John Cullum Wins 2003 National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Championship In Record Style

Monticello, Indiana hosted the 2003 NATIONAL BOAT MART-TVA Bass Championship on September 6-7, 2003. The 2003 NATIONAL BOAT MART – TVA Bass Championship was a nail-biter to the wireand was truly anyone’s tournament to win. Being a resort and tourist area both lakes were churned to froth with water skiers and pleasure cruisers over Labor Day weekend thus nullifying any practice strategies and further leveling the playing field. But, this event would be one for the record books when the dust finally settled.

As the anglers arrived the first morning they were met with a big handshake for qualifying and a mini-continental breakfast at the staging area. When safelight arrived, the anglers took-off according to boat position in the final TVA Series standings. The anglers had eight and a half hours to catch as many pounds as they could on Shafer, because day two was on a totally different lake, Lake Freeman.

Day One Weigh-In
The day one weigh-in found six anglers weighing five bass limits. John Cullum of Schereville, Indiana took the opening round lead with five bass weighing 14.05, this also set a record in the TVA Championship for the highest single day weight. Second was held down by Fuzzy Dunn with five bass weighing 11.57, third was Jeff Vandergraff with five bass weighing in at 10.70, fourth was Jerry Drazer with five bass tipping the scales to 10.29, and fifth was Rod Coffing with five bass weighing in at 9.74, sixth was Mike Quaglio with five bass at 8.24.

“I got my first coulple of fish the first day cranking. Then I pretty much used soft plastics and a spinnerbait the rest of the day in the Monon. I had my limit before around 8:30 or so and was only able to cull one fish of my first 5. The fish I was able to catch in the morning were bigger than the fish I caught the rest of the day. As it got later in the day I was getting bit more but the fish were a lot smaller”.said Cullum at weigh-in.

Big Bass the first day was had by Logansport Indiana’s Dave Johnson a very nice 3.59 pound largemouth.

After weigh-in, the anglers had about three hours to get things organized for day two on Lake Freeman, because the annual Top-10 Angler-of-the-Year and Special Awards dinner was at 6:00pm sharp.

2003 Angler-of-the-Year Awards Dinner
The National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Series has always recognized angler achievements at the start of the dinner. “2003 Rookie of the Year” was awarded to Frank Brown of Kokomo, Indiana for being the rookie with the highest overall point total. Other anglers winning “2003 Horizon Awards” were Chris Clark of Lafayette, Indiana, Dave Johnson of Logansport, Indiana, Scott Irons of Frankfort, Indiana, and Wade Cohagan of Monticello, Indiana. These anglers will be the ones to watch in the upcoming season(s) and all have made their mark in the series in 2003. Marvin Hofferth was awarded with the “Most Consecutive Championships as a Non-Boater”, Marvin keeps breaking his own record, what a tremendous job. Harold Lawrence was awarded the “2003 TVA Play of the Year” as he was documented catching two bass on one cast. The “2003 Sportsmanship Award” was awarded to John Cullum, when he took time out during the Lake Shafer Open to tow a stranded recreational boater to a marina.

The “2003 Most Valuable Sponsor of the Year” was awarded to National Boat Mart for their commitment to the TVA Series, and excellence in both sales and service to bass anglers in Indiana, and in the mid-west. Then the final special award for “2003 Sponsor of the Year” was awarded to FishingWorld.com for their outstanding commitment to the TVA Series and “the best nationwide media coverage of the sport of fishing” on all levels: amatuer, professional, freshwater tournament fishing, saltwater tournament fishing, recreational fishing, and outstanding periodicals.

As the contestants and their families anxiously awaited dinner, the 2003 Key Note Speaker was introduced to talk to the anglers: this year’s speaker was Skeeter Boats & G3 Boats Regional Representative John Gustin. Gustin highlighted the new products in Skeeter’s and G3’s 2004 winning lineup and explained many of the new features available for the 2004 models. Many of the anglers were excited about the lineup and will be taking a trip to National Boat Mart when the 2004’s start arriving.

The night ended with the Top-10 2003 Angler-of-the-Year Awards: 10th place was Chris Clark, 9th place Dick Snyder, 8th place was Don Deerwester, 7th place Wade Cohagan, 6th place was Rod Coffing, 5th place was Marty Yoder, 4th place was Frank Brown, 3rd place went to Fuzzy Dunn, Angler-of the Year runner-up was Jeff Vandergraff, and the 2003 National Boat Mart TVA Bass Series Angler of the Year / Points Champion was Burnettville, Indiana’s Jerry Drazer with a total of 691 points. Drazer also set a new series record by making this his third consecutive points championship and leading the standings the entire year, wire to wire.

