(Feb. 23, 2009 - Lake Amistad, TX)... It was back to Lake Amistad for round two of Bass Champs South Region tournament trail on February 21, 2009. Over 200 boats launched to compete for $55,750 in cash and prizes. Twenty seven teams enjoyed a part of the purse, but the father & son team of Joey and Fred Lester from Fort Worth, Texas won the lion’s share with their 1st place win."It was a slow start for us" Joey explained. "We hit our first two spots, and didn’t catch anything. We decided to make a big move, to a spot we had found during practice." He described the area as rocky secondary points in 15’ depths. Pitching brown one ounce jigs with Craw trailers, "I put our first big bass in the boat around 8:00." They put their fifth keeper in the boat around 1:00. Their initial limit only weighed around 23 pounds. "We kept at it, and was able to cull up little by little. Our biggest cull of the day was trading a two pounder for a two and a half pounder." They increased their total weight to 25.04 lbs, enough to top the pack for a 1st place win worth $20,000! They had two big kickers in their bag. Only one of their big bass were weighed, and it was hard to choose the biggest between these twin monsters. The one they chose weighed 9.66 lbs and was the biggest bass of the tournament worth an additional $1,000. "We put scent attractant on our jigs. Dad was a great net man today. We’ve been partners for five years now and really enjoy fishing together." Elated about their finish, Joey had many thanks to share. "First and for most, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, for making this all come together. Academy Sports for being the best outfitter for fishing products and their commitment to Bass Champs! Bass Champs - Thanks to Chad and Jeff and their families for making this all possible and having the best Bass circuit out there, for us working class fishermen. We would like to thank Seaguar line, Kistler rods and Shimano reels along with Humminbird fishing electronics. Our Humminbird side imaging was one of the key pieces of equipment that keyed me into those underwater targets that the fish were relating to. BSX "Biosonix" Fish Attractor: I believe this helped me tremendously catch the 2 largest fish of the tournament. After the battery died I only caught 2 small fish a 2 lber and about a 3 lber. The battery died because I have had the unit for many years and it is time to buy a new one. So that’s $20,000 for 1st place + $1,000 for Big Bass, plus they received an additional $200 from SureLife for using their product in their livewell to help take better care of their catch.
High winds had been predicted to hit around mid day, and when it came early some of the anglers were caught off guard, making their targeted areas hard to hold on to.
Terry Oldham and Jaime Buitron were fishing main lake points with 1 oz Oldham jigs and various craw trailers. They went straight to their targeted area and immediately began boating bass. "On the first cast we caught our first fish." The action was fast and furious. "We caught everything we had in the first 30 minutes of the tournament. Then the wind hit" Terry stated. Blowing 25-30 mph, they were forced to leave their spot but had managed to catch 23.02 pounds including a 7.78 lb and one more over seven pounds for kickers in that short time. Their weight held for a 2nd place win and a check for $5,000. They would like to thank Lowrance electronics and Oldham Jigs as their sponsors.
Bubba Haralson and Trent Huckaby secured 3rd place weighing in 22.44 pounds for a $3,000 check. The 4th place team of Charlie Foster and Tommy Lackey doubled their $2,000 win to a $4,000 payday being the highest qualified team fishing out of a Skeeter Boat.
Tournament Statistics:
| Total Entries: | 204 Teams |
| Total Collected: | $53,040 |
| Total Payback (C & P): | $55,750 |
| Payback Percentage: | 105% |
| Total fish: | 691 |
| Total Weight: | 1848.36 lbs |
| Average Weight: | 2.67 lbs |
| Number of limits: | 113 |
Who will win Anglers of the Year for 2009? The team with the highest point standing in each region at the end of the season will gain this prestigious status. Here’s how the top five teams are stacking up so far in the South Region:
Points Team
| 386 | Jaime Buitron & Terry Oldham |
| 381 | Cody Martin & Charles Simmons |
| 380 | Tom Evans & Claude Siddle |
| 374 | Mike Bates & Tye Heineman |
| 373 | Dustin Day & David Day |
Don’t miss any of the opportunities to win some big money fishing with Skeeter Bass Champs this year. Nearly $300,000 has already been paid to participants this season! Four regions, thirteen different lakes and over $1 MILLION dollars in cash and prizes will be given away this year. Need a partner? Grab a kid! "We started a new program this year" announced Chad Potts. "We’d like to see more young anglers participating in fishing, so we have a youth program that gives ? off your entry fee if you are fishing with someone 16 years or younger!"
South Region schedule:
| 1/17/09 | Lake Amistad PAID - $50,750 |
| 2/21/09 | Lake Amistad PAID - $55,750 |
| 3/21/09 | Choke Canyon |
| 4/18/09 | Falcon Lake |
| 5/16/09 | Choke Canyon |
East Region schedule:
Central Region schedule:
| 2/07/09 | Travis PAID - $60,250 |
| 3/07/09 | Belton |
| 4/04/09 | LBJ |
| 5/02/09 | Belton |
| 6/06/09 | Travis |
North Region schedule:
| 2/14/09 | Richland Chambers - PAID $51,600 |
| 3/14/09 | Cedar Creek |
| 4/25/09 | Lake Fork |
| 5/30/09 | Lewisville |
| 6/27/09 | Tawakoni |
For more information on any Bass Champs event, call 817-439-3274.
