Coffing Wins 2004 NBM-TVA CHAMPIONSHIP

The National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Championship was held on Lakes Shafer and Freeman and what an exciting event the 2004 championship was.

The field boasted 17 qualifiers this year, as the anglers started their first day on Lake Freeman. Freeman had been flooded with muddy water a couple weeks earlier and was expected to be the toughest of the two day event. Because during that two week period a five pound bag of bass would easily win any event.

The first round weigh-in was held at Dodge Camp at 2:30pm sharp, and the anglers were ready to weigh-in and the crowd at weigh-in was ready to see what the “Dead Sea/Lake Freeman” would yield. The first round only saw 8 anglers weigh-in a keeper bass. Rod Coffing came to the scales with four bass that weighed 8.19 pounds setting the mark to beat. It wasn’t long after Coffing weighed in that 2004 Angler of the Year Don Deerwester came to the scales. Deerwester topped Coffing with only three bass weighing in at 8.68 pounds.

A few more anglers weighed in, and then came Fuzzy Dunn to the scales. Dunn impressed the crowd with four bass weighing in at 11.49 pounds he anchored his sack with a 4.51 largemouth to take the lead for Big Bass in the first round. Jerry Drazer came to the scales to challenge Dunns first round mark with four bass weighing 10.24 pounds, but would have to settle for for the runner-up position in between rounds.

The Anglers then had only a couple hours to get ready for tomorrow because the 2004 Angler of the Year dinner was held at Anglers Restaurant at 6:00pm sharp in Norway right between the two lakes. After special awards for individual accomplishments were handed out the angler and their spouses had a magnificent meal served piping hot,and delicious, with the best service and hospitality one could find anywhere. The Top-10 in points were then honored after dinner with awards and speeches with Don Deerwester taking home the honors as the 2004 BASS MAXX – TVA Bass Series Angler of the Year-Points Champion.

Deerwester received the victory spoils and huge Richard Parkhurst Memorial Plaque. One of the neatest victory spoils was the brand new Bass Maxx charging system by Wells Marine for his boat. So that he can actually charge his trolling motor batteries while his outboard is running and/or while he’s driving home or to another tournament destination. It’s truly the “Ultimate Charging System” for bass boats, pleasure boats, or houseboats.

The final round of competition came early as the anglers took off at safe light in reverse order from the point standings.

Most of the anglers were hopeful and very confident that Shafer would pump out the limits of big creels of bass to overtake Fuzzy Dunn and play catch-up. Dunn, Drazer, Deerwester, and Coffing felt confident Shafer would be hot as well.

As the anglers started arriving for the trailered weigh-in in front of spectators and family members a shocking and historical weigh-in was about to unfold. There would be no big weights today.

Shafer went sour, very sour with an extremely “light” weigh-in. The two day format would only have twelve anglers weighing in all weekend.

How tough was it? If you had just under two pounds in two days, you would make the Top-10.

First round leader Fuzzy Dunn did not weigh-in a keeper (hitting the lottery is almost a better bet than this).

The only angler in the first group that overtook Dunn was Demotte, Indiana’s Don Deerwester. Deerwester had managed to scrape up two keepers weighing 2.90 to give him 11.58 pounds in two days and a .09 lead. A few more anglers weighed but none were able to break into double digit weights. However B.J. Delerenso’s single 2.66 pound bass looked very impressive and set the Big Bass mark for the day.

Two anglers were left to weigh-in, Rod Coffing, and Jerry Drazer. Rumor had it that both Coffing and Drazer had bass, but how many for sure was not known.

Coffing pulled in front of the crowd and pulled out a limit of five bass. Those five bass looked very impressive since the day had been so terrible on Lake Shafer. Coffing’s weight, 8.40 pounds. Good enough for the lead, with a two-day total of 16.59 pounds. Coffing was the man to beat.

Drazer pulled out 3 bass from his boat and came to the scales his biggest bass was weighed first a 2.59 pounder, just missing Big Bass by .07 of a pound. Drazer would need 6.36 pounds to take the lead. His other two bass were added to the scales, it was going to be close… The scales flickered 5.83 pounds. A two day total of 16.07 pounds. Not enough to over take Coffing.

Rod Coffing wins the 2004 National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Championship !!

