| Bass-N-Bucks Anglers pulled out all the stops at Bass N Bucks Championship Weekend |  |
| by Patty Lenderman, Lakecaster |
| Page(s): 1 2 |
The weekend began Friday night with a banquet dinner catered by The Stump Restaurant. While everyone enjoyed a great BBQ dinner, the teams checked in and had the opportunity to participate in the 100% payback sidepot. Anglers of the Year were announced and awarded their commemorative plaques. Brian Sewell and Matt Byrd earned the title from the 1st Series, and Kris Wilson & Russell Cecil won Anglers of the year from the 2nd Series as well as from the Conroe Trail. These teams’ entry fees are waived for the 2008 season in the series they won their title in. Congratulations! Bob Brown and Kim Smith from American Rodsmith were on hand, bringing lots of new rods for championship prizes. They presented Dave & Tricia Concienne with a few new rods, Tricia’s in a special hot pink! They were both very grateful and look forward to using them on their next fishing trip. The fishing conditions were great all weekend, with partly cloudy skies, occasional wind, and not too hot temperatures. The teams were released in order from 1 thru 167 on day 1, then in reverse order on day 2. Recap Day 1: The scales officially opened at 2:30 pm, and John Gunnels & Dicky Newberry were among the first to weigh in. They established the lead in Bracket 1 with 24.19 lbs. That gave them nearly a six pound lead over Mike Michalec & Phil Addison who were in the 2nd place position with 18.18 lbs. Behind them were John Salamone & Ricky Guy with 17.93 lbs. Bracket 2 stacked a little tighter. Bill Cook & Ron Festavan took the lead with 19.55 lbs, followed by Jake Wedel and Bobby Menasco with 19.15 lbs. Boyd & Reggie Sanders secured 3rd place position with 16.85 lbs. Mark & Gay Norton lead the pack in Bracket 3 with 21.68 lbs, trailed by John Lynch and Todd Driscoll with 19.20. Michael & Lance Lowery came in with 18.39 lbs for 3rd place. Sunday, Day 2 was the final push for pounds and the teams gave it their all. Weighing in reverse order, teams from Bracket 3 came in first. Mark & Gay Norton brought in a bigger sack than the day before, adding 24.46 lbs to their weight for a 46.14 lb total, taking the win by more than 10 pounds! They won a Champion 183 Elite, powered by a Mercury 150 Optimax, equipped with MinnKota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics. "We went to three different spots the first day before we found them" Mark explained. "We were flipping a 10" Gene Larew redbug worm down a grass line in about 10’. We just went straight to that spot the second day, and never cranked the big motor the rest of the day!" They also won overall Big Bass in Bracket 3 with the 7.63 lb’r that Gay put in the boat. "Mark had just caught a fish that tore up his worm" Gay said. "He asked me to get him another one, and while I was reaching for one in the bottom of the boat, the big one bit!" They won an additional $200 for their big bass, but that’s not all - they were also the highest finishing Champion Boat owner team, and won another bonus from Champion Boats of $2,000! "We’d like to thank our sponsors for helping us - Champion Boats, Mercury, Motorguide, R-1 Bass, Gene Larew, Lowrance, Lone Star Rods and Shimano Reels." Bracket 3 top 5:
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