Fishing in periodic pouring rain and wind up to 20 mph, the Tucson G3 team of Jerry Monje and Ray Miller outdistanced the field by more than 6 pounds to win the BestBet Aluminum Boat team bass fishing tournament held on Saturday, March 5, at Apache Lake. They shared a total of $2,100 from the prize fund of more than $11,000 in cash and merchandise.
The pair fished Texas-rigged 7-inch worms, split-shot and drop-shot finesse worms in 5 to 20 feet of water in a cove near the dam to catch the only six-fish limit, which weighed 14.70 pounds and included the event’s Big Fish — a 4.87-pound largemouth caught on the Texas rig.
Second place went to Todd Graffa of Gold Canyon and Joe King of Mesa for five bass weighing 8.47 pounds including a 3.47-pounder. They received a total of $1,550. The partners drop-shotted 4-inch finesse worms on mainlake points between the marina and Burnt Corral. The team is sponsored by Graffa Construction, Graffa Backhoe, and Potts Construction.
Dean Burchard of Mesa and Steve Foutch of Apache Junction weighed three bass totaling 7.75 pounds including a 3.82-pounder to take third place and $1,800. They fished spider jigs in 10 to 20 feet of water on large flats. The team is sponsored by Capato’s, Tres Banderos, AZ Joe’s, Temicon Concrete, Roger’s RV Park and Burchard’s Backhoe.
Fourth place went to Neal Jensen of Globe and Frank Stapleton of Miami for three bass weighing 7.31 pounds including a 4.28-pounder. They pocketed a total of $800. They fished spinnerbaits and drop-shot rigs on mainlake flats and channel edges.
Fifth place went to Pat Loughran of Phoenix and Frank Jiminez of Glendale for two bass weighing 6.46 pounds including a 4.62-pounder. They shared a total of $575. They fished drop-shot rigs down to 4 feet in mainlake coves. The team is sponsored by A-Z Seiver’s Taxidermy.
Rounding out the top ten teams were George Lorz of Litchfield Park and Rod Nelson of Buckeye with 6.24 pounds worth $185; Ken and Larry Larrabee, both of Phoenix, 6.15 pounds, $180; Jake and Paul Randall, both of Pine, 5.41 pounds, $692; Jerry Enders, Sun City, and Tony Medina, Peoria, 5.20 pounds, $420; and Joe Hawks, Apache Junction, and Joel Callow, Mesa, 4.79 pounds, $165.
The next BestBet Aluminum Boat Team Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 9, at Bartlett Lake. For more information, call 480-894-2775.By: Harry Morgan
