With late season cold fronts extending cool temps into North Texas mornings and a pre-Tournament rainfall of over 7 inches, anglers headed out in search of the big bass and the chance for a share of over $30,000 in Prizes for Big Bass weighed in each Hour and in the Final Standings. With good fortune Saturday morning, winds shifted to the south, warming up fishermen and Tournament staff alike. Water temps in the upper 50's had the fish staging for in 5-8' of water. Increasing sunshine created a warming trend during the day with many anglers reporting improved fishing results as water temperatures in protected pockets and coves were on the rise by mid day. While the weigh-in crew saw over 232 bass weighed in and released back into the lake on Day 1, the Tournament leader was a bit lighter than usual. Kent Hathcock of Red Oak came to the scales with a very healthy 7.24 lb. bass to hold down 1st Place after the first day.
Upon completion of the final hourly weigh-in, contestestants enjoyed a BBQ dinner and numerous door prizes such as Kistler Custom Graphite Rods, Stike King Lure Paks, Stren Line, and prizes from other fine sponsors including Sewin Sam's special Tournament Logo embroidered worm bags & coolers, and dozens of video lake maps from Aerial Angler Videos.
Day 2 started warmer and quite a bit windier, but the fish must have like these conditions because the typical Cedar Creek Lake Big Bass started coming in to the scales. About 9:30 AM, Mike Thomas of Waco brought in a new Tournament leading bass weighing 8.47 lbs. Mike reported landing his bass on a black with red flake worm in about 5 feet of water. In the next hour, Dale Pelligra of Fort Worth came to the scales with his 9.74 lber. Dale's fish hit a white spinnerbait in a protected pocket on the west side of the Lake. A little later, another big fish was brought to the scales by David Weaver of Malakoff. David's fish looked large enough to challenge for the lead, but fell just short at 9.60 lbs. to move him into 2nd Place. A little later in the day, Mike Vestal of Carrollton brought in a 7.97 and Bruce Clymer of Trinidad weighed in at 7.44 lbs. Like quite a few of the recent KCKL Big Bass events, the top finishers have landed their bass on the second day of competition. Overall, Day 2 anglers brought in five Big Bass larger than Kent Hathcock's first day leader of 7.24 lbs. Given the KCKL Tournament history of winning Big Bass at up to 13.3 lbs., it is easy to understand why Kent had a hard time sleeping Saturday night.
While the weigh-in crew tallied the final Tournament results, another 35+ door prizes were awarded to contestants by random drawing. At the end of the day, Dale Pelligra's 9.74 lb. bass held on to 1st Place in the Overall Final Standings and Dale's winnings amounted to $7,700 for the weekend's competition. Just ounces behind, David Weaver's 9.60 lb. bass brought him $3,100 for 2nd Place. Mike Thomas, the first "new leader" on Sunday, finished up in 3rd with his 8.47 and took home $1,600. In the Ladies Division, Linda Davis of Malakoff took 1st Place with a fine 6.03 lber. which also won her money in the Hourly Competition and 10th Place in the Final Standings.
Overall, this year's event paid 80 Hourly Prizes, 50 Places in the Overall Final Standings, 5 Ladies Places, 10 Places in the Youth Division, and there were five "even 3.00 lb." bass which took home $100 each. Many thanks to the participating sponsors of this year's event which included: Strike King Lures, Kistler Custom Graphite Rods, Stren Fishing Line, Sewin Sam's Embroidered Graphics, Aerial Angler Video lake maps and numerous Lake area merchants.
Make plans now to attend next year's "20 Anniversary" KCKL 95.9 FM BIG BASS TOURNAMENT. It will be held the last weekend of March and promises to be the best event ever.
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