The seventh qualifying event of the 2005 National Boat Mart TVA Tournament Series was held on Lake Shafer, in Monticello, Indiana out of the Indiana Beach Campground Ramp. With water temperatures hovering in the middle 80’s and the air temperatures in the mid 90’s and a heat index of 100 one would say this tournament was heated up before the field left the staging area.
Anglers like Shafer because there’s usually a lot of fish caught, and a lot of anglers get those valued “point fish” to help them through the year.
Four time NBM-TVA Series points champion and former 2002 NBM-TVA Bass Championship winner Burnettsville, Indiana’s Jerry Drazer came to the weigh-in stage with a five bass limit the tipped the scales to the 10.72 pound mark to give him enough weight to win his second event this season. “I don’t know that this has ever happened before to me. I drew out 1st boat, first flight, and came home in first place. Some kind of irony, everyone likes the number seven usually” laughed Drazer.
What was the secret? Drazer reported that the majority of his fish came off the main lake from late morning to afternoon in the rough water with tubes and plastic worms soaked with Kick-N-Bass Crawfish Scent. “It’s really rough out there, I mean really rough, even by my standards” reported Drazer. Who will usually duke it out on the main lake with the recreational boat traffic no matter how bad it is. “You just have to persevere. The main lake here will punish you, and you’re going to fall in the bottom of your boat once in awhile, bring your water legs and hold on. Bass fishing out there is sort of a contact sport” joked Drazer.
As stated in the NBM-TVA Series Preview. Another factor was overall health and a lifestyle change reported Drazer, getting enough sleep, losing 45 pounds and just feeling better. “I took a job last Fall with a really great company, Kirby Risk in Lafayette, Indiana. The people there are fabulous, and it’s a great place to work. Check them out on the web for all your electrical needs. When you feel good, your performance is going to show it eventually in the long haul” said Drazer. Drazer is sponsored by: Hendrickson Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep of Monticello, Interstate Batteries, Kick-N-Bass, Fishingworld.com, and Super Wash Car Washes.
In second place was Brook, Indiana’s Marty Yoder with a five bass limit weighing in at 8.08 pounds. Yoder who is always a “Shafer Favorite” had this to say at weigh-in. “It was a pretty tough bite for me. I had to work hard to get the bites in needed. I just had the 5 keepers and did not even have a chance to cull. I caught my fish on a little bit of everything, but I had to keep changing to get the bites. I caught fish off an on all day, just not the numbers and did’nt get my 5th fish until noon” explained Yoder.
Yoder anchored his second place finish with a nice 3.21 pound lake Shafer largemouth to take the events Big Bass Award. Marty Yoder is sponsored by: BassBoatCentral, Heavy Cover Spinnerbaits, and Persuader Lures.
Rounding out the Top-5 was 2004 NBM-TVA Bass Championship winner Monticello, Indiana’sRod Coffing with four bass weighing 7.55 pounds, Coffing is sponsored by Monticello Shell. In fourth was Logansport, Indiana’s John Sabatini, “the light line finesse master” came in with three bass weighing 6.86 pounds to hold onto a solid finish. Sabatini is sponsored by Spro, Skeeter, and Yamaha Outboards. In fifth was Monon, Indiana’s Jeff Vandergraff with three bass weighing in at 5.96 pounds. Vandergraff is sponsored by JV Custom Baits.
The next NBM-TVA Bass Series qualifier will be held on Lake Manitou on July 23, 2005 out of the DNR Ramp.
The NBM-TVA Bass Series is proudly sponsored by: National Boat Mart, FishingWorld.com, Bass Maxx Charging Systems, Hendrickson Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Wrede & Son’s Excavating, Wild Bill’s Outpost, Kroger, Land-O-Champs Trophy, Lafayette Glass Company and Monticello Shell.By: TVA Staff
