Literally fishing in their home waters, the local team of Jeffery Archie and Zach Parker, of Paris, were the winners of the 21st Annual Governors Bass Tournament, held Saturday, at rainy Kentucky Lake. The fishermen launched their boats at Paris Landing State Park and dealt with rain much of the day.
Despite those inclement conditions, a total of 212 boats were registered and 200 fished for the $12,000 in prize money.
Archie and Parker caught a load of bass that weighed a total of 26.06 pounds to earn the $5,000 first prize. That was nearly 3 ½ pounds more than the second-place catch (22.64) of Steven Hudson (Erin)/Micah Smith (Tennessee Ridge) and more than 1 ¼ pounds greater than last year’s first-place haul of 24.71 pounds. Hudson and Smith took home $1,500 for second.
Bill Lyons (Vanleer) and Dennis Black (Dickson) finished third with their haul of 22.01 pounds to take home $1,000.
Fourth place was held down by the Cookeville team of Brian King and Greg Canada with a catch of 21.44 while fifth place was secured by the 2012 champions, Kevin Tidwell (Bon Aqua) and Eric Shelton (Erin), who had a haul of 21.23 pounds.
The team of James Christian (Dickson) and Shane Melton (Kokomo, Ind.) won the big bass with a 7.09 pound catch to earn the $1,218 payout, barely outweighing the second-place 7.08 catch of Terry Pratt (Russellville, Ky.) and Dennis Noel (Crown Point, Ind.), who earned an $812 payout.
Peyton Gibbs, of Dickson, also had a lucky day. He walked away with the grand door prize of $2,000.
The morning started with heavy rain and lighting but that did not stop the fishermen competing in the event. They adorned their rain gear and were forced to battle the elements until the tourney ended at 3:30 a.m.
With the support from the community and the Governors Club, the Austin Peay Governors Bass Tournament has been able to raise nearly $500,000 in the past 21 years.
Let’s Go Peay!
By: Brad Kirtley
