Bass N Bucks Championship winners cash in on over $100,000 in Cash & Prizes

It’s been a year in the making, all leading up to the Bass N Bucks 2010 Championship. A two day event held on Sam Rayburn September 18-19, there were 132 teams who qualified to fish the championship. The teams were divided into two brackets according to their final standings. The winners in each bracket received a Ranger Boat powered by Mercury, equipped with Lowrance and MotorGuide. After two grueling days, Richard Draper & Phil Marks championed Bracket 1 by less than an ounce while Todd Littleton & Daniel Chambers won 1st place in Bracket 2.

The weekend started Friday, with participating teams signing up and deciding whether to participate in the optional 100% payback Calcutta sidepot. Each team received official Bass N Bucks T-Shirts and goodie bags provided by sponsors. In addition, dinner was catered to the banquet by Mike Atchley of Cowboy Catering. The Anglers of the Year for the 1st Series, Conroe Series and Summer Series were all recognized and the stage was set for the next two days of competition.

The teams went out on day 1 in the order of their bracket number. The order was reversed on day 2. Todd Castledine and Brent Broussard of Bracket 1 were the first to break the 20 pound mark with 21.78 lbs. They held lead position until Richard Draper and Phil Marks came in with a half a pound more, 22.27 lbs to top the leaderboard for Bracket 1. Several solid bass were registered in the 7 pound range, Dave & Derrick Mong had the heaviest at 7.93 lbs.

Bracket 1 Top 5 Standings Day 1:

In Bracket 2, Brian Brown and Scott McCarty surged ahead of the pack bringing in 23.81 lbs, anchored by an 8.06 lb kicker. Their Big Bass held lead position at the end of the day, but their overall weight was beaten when Todd Littleton & Daniel Chambers brought in their creel weighing 25.14 lbs, the heaviest sack brought in by either bracket.

Bracket 2 Top 5 Standings Day 1:

Day two marked the final opportunity to gain enough weight to win the tournament and be declared Champion. There was quite a bit of fluctuation in the standings, but in the end the Day 1 leaders in each bracket held on for the win.

1st place winners in Bracket 1 were Phil Marks and Richard Draper. It was a close call, as Robert Svoboda & Randy Carter had attained the lead with 41.18 lbs. When Marks & Draper weighed after, their total was less than an ounce more to take the win with 41.24 lbs! They had stayed on the move all weekend hunting out the chunks it would take to win. “We had about 10 spots picked out. We’d start out fishing deep, then work our way shallow later in the day.” The areas they picked were ledges and sides of points. “The tips of the points get pounded. We concentrated on each side of the points instead. We didn’t get as many bites, but the ones we got were quality.” They used a Strike King 6XD crank bait in the mornings, switching to a Strike King rodent after the sun came out each day. Their victory paid off with a 2010 Ranger 198VX powered by Mercury 200hp, fitted with Lowrance electronics and a MotorGuide trolling motor valued at $45,000. They would like to thank Ranger Boats and Power Tackle Rods for their support.

Robert Svoboda & Randy Carter improved their rankings, coming up from 3rd on day 1 to finish in 2nd place overall. “We were able to pre-fish for two days before the tournament and found five spots we had some confidence in.” Heading to grassy points, using crank baits and frogs, they had an initial limit in the boat by 9am the first day. The second day “we really struggled until the last minute.” Their better culls were later in the day that made a big difference in their final finish. The team was awarded $2,000 and Lowrance units. In addition Randy also received the $1,000 Cabela’s bonus. “We’d like to thank Bass N Bucks for giving us fishermen this kind of opportunity. The tournaments are always run professionally and they are a class act. It’s a great tournament trail. We’d also like to thank Cabela’s and The Lakecaster for always coming out and covering the tournaments. We love that magazine!”

