The team of Charles Pinson of Longview and Rick Loomis of Yantis held onto the first place with their 9.64 pound beauty caught early Saturday morning. They were casting into standing timber and slowing working their baits up through the tree limbs where the fish were suspended. Charles caught the first 3 fish, which were all in the 16" to 24" slot. Rick caught the winning fish using a Zoom Old Monster 10" Plum colored worm. None of their fish were caught on the bottom. When they returned to this sport on the East side of the lake this morning, they again caught 4 fish early, until the wind came up, with none over the 24" barrier. In additional to the $600 hourly prize for Saturday, they became the proud owners of a Skeeter SX200 Bass Boat with VX 200 Yamaha Engine, Minnkota Trolling Motor and TI Tandem Axle Trailer, valued at $28,000.

Mike Stansell and Todd Smith of West Monroe, LA held onto 2nd place with their 8.79 pounder caught Saturday worth $2,000 plus the $600 hourly top place. Again, they caught 10 fish suspended in timber, all in the 6 & 7 pound range, except for the 8 pounder. They described how all their fish came out of one tree, using a 6" Zoom green Lizard.

Arnold and Bryan Reid of Longview, TX waited until Sunday to catch their third place fish of 8.36 pounds which was worth $1,000 plus the $600 hourly prize. It was caught by Arnold using a 10" Power Worm. The fish immediately became hung up and despite Brian urging to go ahead and "break it off", Arnold spent some 15 minutes of patiently working with the fish to finally land it along with 3rd place.

The fourth place team of Kevin Lerner and Dave Parson of Southlake, TX used a small variance of the "suspended fish in the timber pattern" as their fish was caught in brush and timber on the edge of a creek channel. Their boat was positioned in 14 feet of water but they were casting into a 30’ creek bed. They caught 12 slot fish before they caught their 7.87 pound fish on Saturday. Each cast was a struggle as they seem to hang up as they worked their their Carolina rigs up the bank into the trees, but that was where the fish were located.

Bobby Boone of Ferris, TX and Dewayne Thomas of Red Oak used a DD-22 to crank up their 5th place 7.83 pound bass from standing timber in 16’ of water on Saturday.

Doyle Bradley and Jimbo Byers of Tupelo, MS broke out of the 16" - 24" slot by catching a 7.65 pounder on Sunday to claim 6th place worth $650 plus the $600 hourly prize.

In addition to the hourly prizes, 48 of 50 yellow Skeeter "Ducks" were turned in by anglers. Each lucky angler received prizes of products donated by the Tournament Sponsors which were valued at several hundred dollars each.

At this tournament, Skeeter Boats announce a new scholarship program for children of registered Skeeter boat owners. Click on Skeeter Scholars for details.

Dates for the 10th Annual Skeeter Owners Tournament were set for June 6,7 & 8, 2003. The site will be announced at a later date, but Skeeter officials have already said it will be bigger and better.