Some of the best weather in years greeted anglers in the 22nd Annual edition of the KCKL Big Bass Tournament. On Saturday morning, a heavy fog moved in for the Tournament start but temperatures soon warmed up to 70s which had the big bass quite active and biting. With light winds, anglers were able to fish their choice of locations and patterns to get that big bite. The approximately 1,000 fisherman found many of the big bass moving up into the shallows feeding in preparation for the spring spawn. Anglers weighed in over 500 big bass, which were then released back into Cedar Creek Lake under the Texas Conservation Society sanctioned “live release program”. Anglers reported success on a wide variety of baits and fishing techniques ranging from bed fishing in the shallows to cranking with deep diving crankbaits in 17 feet of water. The majority of prize-winning bass were caught in shallow coves and pockets using lightly weighted plastics such as flukes, lizards, craw worms and light colored spinnerbaits.
On Saturday morning, Cooper Busch of Canton brought in his big bass weighing in at 9.34 lbs. His fish was taken on the lower end of the lake on a dark colored craw worm. For the next day and a half, Cooper had to endure the many live radio reports of big bass coming in to the scales to challenge his Tournament lead.
When the final weigh in hour closed at 3:00 o’clock on Sunday, Cooper’s 9.34 lb. bass stood fast to win the 1st Prize of $6200. Additionally, Cooper received a 2005 KCKL Tournament Champion Tackle Bag and Special Edition 2005 Champion KCKL Hat from Sewin Samâs custom embroidery, plus a 22nd Annual KCKL Tournament graphite rod by Kistler Custom Rods.
In total, over 140 cash prizes were paid to the tournament contestants making for quite a few happy anglers. Five lucky anglers also received $100 for even weight bass of exactly 3.00 lbs. To encourage family and youth participation, the Tournament offers a special $10 Entry Fee for those anglers under 16 years of age (they are still eligible for all other Tournament prizes). This year we had 52 Youth Division anglers. Additionally, 29 Lady Anglers participated in this year’s event.
As usual, there was the Saturday afternoon BBQ and after each day’s final 3:00 o’clock weigh in, over 40 great door prizes were awarded by random contestant drawing. Prizes included Kistler rods, Strike King Lure packs, Abu Garcia reels, Stren Line paks, and fish and game mountings by Cedar Creek Taxidermy.
We would like to thank our loyal Tournament sponsors: Radio Station KCKL 95.9 FM, Gander Mountain Outdoors, Strike King Lures, Stren Fishing Line, Abu Garcia Reels, Kistler Graphite Rods, Sewin Sams Embroidered Hats/Shirts, Cedar Creek Taxidermy, and The Texas Conservation Society.
Next year’s 23rd ANNUAL KCKL 95.9 FM BASS TOURNAMENT is scheduled for March 25-26th. Mark your calendar and come join us for the fun.By: Mike McBurney
