| Bass-N-Bucks Cherry & Elliott triumph on Rayburn as Bass N Bucks wraps up 1st Series |  |
| by Patty Lenderman |
| Page(s): 1 2 |
Anglers enjoyed a briefly cool morning at take off, but summertime temps quickly took over for the remainder of the day. With only a few wisps of clouds high in the sky, there was very little breeze at all for heat relief. It was smooth running as the majority of the lake was smooth as glass. Several 17, 18 & 19 pound sacks with solid kickers came across the scales, but as expected by all they were not the weights it would take to come out on top of this tough league of anglers. As the teams steadily filed in to weigh their creel, top weights continued to climb. Gary McDonald and Philip Crelia weighed the first sack over 20 pounds. At 20.95 their weight was bested twice more for a 3rd place overall finish. "We hit lily pads and ditches with jigs and frogs all day," Gary explained. Targeting six different areas, they estimated catching 20 bass total, but only five good ones. "There were lots of people everywhere we went. We had a good day." They enjoyed a $1,500 3rd place check and would like to thank Hometown Tackle for their support. Pete Elliott and Danny Cherry surged ahead of the pack with a 24.95 lb limit. Accounting for nearly half of their weight was their 9.54 lb kicker. "We had a good day. Danny had done some pre-fishing and found a few on a point. That’s where we started. Just had a gut feeling about it." Using Texas rigged brush hogs, their fish were stacked in the grass 10 - 12’ deep. Listening to their gut paid off, and they began catching fish right away. Their third fish was their kicker! "We had a 20 pound stringer by 8:00, and only culled twice after that. By 10:00 we were done. Tried a couple of other areas, but didn’t catch anything else to use." They won the guaranteed 1st place purse of $15,000. Their kicker earned Big Bass honors and another $1,000. Fishing out of Pete’s Ranger boat, they also won the 1st place Ranger Cup contingency money for an additional $2,500 adding up to a $18,500 day! "We’d like to thank Texas Marine, Ranger, Yamaha, Castaway rods, Mr. Blitz and Hummingbird electronics." Jason Wells and Vic Cooper made a good run for the money with a 22.61 lb limit. "Our plan? Getting out of the office!" It was a good plan - and it paid off with a 2nd place finish. "Vic caught all of our fish today. We only went to one spot, a ledge, and used Carolina rigged Yum Dingers and Bomber Fat Free shad crank baits." Their fish were fairly deep, in 15’-20’ of water. "(Catching fish) started on the first cast and just kept going from there. Our best cull was trading a 3 1/4 lb. bass for a five pounder." They received $2,500 for their 2nd place finish and would like to thank Hometown Tackle, Pradco Lures, Shimano rods & reels and Tri Lakes Tackle for their support. Nineteen places were paid, with Gary Baker and Jason Dew receiving the last $500 check for their 15.69 lb limit. Top 10 teams:
Ranger Boats provides contingency money at all Bass N Bucks tournaments through the Ranger Cup program. All anglers who own and fish from a qualified Ranger boat can win additional bonus checks. Top 3 Ranger Cup winners:
The Angler of the Year race has been tight all season with Stephen Johnston & Danny Iles in a neck to neck battle with David Harvey & Chris Wilson. Johnston & Iles dominated the lead until April when Harvey & Wilson passed them in points. Coming into this tournament, Harvey & Wilson had 979.44 and Johnston & Iles had 958.29 pts. When the points and pounds were tallied at the end of this tournament, Johnston and Iles were declared Anglers of the Year with a total of 1222.16, Harvey & Wilson fell to 2nd with 1211.13. With this prestigious title, Bass N Bucks will waive the entry fees for Johnston and Iles for the 2010 East Texas Circuit 1st Series tournaments. Congratulations! It’s not over for the Bass N Bucks season. The Summer Series is about to begin with a total of three events to qualify in the championship. The first tournament will be June 20 on Sam Rayburn, then July 11 on Toledo Bend, and wrapping it up back on Rayburn on August 8. The 2009 Championship will be a two day event on Sam Rayburn September 19 & 20. Teams will be separated into three brackets, with a 1st place Ranger Boat for each! Over $100,000 will be paid out in cash and prizes so don’t miss it. For more information contact Bass N Bucks at 409-727-8941 or click to their Bass N Bucks website. Thank you to all of Bass N Bucks 2009 sponsors: Ranger Boats, Mercury, American Rodsmiths, City of Jasper, Lowrance, Power Pro, Wulf Outdoor Sports, Snag Proof, Tiremax, ProRule, E2 Bait Company and Fishingworld.com
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