There were “WHITE-CAPS” in the live-wells today as 174 Bass-N-Bucks teams wrangled through Richland Chambers 117,000 acre waterway against gusting 25 mph winds and postfront blue-birds to try and catch their 5 bass/14″ minimum tournament limits. With practice day easing in with light southeast breezes and spring-warm air temps, tournament day launched into the chilly teeth of near gale-force winds and quickly dropping surface temps as “Winterization” returned to Richland Chambers.
With over $375,000 in cash & prize guarantees for their YK/2000 Team Tournament Millennium Tour, the Bass-N-Bucks organization is offering a guaranteed cash & prize payout of over $40,000 for each of their YK/2000 team tournament events. “We are paying out a first place prize of a fully rigged Skeeter/Yamaha SX186 Bass Boat, valued at $20,000, at each and every tournament this year, stated Tournament Director, David Concienne, “with a guaranteed cash & prize payout of over $40,000 for the top 25 places, which includes the top 3 big bass, David further informs. “We also have bonus money available for our anglers this year, David explains, stating that Skeeter/Yamaha will pay Skeeter Owners, who win 1st place positions in “any” of our team events, a $1,000 cash bonus, plus $2,500 for those who’ve qualified for the “Gold Tour” package-(see bonus money rules & regs at Bass N Bucks)- “AND”, David happily includes, “all Skeeter Tour bonus winners will become eligible to compete in the “National Skeeter Tour Championship”. “We are very excited about our Bass-N-Bucks team tour this year, David informs, adding that their Championship package offers over $85,000 in cash & prizes, which includes fully rigged Skeeter/Yamaha ZX-202/225 Bass Boat awards for the 1st and 2nd place Championship teams.
“This has been one of the lowest weight tournaments that we’ve ever had, stated David Concienne, as he weighed and tallied a record number of 1 & 2 bass sacks that were coming in, but before David could say anything about the postfront winds raising havoc with the anglers, one team walked in with a “Richland-Sized” bag of bass that seemed to bulge at the seams. “Listen to this people, David began to announce to the crowd who were watching the digitals settle on 32.57 lbs, “looks like Richard Draper and Phil Marks hit it big, David began as the crowd cheered the Team Skeeter anglers.
1st-5 bass/32.57 lbs Richard Draper of Houston TX, and Phil Marks of Dallas TX, ran their Skeeter/Yamaha to northlake Mesquite trees where they worked Browning & Castaway rods and Browning reels spooled with 20# Stren Flourocarbon line while fishing 3/4 oz black/blue Strike King Premier Pro-Model jigs, with black/blue Larew craws. “We concentrated on 8′ to 10′ mesquite trees, stated the 1st place winners, telling how they managed to catch their big bass, an 8.80 lb and 8.12 lb, between 8:am and 10:am, catching 10 bass from an all day bite for culling their “heavy” 5 bass/32.57 lb sack. The 1st place Skeeter Team won a $20,000 set of keys to a fully-rigged Skeeter/Yamaha Bass-Boat plus a $1,000 Big Bass check for their “Overall” 8.80 lb “kicker”.
2nd-5 bass/24.18 lbs- Rick Hollingsworth and Clayton Boulware of Zavala TX, put their Skeeter/Yamaha on northlake patterns for working Castaway & Shimano rods and Shimano reels spooled with 50# Power Pro braided line. “We fished TX rigged black/blue Brush-Hogs and Lizards along creek laydowns, they announced , further informing that they went “WAY-NORTH” to fish for a limit that was culled from an all day bite which produced 10 bass, two of which broke off at the boat. When asked how big the 2 lost bass were, they just grinned and stated “BIG-BIG”!! The Stanley Jigs Pro Team collected $2,600 for their efforts which included 2nd big bass money for their 7.47 “kicker”
3rd-5 bass/19.01 lbs- Burl Avery of Onalaska TX, and Mark Mueck of Livingston TX, manuevered their Skeeter/Yamaha along Pin Oak Creek while working Falcon & Allstar rods and Garcia reels while fishing 1/4 oz white/chartreuse Terminator spinner baits, and Florida rigged motor oil/goldflake/chartreuse Zoom lizards. “We concentrated on fishing the laydowns and stumps along the creekedges, informed the Avery Custom Trailers team, as they told of working spinner baits for an early bite and lizards for the late bite which put 18 bass in their cull for a 19.01 lb 3rd place finish. The Avery Fishing Team went home with a $1,600 bass-check for their Pin Oak pattern.
Top 5 Teams
| 1-Richard Draper/Phil Marks | 5 bass/32.57 lbs | Skeeter/Yamaha-$20,000 |
| 2-Rick Hollingsworth/Clayton Boulware | 5 bass/24.18 lbs | $2,600 |
| 3-Burl Avery/Mark Mueck | 5 bass/19.01 lbs | $1,600 |
| 4-Fred Janke/Sean Hoernke | 5 bass/16.78 lbs | $1,400 |
| 5-Chris McCall/Cecil Russell | 5 bass/16.49 lbs | $1,200 |
Big Bass Winners
| 1-(8.80 lbs) | Richard Draper/Phil Marks | $1,000 |
| 2-(7.47 lbs) | R. Hollingsworth/C. Boulware | $500 |
| 3-(6.44 lbs) | Randy Millender/Ken Nichols | $250 |
All bass were live released by the Bass-N-Bucks fish recovery crew with 186 bass weighing 535 lbs.
Next tournament- February 6, 2000- Cypress Bend Resort, Lake Toledo Bend, LA. For more info on the Bass-N-Bucks Tour contact David or Trish Concienne at (409)-727-8941 or clic to Bass N Bucks For information on Oak Cove Marina-(903)-872-0888
Tournament Sponsors; -Skeeter/Yamaha, Dawson Marine, Boots Follmar Marine, Latch Oil, Inc, MotorGuide, Shimano, Exide/Nautilus, Zercom Marine, Dual Pro Charger, Triple Fish line, Philpott Ford, Pro-Fishin’Report, Check-It-Stik, McFerrin Insurance, Piney Point Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Ramada Inn of Jasper.By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
