Last weekend’s 21st Annual KCKL 95.9 FM Big Bass Tournament marked another big reunion of anglers from all over the State in one of the longest running fishing events in North Texas. While the big bass were not as large as in previous years, many anglers reported catching large numbers of fish. Warm temperatures and the normal March winds greeted over 1,000 anglers vying for 150 cash prizes plus 1st Prize of a new Chevrolet Colorado Pickup from Teague Chevrolet-Buick of Mabank.
With the warming spring temperatures, fisherman landed big bass moving up into the shallow coves and pockets using lightly weighted plastics such as lizards and eight inch dark colored worms. Anglers weighed in over 400 bass which were then released back into Cedar Creek Lake. On Saturday, Rodney Hitt of Scurry landed a 7.97 lb. bass in the mid lake area on a soft plastic “mosquito hawk” bait to take the Tournament lead.
After a nervous Sunday of fishing and thinking about the really big bass that have been caught on the second day of past KCKL events, Rodney broke the pattern of the last few years to hold onto the first day lead and win the 2004 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck. Additionally, the Tournament winning fish was worth $200 in Hourly Prize Money, a Special Edition KCKL “Tournament Champion” tackle bag and “21st Annual” KCKL Tournament Kistler Graphite Rod.
Finishing very close behind in 2nd Place was Phillip Mayfield of Kaufman with a 7.95 lb. bass which was caught Sunday morning. Until the Tournament staff told Phillip just how close he came to taking the lead, he was quite calm. Soon after weighing in his second place fish, Phillip went back out and in the next hour landed a fine 7.71 lb. bass. Now that’s a good big bass spot.
Third Place was won by Bill Harris of Eustace with a 7.88 lb. bass. Bill has finished high in this event for the last several years. Maybe next year is your turn Bill.
The Ladies Division Champion was Kay Hulse of Gun Barrel City with a nice 6.13 lb. bass. Kay also won prize money in the Hourly and Final Standings. To encourage family and youth participation, the Tournament offers a special $10 Entry Fee for those under 16 years of age. The Youth Division winner was Cameron Faber of Kemp with a 5.75 lber. Cameron and eleven other Youth winners were awarded $100 each for their catch.
The most unusual catch of the Tournament was by Doug Tapley. While fishing plastic craw worms in shallow water, Doug landed a nice 4.52 lb. bass. A little while later, Doug had another bite on the craw worm and proceeded to land a large goldfish weighing 3.11 lbs. So with that, the new KCKL Tournament record for Goldfish has been set!!By: Mike McBurney
