Bass N Bucks East Texas #1 Team Trail pays out over $200,000 in cash & prizes at 2005 Championship

It has been an exciting year for the Bass N Bucks team trail. So many competitive anglers that come to test their skills against the finest the area has to offer. There have been a lot of new faces that came on the scene this year, producing the best average number of teams yet in the 12 years that Bass N Bucks has been in operation. The two day championship September 17-18 on Sam Rayburn paid out over $200,000 in cash and prizes in the most prestigious team championship in East Texas. There were three brackets of anglers, with a 1st place grand prize of a Champion/Mercury bass rig won in each division. In this format, no matter what you consider your angling skills to be, each angler has the best opportunity of any tournament trail to be eligible to win a boat or money at the championship.

The tournament trail is broken into two series – the first series consists of five events through the Spring, and the summer series consists of three events. To qualify for the championship from the first series, simply enter all five events. The anglers that qualify from the first series are then separated into brackets for the championship. The top 40 by points fall into the 1st bracket, teams 41-80 compete in the 2nd bracket, and the remaining qualified teams compete in the 3rd bracket. Next is the summer series, which has a different twist to it. The top 20 teams by points qualify for the championship as well as the top three couples. From the summer series qualifiers, the top 3 teams compete in the 1st bracket, teams 4-10 go into the 2nd bracket, and the remaining teams compete in the 3rd bracket. Once the brackets are established, each team is only competing against anglers in their bracket.

Dave & Tricia Concienne, owners of the Bass N Bucks series held a special banquet for all of the championship teams, catered by The Stump Restaurant. The 2005 Anglers of the Year Martin Elshout and Mark Price were recognized for their achievements in the 2005 spring series. Bobby LeBert and Paul Eason were named Anglers of the Year for the 2005 summer series. All teams were given goodie bags and t-shirts. The stage was set for two days of hard fishing for a total of 177 qualified teams, effectively fishing three separate tournaments.

As the anglers launched in the dark of the morning and waited for take-off, Dave gave last minute information to the group over the loud speaker, along with words of encouragement. As the morning light broke, he lifted a prayer to begin the day followed by a playing of the National Anthem. With that, the boats were released one by one onto Sam Rayburn. While the mornings started off cool, the rest of the day, both days of competition, rose into the upper 90’s with hot, bright sunshine beaming down on the playing field. The weights for each day were added together to total the winning stringers.

Day 1 – The strongest teams fished against each other in Bracket #1. Brian Schott and Ryan Pinkston weighed in the top stringer at 22.77 lbs, leading Dicky Newberry & John Gunnels 2nd place 19.26 lb stringer by over 3-1/2 lbs. In the 2nd bracket, Doyle Lasyone & Johnny Jones led the pack with their 20.82 lb five fish limit, followed by Butch Carmack and David Curtis with 17.92 lbs. Bracket #3 was led by Jack Carroll and Morris Fuller with 19.73 lbs, and Rick Hill & Scotty Thornton on their heels with 17.20 lbs.

Day 2 – The take-off order was reversed, starting with team #177. Beginning the day again with a prayer and the National Anthem, the teams went out again to try to put it together on the final day. For some, they were hoping their spots would continue to produce another day. For several others, game plans were totally changed in hopes of better luck.

Top Standings Bracket #1, two day weights:

This marks Dicky Newberry & John Gunnels 3rd Championship win, an accomplishment not easily matched.

Top Standings Bracket #2, two day weights:

Top Standings Bracket #3, two day weights:

By: Patty Lenderman / Lakecaster