Crappie USA held a qualifying event at the Holmes Bend Marina & Resort on Green River Lake. These anglers were competing for not only cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela's Crappie USA Classic to be held this Fall on the Pickwick/Wilson Lakes in Alabama.
Anglers from 11 states participated in the event many of whom had practiced several days and boasted catching many fish every day. One team caught and released over 1200 fish during the week prior to the event. "This is absolutely one of the most fertile crappie lakes we have ever visited. All teams in the top five both divisions caught over 100 fish today. Everyone catches lots of fish at Green River Lake" said Crappie USA CEO Darrell Van Vactor.
Semi-Pro Division Results
Taking first place was the 3-person team of Steve Ferguson of Puryear, Tennessee and Joey & Levi Briggs of Dexter, Kentucky with a weight of 7.87 pounds and earning $1,000.00. Steve, Joey and Levi have been having a phenomenal year so far and look to be top contenders at this year's classic. Steve, Joey and Levi were slow trolling in the Holmes Bend area using Southern Pro blue/chartreuse and purple/chartreuse with black Teezur jig heads on 6 pound test Vicious line. One of the main keys to their victory was using their 14 foot long B'n'M Poles to get out in front of the boat not to spook their fish in the clear waters of the lake. The team caught over 100 keeper size (9 inch) fish during their day of competition.
Second place went to the Hoosier team of Roger Claywell of New Castle, Indiana and Don Licht of Indianapolis weighing in 7.21 pounds and earning $600.00. Roger and Don were fishing in the Butler Creek area slow trolling chartreuse Blakemore Road Runners tipped with minnows in 2-3 feet of water. Roger and Don caught over 100 fish during the day including a 1.73 pound black crappie, one of the few black crappie caught that day.
In third place was the Gilbert, South Carolina team of Joe and Janette Carter with 6.38 pounds and earning $300.00. Joe and Janette were fast trolling Southern Pro orange/chartreuse jigs in Snake Creek 14-26 feet deep then switched to tight lining for a while but ended up running 3 1/2 inch crank baits. Joe and Janette caught over 500 fish in 2-days on Green River Lake.
The Liberty, Kentucky team of George and Joseph Rogers and Tim Maple took fourth place with a weight of 5.73 pounds fishing above the Hwy 551 bridge spider rigging chartreuse jigs in shallow water.
Fifth place went to the Berea, Kentucky team of Wayne Adams and Glenn Stewart with a weight of 5.09 pounds for the day. The team had to leave early, before the weigh in was over.
Amateur Division Results
First place in the amateur division was the Columbia, Kentucky team of Sam and Brett Blair weighing in 7.57 pound and earning $850.00. Sam and Brett were working the Holmes Bend area toward Corbin Bend area, slow trolling 6-12 feet of water using bubble gum/chartreuse Jiffy Jigs. Sam and Brett also took second biggest fish of the day with as 1.64 pound crappie which netted them an additional $155.00. The team like many of the others caught over 100 fish for the day.
Second place went to another Columbia, Kentucky team of Donnie Burris and Darren Adams with a weight of 7.46 pound and earning $550.00. Donnie and Darren were fishing in 8-11 feet of water in the Fishers Bend area fast trolling chartreuse Sun Fly jigs to catch over 100 fish on the day.
Taking third place was John and Matt Feagin of Mayfield, Kentucky weighing in 7.17 pounds and earning $400.00.John and Matt slow trolling Southern Pro orange/chartreuse and black/chartreuse shad stingers 4-7 feet deep in Snake Creek catching over 300 fish during the day.
In fourth was the team of John Peyton of Leesburg, Florida and RC Taylor of Stanford, Kentucky with a weight of 7.15 pounds and earning $250.00. John and RC had to leave before interviews were conducted.
Fifth place went to the team of Doyle and Sonny Milby of Murray, Kentucky with a weight of 6.83 pounds and earning $200.00. Doyle and Sonny were using Southern Pro chartreuse jigs 2-12 feet deep in Case Creek.
Winning the $125.00 Ranger Cup Award in the Amateur Division was the team of Michael Bowland and Aaron Bowland of Mayfield, Kentucky.
Congratulations to all the teams fishing this event. For a complete list of tournament standings and downloadable photos for this event visit www.crappieusa.com then go to Tournament Results.
Big Fish Award
Taking big fish of the event was the team of Roger Claywell of New Castle, Indiana and Don Licht of Indianapolis, Indiana with a 1.73 pound crappie earning them $365.00. Second place in the big fish contest was the team of Sam and Brett Blair of Columbia, Kentucky with a 1.64 pound crappie earning them $155.00.
Crappie USA Free Kids Fishing Rodeo
In conjunction with the tournament Crappie USA held their Kids Rodeo on Saturday morning with several local children attending the event. All the participants signed up for a chance to win one of 6-$2,000.00 scholarships to be drawn for at the Cabela's Crappie USA Classic.
Crappie USA and our anglers have contributed nearly $290,000.00 to the "Crappie Kids" Scholarships since 1997. We are very proud to be a part of the education process for the youngsters who participate in our tournaments as adult/youth teams and those who fish in the Crappie USA "Kids Fishing Rodeos".
A special thanks goes out to Sue Stiver with the Columbia/Adair County Tourism Commission for hosting the event and to David and all the crew at Holmes Bend Marina for all their help in the tournament. The 15 kids in the Crappie Kids Rodeo caught 179 fish in two hours around Holmes Bend Marina. For more information on the area call: 270-384-6020 or visit their website at: www.columbia-adaircounty.com/tourism.
No comments:
Post a Comment