Nearly 200 teams of Skeeter Bass Champs North Region anglers had their work cut out for them on Lake Ray Roberts April 17, 2010. High winds and heavy rains plagued the area adding more challenges to the anglers than just finding and catching fish. Jake Roane and Bob Grady followed their gut instincts and won the tournament, taking home more than $20,000.
“We didn’t get to do any pre-fishing, and hadn’t been on the lake since last year,” Jake reports. They weren’t even sure until the last minute that they would be able to fish at all. “We just got the boat fixed at the last minute. I didn’t get home until 1:30am the night before.” The team was fairly familiar with the lake, and had an idea of the pattern the fish would be in. Going to the first break line in various pockets, they were hunting for spawn and pre-spawn bass in 3′-8′. “We caught two small ones in our first spot using crank baits and lizards. After a couple of hours went by we decided to head north to a little cove. Luckily it worked out.” In 15 minutes, they caught two seven pounders and one just over 3. After that they started culling. “The trick was to focus on any little stick-up or isolated tree.” The team ended up with 26.22 lbs by days end to win 1st place and $20,000. For using Sure Life products in their livewell they also received that bonus for an additional $200.
Terry Johnson and Bill Gammons took a close 2nd place with 25.16 lbs. “It poured, but other than that it was a fantastic day.” For the first part of the morning, the team fished just outside the marina area, along with about 40 other boats waiting for the weather to lift a little. “Once the weather improved, we were planning on going to an area we located in practice, but changed our minds.” Instead they hunted for some protected areas out of the wind in the backs of creeks. “We used brush hogs and trick worms in less than 3′ of water.” They had only caught two fish before they made a move, but things got better in their secondary spots and they managed to wrap up a limit and cull twice to a heavier weight. The team enjoyed a $4,000 payday for their 2nd place finish.
Drew Sloan and Bill Gammons had a completely different approach. “Our plan was to cover lots of water with rattle traps and spinnerbaits, putting our bait in front of as many fish as we could.” This was the teams’ second time to ever fish this lake. “We found a secondary point with boulders about 200 yards long.” They put four good keepers in the boat, mostly on their white spinnerbaits with gold willow blades. “We must have gone back and forth on that one stretch six times. The key was the windy bank. It was a lot of work on the trolling motor, but we figure you have to try to work harder than everyone else if you want to win.” Their final five weighed 24.40 lbs for a 3rd place finish. “We’d like to thank our wives and families for their support while we fish these tournaments.”
Not one, but two double digit bass crossed the scales in this event. Billy McCord had the heaviest weighing 11.72 lbs! “My partner Brandon Moncada and I had done some pre-fishing, and found areas with some grass and hydrilla.” Using weightless green pumpkin Senko’s, they hit shallow water. “We were in the back of a pocket, about 12:45 when she hit. It was a fiasco trying to get her in.” When Billy got her close enough to net, Brandon missed and she went under the boat. To make things worse, the net got tangled in the eyes of the rod. Billy hung on as the big sow struggled for freedom, and Brandon came thru lipping her and securing her in the boat. “That was our third and last fish. We struggled all day.” The team won $1,000 for Big Bass and won the $200 Costa Del Mar bonus.
Several teams enjoyed the extra money from sponsor incentives!
Skeeter Double Money Bonus $1,020 Keith White & Travis White
Fun N Sun Bonus $ 500 Bill Wilcox & Hugo Velasco
Sure Life Bonus $200 Jake Roane & Bob Grady
Costa Del Mar Bonus $ 200 Billy McCord & Brandon Moncada
The points are stacked incredibly tight in the Angler of the Year race. There are 8 teams in the top 5 rankings!
412 pts Allen Shelton & Scott Dean
396 pts Curt Culbertson & Jonathan Davis
395 pts Francisco Tenorio Jr & Chris Lam
391 pts Terry Johnson & Bill Gammons
387 pts Tommy Climer Jr & Tony Climer
387 pts Keith White & Travis White
387 pts Stan Lawing & JD Laughery
387 pts John Adams & Greg Fleming
North Region anglers will head to Lake Lewisville May 15th for their 3rd tournament of the season. In the mean time, Bass Champs staff and crew will hit Sam Rayburn next for East Region #4 April 24.
For more information, click to the BassChamps website or call 817-439-3274By: Patty Lenderman
