Jumping from fifth place to the winner's circle, Chuck Murray and Ben Parker won the 11th annual Triton Owners Tournament, held June 4-5, 2010, on Kentucky Lake.
In the two-day event running out of Paris Landing State Park in Buchanan, Tenn., Murray and Parker caught 25.40 pounds with one 6.31-pound kicker on Day 1. They added 26.24 pounds with a 5.45-pounder on the final day to win with a 10-bass sack totaling 51.64 pounds.
The pair double-teamed the bass by keeping different lure types in the water. Parker caught most of his fish on a 3/4-ounce Fat Free Shad crankbait. Murray threw a 3/4-ounce football jig from Shooter Lures in blue oyster color. For the victory, they pocketed $6,000.
"We had our limit in about 30 minutes on the first day and in an hour the second day," said Parker who runs a Triton 21 Pro X3 boat. "Early in the morning of the first day, the bass were schooling on shad. The fish were out in a flat. We just kind of stumbled upon them when we saw a bass chasing a big shad. It happened to be over a shell bank out in the middle of nowhere."
Ritchie Anderson and Tim Martin, both of Greenback, Tenn., held the top spot on the first day with a five-bass bag weighing 28.07 pounds for a 5.6-pound average. The bag included a 6.99-pound kicker.
"On the first day, we caught our fish on a DD-22 in shad colors," said Anderson, who drives a Triton 20X HP. "On that first morning, we pulled up to a spot and Tim had a 4-pounder on. I got another so we had two on at the same time. I looked down and the water was just swarming with 3- to 5-pound bass swirling around the boat. I netted Tim's fish and yelled 'grab another rod.' He got another one; I got another one. We sat on that spot for a couple hours and just wacked them."
On the second day, Anderson and Martin returned to their honey hole. Although Martin caught a quick 4-pounder, Anderson lost a fish exceeding 5 pounds. They didn't land a limit until 11 a.m. Still, they brought in five bass for 19.72 pounds to finish second with a two-day total of 47.79 pounds, earning $3,000.
"We were both catching fish," Martin echoed. "On the second day, we went back to that same spot, but the weather hurt us a little bit. On the first day, we had more cloud cover."
Finishing third among the 298 teams, Donnie and Lila Williams of Paris, Tenn., landed a two-day total of 10 bass going 47.67 pounds. On Day 1, the couple married for 44 years caught 24.13 pounds to place eighth. They followed that with a 23.54-pound catch on Day 2 to win $2,800. Lila caught the top smallmouth, a 4.29-pound brownie that hit a brush hog worked on a Carolina rig.
"I've placed as high as 11th in this event before, but never thought I'd finish third," said Donnie who operates a Triton 21 HP with a 250-horsepower Mercury. "There are too many good fishermen in this tournament. In this event, we caught our fish on 3/4 ounce football jigs and Carolina rigs. I like Necessity Jigs with living rubber skirts in green pumpkin. In this clear water, green pumpkin works well."
A hefty 6.99-pound largemouth anchored the sack on Day 1 at 26.49 pounds for Micky Beck and Bill "Stump" Spencer. On Day 2, they dropped from third to fourth with five bass for 19.67 pounds to finish with 46.16 pounds.
David Fields and John Morgan held sixth place on the first day with 24.66 pounds. They actually landed five bass weighing 25.66, but suffered a penalty. Weighing five live ones for 21.36 pounds on Day 2, they moved up a notch to finish fifth with 47.02 pounds.
Steve Melton and Rex Williams held second place on Day 1 with 26.63 pounds. They actually landed five bass weighing 27.63 pounds, less than a pound off the lead, but a one-pound dead fish penalty knocked them back a bit. Their largest bass weighed 6.30 pounds, but a Day 2 disqualification dropped them to 72nd place.
Jerry Bond and Drew Lynch placed fourth on Day 1 with 25.47 pounds including one 6.20-pound kicker. They plunged to 21st place, landing only 10.65 pounds on the final day.
On the first day, the anglers caught 977 keepers weighing 2,924.28 pounds, including five bass topping 7 pounds and 13 exceeding 6 pounds. James Clements and Steve Taylor took big bass honors with a 7.85-pound largemouth, followed by Monty and Patty Daniels with a 7.74-pounder. Harold Gay and Kenny Harris caught the third largest bass, a 7.42-pounder.
Robert Brody and Donald O'Connor caught the largest bass of Day 2, a 6.36-pound bucketmouth. In all, the 298 teams weighed 1,641 fish totaling 4,860 pounds, releasing nearly 96 percent of them alive.
At least one angler in the two-person team had to own a Triton boat to compete in this event. The anglers could fish any waters in the 160,300-acre Kentucky Lake or 57,900-acre Barkley Lake system.
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