“It’s a great honor to fish with these guys, there’s so much talent in this series, until you fish in it, you don’t see how hard it is to reach the top of the mountain” said Drazer. “To me, these awards are only as good as the anglers you are competing against week-in and week-out, that’s why it’s special. The greatest aspect though, is we’re all great friends, that’s simply the icing on the cake for me”.said Drazer humbly. “I’d like to thank my sponsors Interstate Batteries, Hendrickson’s of Monticello-Dodge, Kick-N-Bass Attractant and Bass Boat Clean & Shine, Ambush Lures, Papa Johns Pizza and Bragg-N-Good Snacks, thank you so much for making 2003 a success for me” remarked Drazer.

Day two arrived early, and so did the championship field. John Cullum was leading, by about 3 pounds, but he would have to put fish in the boat in order to win. Could he do it?

The anglers took off at safelight, but had to be back at the staging area by 2:00pm for the final weigh-in at 2:30pm. As the day progressed word drifted up and down the lake about who had what, who was doing what, and many heard rumors of a good day gone bad with missed fish, lost fish, etc The trailered weigh-in would tell the true story, because the anglers would be towed in front of the public to pull out their catches, and get interviewed.

Final Day Weigh-in
The Top-5 anglers were held back until the end of the weigh-in upon arrival and the other anglers were motioned ahead. One of the big catches of the day was had by West Lafayette Indiana’s Craig Shaefer, Shaefer came in with a beautiful 3.15 smallmouth and set the stage for the weigh-in, because smallmouth bass would be the dominant species at the weigh-in. Other great moments were when Monticello’s Wade Cohagan came in with a five bass limit as did Lafayette’s Chris Clark. Both are 2003 TVA Horizon Award Winners. Cohagan sat in second place with 12.74 total pounds until Rod Coffing of Monticello came in with two bass bringing his total to 13.13 pounds. Who was going to catch Cullum? 2002 Championship winner Jerry Drazer was pulled in front of the stage with four bass and took a short lived lead with a two day total of 17.65 pounds. Crown Point, Indiana’s Fuzzy Dunn took over the lead next though, with 4 bass at the final weigh-in giving him at grand total of 17.94.

Little did these anglers know that history and records were being made as each of the Top-4 anglers weighed in and set a new tournament record weight for the championship event. The next angler pulled in front of the stage was Monon, Indiana’s Jeff Vandergraff. Vandergraff has been one of the hottest anglers this season and was making a run for the championship on the final day. Vandergraff pulled out 4 bass in front of the crowd and took over the lead with a two day total of 18.19 pounds.

The last man to weigh-in was the championship leader, John Cullum. Cullum would need 4.14 pounds to win the event. In the past, anglers with large first day leads often succumbed to the pressure of leading and having a “hungry pack of wolves” behind them waiting to exploit each mistake, miscalculation, or lost fish. So, in order for Cullum to win he’d have to execute his game plan to perfection. Cullum was pulled in front of the stage, and pulled out one bass, then another, and still another. He now had enogh to possibly take over the lead. Was he done? Cullum dug deep into his livewell again and pulled out two bass at the same time. That was it. The crowd new he was going to pull it off, as history was being made. It was now a matter of how much weight and to make it official. There has never been an angler weigh-in a limit both days of the championship. The final weight on the scales, a two day total of 21.65 pounds and yet another tournament record for all-time heaviest winning weight in the TVA championship.

John Cullum wins the 2003 National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Championship!! On stage Cullum talked about his day as the camera’s were flickering in the winner’s circle. “I used soft plastics most of the day. I only caught 5 keepers most of them skipping docks. Harold was a great partner. I don’t think I would of did as well if he didn’t draw me. He kept me thinking positive all day even when I broke off a fish and lost a few “better” fish on crankbaits. So I would like to think him for the support the last day. Also if I can I would like to think my pre-fishing partner Krystin, my girl friend, for keeping me company while pre fishing” remarked Cullum. Cullum also thanked Joe Bertrand of Metalarts Studio who donated the plaques for the T.V.A Classic.” This is by far the nicest plaque on my wall” said an enthusiastic Cullum. John Cullum is sponsored by T-N-T marine in Hobart.

The TVA Bass Series is sponsored by: National Boat Mart, FishingWorld.com, Bass Maxx Charging Systems, Lafayette Glass Company, Hendrickson Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, The Sportsman Inn, Ambush Lures, Wrede & Son’s Excavating, Best Western Brandywine Inn & Suites, Land-O-Champs Trophy, and Metal Art Studios.

National Boat Mart TVA Bass Championship
TOP-10 ANGLERS

By: TVA Staff