A very humble Rod Coffing stepped onto the stage to accept the victory spoils, and give the events that led up to his winning weekend.

“First of all I have to thank my wife Robbie, she is my best friend and soul mate said Coffing.” “We sat on the screened-in porch the night before the classic and talked about the tournament for a few hours. She told me to go with my gut instincts and just fish, and it worked. Every time I tried something it worked, it was just my weekend. I also want to thank the Monticello Shell Station explained Coffing on stage”

“I was very fortunate to come off Freeman with four fish, I had talked to a few guys in practice and the morning of the tournament and we speculated you would have to have some weight heading to Shafer to have a chance. I was able to get all four of my fish on buzzbaits by 10:00am. With being 3 and a half pounds out of first, I didn’t think I had a chance to win, but thought if I could get 3 fish I could hold my position of fourth. That was my goal, so the thought of winning never entered my mind. I got off to a good start catching two keepers in the first hour on crankbaits. As the morning moved on and I began to see all the extra bass boats on the lake, so I just started fishing whatever was open. I picked up a third fish mid morning in the Monon on a crankbait, and a fourth one in the river on a buzzbait. I was very fortunate to get a fifth fish near the Hoaglan ditch at 11:00. That gave me five, and I ran back up to the Monon hoping to catch a kicker, but could not. I then went back to Honey Creek around 12:30pm and was able to cull one fish. It was a weekend where the things I did worked out and my decisions were the right ones, just as they are with the others who have won tournaments in the past” explained Coffing.

“I’m very touched by all those who came up and congratulated me and even called me that evening. When I said these were a quality group of fishermen and guys who had become good friends, I meant it said Coffing in a telephone interview. Coffing is sponsored by McWhirter Shell.

Drazer takes second.
For Jerry Drazer of Burnettsville, Indiana the 2004 Runner-up in the Angler of the Year points victory was again within his grasp but he would fall short. Drazer took second place in the 2004 Championship as well, and wouldn’t get his second National Boat Mart-TVA Bass Championship title.

“I tried to get a limit each day, and changed as the fish changed I leave today with no second thoughts, pardon the pun laughed Drazer. “I covered a lot of water on Freeman, and I credit the strength of my Interstate Batteries to give me the power I needed to accomplish this in the heavy boat traffic. I wouldn’t have fished this event any differently, I landed all the bass I had on this weekend. Today when I fished my first spot I noticed the water had dropped quite a bit, and this usually creates tough conditions here. So I slowed way down. The three keeper bites I had today involved soaking my soft plastics in Kick-N-Bass Crawfish scent, and then letting it sit dead in the water on the structure. At times I’d let it sit for well over a minute let the Kick-N-Bass do its thing, lift the rod and get a bite When it gets tough, I reach for Kick-N-Bass to get my bites, it works wonders explained Drazer”. Drazer is sponsored by: Interstate Batteries, Hendrickson Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Kick-N-Bass Attractants, FishingWorld.com, and Super Wash Car Washes.

Deerwester lands in third.
The Dominator from Demotte as he’s known as led for much of the final round but landed in third place.

“My expectations were high for the championship and my goal was to try and get my limit each day. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I can say that I fished as hard as I could and had a good tournament as far as no lost keeper fish. I just didn’t get the bites I needed. I had 5 keeper bites and I caught all 5. Shafer fished extremely tough for me on Sunday. I tried all my tricks to find 3 more but couldn’t do it. I primarily fished a crankbait both days along with a tube. I keyed on shallow structure both days. Deerwester is sponsored by: All-walls.com, Big bag bait co., Crown Industrial Supply, J V Custom Baits, and Merrillville Awning co.

2004 National Boat Mart TVA Bass Championship Final Standings

The TVA Bass Series is sponsored by: National Boat Mart, FishingWorld.com, Bass Maxx Charging Systems, Hendrickson Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Wrede & Son’s Excavating, Best Western Brandywine Inn & Suites, Land-O-Champs Trophy, and Lafayette Glass Company Lafayette, Indiana. Yoders Stitching Line Flora, Indiana. Wild Bills Outpost Flora, Indiana. Stephans IGA Food Store, Flora, Indiana. Five Orr’s Sport Fishing Charters East Chicago, Indiana. And Twin Lakes Fish & Game Monticello, Indiana.By: TVA Staff