Butch Carmack and David Curtis made a big move from their 9th place standings on Day 1 to their 3rd place overall finish. Curtis gave Carmack all of the credit for catching their fish over the course of the weekend. “The first day we ran a lot, focusing on points with Carolina rigs and crank baits. The second day we didn’t run as much, but fished more thoroughly.” The majority of their fish the final day that attributed to their jump in the standings came from a single point. “We threw a variety of baits on the rig, caught one on a Stanley jig and some on a DD-22.” They managed 16.34 pounds the first day, but their second day weight was 24.03 lbs anchored by a 9.06 lb kicker that earned them a $500 Big Bass check as well. “That big one had to be vented, her air bladder was full. While we were taking care of her we had one weighing a little over three pounds jump out. That hurt us. We replaced it with one under two.” The team won $1,500 and Lowrance GPS units.

Final Standings Bracket 1:

Todd Littleton & Daniel Chambers had narrowed their water down to two areas to stay in both days. “We stayed just off of main lake points flipping beavers in shallow pepper grass and hydrilla.” Bouncing back and forth between the two spots, the team reports an all day bite with about a 2 hour lull midday. Their 25+ pound sack on day 1 anchored by a 7.82 lb bass put them in the catbird seat going into day 2, but it got tougher for them the final day. Bringing in another 17.64 lbs to add to their total, the team had 42.78 lbs to take the win. Bass N Bucks presented them with a Ranger 188VX, powered by Mercury 175hp, outfitted with Lowrance electronics and MotorGuide trolling motor valued at $34,000. They would like to thank H & W Marine in Bossier as well as Tru Trac Lures.

Brian Brown & Scott McCarty kept their 2nd place standings both days. “We had a limit in the boat by 8:30 both days,” Scott reported. Focusing on grass along the sides of creek banks, using a frog was the winning strategy on day 1. Around 1:30 Scott caught their 8.06 lb kicker anchoring their 23.81 lbs on Day 1. Going to the same areas the second day, they found that the frog bite had slowed way down and so picked up a jig and kept on catching. Bringing in another 17.93 lbs, they won 2nd place with 41.74. They were presented with a $2,000 check and Lowrance units for their win plus $500 for Big Bass in their bracket. They would like to thank their sponsors Rockwall Marine and Bass Cat.

3rd place in Bracket 2 was won by James & Philip Crelia. “We had a rough weekend.” Having a lot of boat trouble, they forged on to catch 17.57 lbs on Day 1 putting them in 6th place going into Day 2. “We covered a lot of water, using spinnerbaits, jigs and topwater lures over and around shallow grass.” In the last 10 minutes of fishing time they caught a 6 pounder that gave them an 18.24 day 2 weight surging them up thru the ranks for a 3rd place finish. The team won a check for $1,500 as well as Lowrance GPS units for their win. They would like to thank Hometown Tackle in Center for their support.

Final Standings Bracket 2:

“It’s been a great year, and we’d like to thank all of our sponsors and all of you for fishing with us” Dave Concienne announced. “We’re going into our 18th year now and have made a lot of changes over the years to keep making it better and better for you. After getting your thoughts on several aspects, we’ve made some great changes for the 2011 season! First, we will have a Rayburn Series with a Rayburn Championship. There will be a Toledo Series with a Toledo Championship. The Summer Series will still be three events held on both lakes, but we’re going to a three fish limit in that series. We’re also shaking up the payback. We’ve re-structured it so that more of you take home more money! Even 20th place could earn a check for $1,000.” Check out the full sample payback listing at the BassNBucks website. Don’t forget – the 2011 season kicks off December 4, 2010 on Sam Rayburn!

For more information call 409-727-8941 or click to the BassNBucks website.

Special thanks to Bass N Bucks 2010 sponsors: Ranger Boats, Mercury, MotorGuide, Cabela’s, American Rodsmiths, V & M, Cyclone Baits, Vicious fishing, Lowrance, Tiremax, Wulf Outdoor Sports, ProRule, Snagproof, Jasper Chamber of Commerce, and FishingWorld.By: Patty Lenderman