 3-way payback “Super Team Splash®” events held with one day of competition on each of two prime bass lakes in East Texas, Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. The format of the Super Team Splash® features a guaranteed payback of more than $50,000 CASH per event. At the end of Day 1 competition on Toledo Bend the top-20 places shared $16,250. Day 2 competition on Rayburn another $16,250 was paid out to the top twenty places for their 2nd day weights. The top-5 teams with the top-5 combined weights (Day 1 and 2 ) split yet another $16,250 for their overall final weights. Additionally, another $1,000 was paid out daily for the top three big bass weighed in for the Big Bass contest. Sealy Outdoors, Inc; a leader in the field of bass tournaments since 1983, created and produces the McDonald’s® Big Bass Splash® events in Texas and Louisiana annually, on Lake Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend Reservoir, and Lake Fork, adding Lake Cumberland, KY to the schedule for the 2005 season. PLUS, In July, the Big Catfish Splash® was introduced and will return to Lake Fork again next summer bringing cash and prize awards to amateur catfish anglers. And for you salt water buffs, Sealy Outdoors also performs with ESPN and its Redfish Tour saltwater tournaments.
“I wish to thank each and every one of those teams who signed up to fish our “Super-Team Splash” event, announced founder/director, Bob Sealy, for they have reaped their rewards from the over $50,000 cash payouts that were paid out today. I really don’t know why the entries were down on this event, especially since we had 277 teams who signed up to compete in last years “team-splash” tournament, BUT WE ALWAYS HONOR OUR “GUARANTEE”, Bob stressed, and those of you who’ve fished with us yesterday and today have definitely earned our sincere thanks for doing so.”
Day-1-Toledo Phase: Saturday- 01/05/05-
A 5 Bass/22 Lb weight took the Day-1- Toledo Phase top-spot for Keith Lantrip, of Kady TX, and Ken Lantrip, of Ruston LA, who ran their Stratos/Evinrude bass-rig north to 1215 area deepwater points to work Falcon/Castaway rods and Shimano/ Ambassadeur reels spooled with 20 lb test P-line. The Brothers/Lantrip team fished Carolina rigged watermelon lizards and Reaction watermelon/red worms to catch their bass from a 10am to noon prime bite, which included an 8.78 overall big bass caught by Keith on a 10:30am big bite.
Top-5-Toledo Teams; Saturday-01/05/05
1-(22.0)-Keith/Ken Lantrip-($1,500)
2-(19.50)-Billy/Johnny Guice-($1,400)
3-(17.75)-Sonny Glasco/David Irwin-($1,300)
4-(17.60)-George Jean JR/Joe Joslin-($1,200)
5-(17.59)-Dusty Anders/Shane Lurry-($1.100)
Top-3 Toledo Big Bass: Saturday 01/05/05-
1-(8.78)-Lantrip/Lantrip-($500)
2-(8.60)-Lewis/Stagg-($300)
3-(7.57)-Beck/Stricklin-($200)
Toledo tally- 206 bass weighing 564 lbs were recovered and released by the SRA-LA Fish Recovery Team.
Day-2-Rayburn Phase; Sunday- 01/06/05-
5 bass/21.0) Houston TX, anglers, John Gunnels and Dicky Newberry, maneuvered their Skeeter/Yamaha bass-rig along the edges of a “windy” mid-lake shoreline to rip 1/2 oz red Rat-L-Traps and “tick” white Stanley spinner baits through 3 to 4 foot brush to catch their winning weight. The Houston team used Castaway rods and Shimano reels to work their bass pattern that enticed an 6.89 “kicker” caught by Gunnels on a 10am big bite. “John and I were working one particular brush-patch, Dicky informed, when both of us hooked-up at the same time! John’s hooked a small chunk of about 2 lbs, but mine was a solid 8 lb “hawg” that rolled and dove under the boat. I yelled for John to get the net but before he could flip his bass in and grab the net, my big bass made one final lunge and ripped off the hooks. If we had been able to get that bass we probably would’ve had at least 27 lbs to weigh-in today.” The 1st place winners for 2nd day competition managed to catch 5 bass/11.72 lbs on Toledo Bend the previous day to give them the overall two-day weight of 10 bass/32.72 lbs to take the first place overall winning slot.
Top-5-Rayburn Teams; Sunday- 01/06/05
1-(21.00)-Dicky Newberry/John Gunnels-($1,500)
2-(20.51)-Ernie Hillebrandt/John Salamone-($1,400)
3-(18.62)-Pete Shivers/Scott Springer-($1,300)
4-(18.58)-Jason Barber/Rusty Nelson-($1,200)
5-(18.03)-George Kelley/Marty Kelley-($1,100)
Top-3-Rayburn Big Bass; Sunday-01/06/05
1-(7.91)-Hillebrandt/Salamone-($ 500)
2-(7.80)-Barber/Nelson-($ 300)
3-(6.89)-Gunnels/Newberry-($ 200)
Final day tally- 204 bass weighing 566 lbs were recovered and released by the Sealy Outdoors Fish Recovery Team.
Top-5-Overall Rayburn/Toledo Teams: Combined Weights For Saturday & Sunday-
1-(32.72)- John Gunnels/Dicky Newberry- ($6,000)
2-(31.92)- Ernie Hillebrandt/John Salamone ($4,000)
3-(30.97)-Dusty Anders/Shane Lurry-($3,000)
4-(29.60)-Keith Lantrip/Ken Lantrip- ($2,000)
5-(29.36)-Jerrel Pringle/Jeff Wooldridge- ($1,250)
For more information on the Sealy Outdoors Freshwater bass/catfish and Saltwater redfish tournaments contact Nicole Sealy at (1-888-698-2591).
Sealy Outdoors Super Team Splash Sponsors; Triton/Mercury Bass Boats, Academy, Rat-L-Trap- Lowrance- Stanley Baits- Rejuvenade- Shimano- and the “Super Team Splash” anglers.
This Ed Snyder/Outdoors Tournament Report Sponsored By; Bass Buster Inn, Rayburn Country Resort, The Stump Restaurant & Club, The Lake Sam Rayburn Pavilion Assn:By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
