What an exciting day at the Bass N Bucks weigh in at Cypress Bend Marina May 15, 2010. Big sacks, giant fish, and huge paybacks were enjoyed by the top teams. The father & son team of Derrick & Dave Mong took home over $17,000 – winning with over 25 pounds!
It was a picture perfect day as boats raced from the tournament site north, south, and all over Toledo Bend. Temperatures stayed very pleasant in the 70’s with occasional breezes not more than 5 mph. Overcast skies with occasional sprinkles kept an active bite going all day, and the heavy rains did not hit until the weigh in was complete.
Ryan Pinkston and Deuce Wulf christened the scales at 3:00 with their 24.47 lb limit. Setting the marker bar, we watched as they were challenged by the rest of the field. They remained in the lead through four other 20 plus pound sacks until Dave & Derrick Mong heaved their limit to the scales, bumping Pinkston & Wulf to 2nd place with their 25.53 lb total.
“We’ve been scouting, and had several spots picked out to hit” Derrick explained. Starting out in shallow water, they weren’t satisfied with the results. “We decided to go deep with Jewel football head jigs and DD-22 crankbaits.” It was a good move, and they started hooking up with the fish they were after. At 10:00 they caught the first of two kickers, catching their second at noon. The kickers weighed 8.50 and 9.85 lbs respectively. “We covered a lot of water, but the mid morning bite was best for us.” Adding in the rest of the creel, their total weight for the day was 25.53 lbs! “Everything just worked out for us. We had a good day.” Bass N Bucks presented them with the guaranteed 1st place purse of$15,000. In addition, they were the top qualifying Ranger Cup team and received an additional $2,500 from Ranger. “We’d like to thank Ranger, Mercury and MinnKota.”
Ryan Pinkston & Deuce Wulf secured a 2nd place win with 24.47 lbs. “It took a while for the fish to get warmed up today,” Ryan said. “We covered a lot of water.” Focusing their efforts at the end of ridges in 6′-20′ depths, they used a myriad of baits including crank baits, fat free shad, Jewel football head jigs and Texas rigged worms. “It got better later in the morning, and we just started catching them back to back.” Their limit looked like cookie cutters, nearly all the same size, with the exceptionof their 5.99 lb kicker. Deuce caught that one at their last stop of the day on a Texas rig. “We probably culled an 18 pound limit. We culled a lot of four pound bass today.” The team is sponsored by Wulf Outdoors, and Deuce would also like to say a special thank you to his wife Kim for her support.
Russ Carter & Lamonte Loyd won 3rd place with 22.25 lbs. “We had a limit the first hour.” They narrowed their targets to three areas, but they were far apart. “At our second spot we were able to cull four bass.” They targeted structure in 16′-18′ of water with big DD-22’s and jigs. They were happy with what they accomplished, finishing in 3rd place overall, but dismayed at what could have been. “We lost one over 10 pounds, and three others over 5. It cost us.” They still came through for a nice payday, and would like to thank Santone Lures, Ranger Boats and Yamaha for their support. “We’d also like to thank Dave and Tricia for having a great tournament trail. We’ve enjoyed fishing with Bass N Bucks over the years and they do a great job!”
Several big bass crossed the scales, but the biggest of them all locked in at 11.06 lbs! Kris Wilson caught the big sow on his fourth cast of the morning on a Texas rigged 10″ worm from Big Bite Baits. They were sitting on a main lake point fishing in water 15′ deep near a drop off that went down to 28′. “We scrambled after that. The bite shut down. We didn’t wrap up our limit until the last hour. They just turned on all of a sudden. We finished our limit then culled three times before coming in!” They also secured 5th place overall with a total of 21.04 lbs. Kris and David headed to Toledo Town to register the bass in the Big Bass program for Toledo Bend.
Top 10 Teams:
| 1st | $15,000+ | 25.53 lbs | Derrick Mong & Dave Mong |
| 2nd | $ 2,000 | 24.47 lbs | Ryan Pinkston & Deuce Wulf |
| 3rd | $ 1,000 | 22.25 lbs | Russ Carter & Lamonte Loyd |
| 4th | $ 1,000 | 21.31 lbs | Shane Hilton & Chad Dyess |
| 5th | $ 1,000 + | 21.04 lbs | David Harvey & Kris Wilson |
| 6th | $ 800 | 20.65 lbs | Bob Laroux & Bret Sepulvado |
| 7th | $ 800 | 19.96 lbs | Cary Talbot & James Talbot |
| 8th | $ 800 | 18.99 lbs | David Fox & Shannon Carroll |
| 9th | $ 600 | 18.44 lbs | Gerald Granger & Jimmy Sorter |
| 10th | $ 600 | 18.42 lbs | Stan Burgay & Lance Hughes |
| Big Bass | $1,000 | 11.06 lbs | Kris Wilson & David Harvey |
Brent Broussard won an additional $250 from the Cabela’s Bonus program.
It’s been a tight race for Anglers of the Year, with the top teams shuffling with each event. Congratulations to Derrick & Dave Mong for achieving the Angler of the Year status for the Bass N Bucks 1st Series 2010. Their entry fees will be waived for the 1st Series in 2011.
It’s time to start the Bass N Bucks Summer Series! Three championship qualifying events starting June 5th on Sam Rayburn, then July 10th on Toledo Bend, and back to Sam Rayburn August 7th for the final tournament. The top 20 teams by points (that did not already qualify through the 1st Series or Conroe Series) will advance to the Bass N Bucks Championship where over $70,000 will be awarded in cash and prizes. The qualifying teams will be divided into two brackets, and the 1st place teams in each bracket will receive a new Ranger boat powered by Mercury!
For full tournament results and more information click to the BassnBucks website or call 409-727-8941/409-727-8941 .
Special thanks to Bass N Bucks 2010 sponsors: Ranger Boats, Mercury, MotorGuide, Cabela’s, American Rodsmiths, V & M, Cyclone Baits, Vicious fishing, Lowrance, Tiremax, Wulf Outdoor Sports, ProRule, Snagproof, Jasper Chamber of Commerce, and FishingWorld.comBy: Patty Lenderman
