33rd Annual Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash on Lake Fork
By Don Hampton “The Fisherman’s Guide News”
Blake Hardy of New Waverly, TX wins the Big Bass Splash on Lake Fork, TX with his 10.61 pounder.
The excitement and entertainment for the spectators and anglers began with the first hour and continued through the last hour of the 33rd Annual Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash on Lake Fork held September 20, 21, and 22 out of Lake Fork Marina. This great tournament is where amateurs win like pros and was attended by 2,301 anglers representing 28 states in hopes of winning some of the $516,000 guaranteed in cash and prizes. The weather held nice over the course of the tournament with the only complaints being that the wind made the lake a little rough on Friday but each morning of the tournament the weather remained cooler and the breeze was appreciated.
With $1,500 being paid for 1st place in each hour and two T-shirt hours per day paying double, if an angler had bought a T-shirt and won 1st place in any of those hours, they would win $3,000. There were 15 places paid each hour of the 3-day tournament with fifteenth paying $250 and two additional places paid in the Bonus Card hours. Each day of the tournament if an angler brought in the first exact weight of 2.50-pounds, that angler would not only win the placement in the hour but also an additional check for $5,000. If no one brought in that exact weight, the monies would be given away in a draw at the end of the tournament. No exact weight was brought to the scales in the course of the tournament. In the drawing on Sunday winning the draw for a check for $5,000 was Kris Kennedy from Azle, Texas, Richard O’Brien from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and Christopher Klenke from Labadie, Missouri.
Lake Fork is a Class ‘A’ slot lake in the state of Texas. The slot on this great reservoir is 16” to 24”, which means any bass between those two numbers cannot be brought to the scales. This keeps the lunker population in this great reservoir growing. This also meant that some anglers that caught a 1.86-pound bass up to a 2.70-pound bass took home good money from the tournament. For the heaviest bass under the slot each day Sealy Outdoors pays that angler $5,000 for their great catch. Taking home this extra money on Friday was Ricky Johnson from Rockwall, Texas for a bass weighing 2.49-pounds; on Saturday the lucky angler was Charles Hershberger from Frankston, Texas with a bass weighing 2.70-pounds and on Sunday Gary Grossman from Holly Grove, Arkansas with a catch weighing 2.46-pounds.
During the course of the three day tournament there were 769 fish weighed in with a total weight of 1,561.99-pounds.
There were 19 bass weighed in during the tournament 24” in length or longer. On Friday there were four that came to the scales, Tony Climer from Mesquite, Texas with a 7.21.pound; Burl Blosser from Abilene, Texas with a 9.77.pound; Blake Frasure from Grethel, Kentucky with a 7.30-pound; and James Mankin from Weleetka, Oklahoma with a 6.69-pound. Saturday proved to be the better day for fishing with eight over the slot bass that came to the scales. These were caught by Carl Parks from Hemphill, Texas with a 9.25-pound; Steven Terrell from Fate, Texas with a 9.18-pound; Rusty Miller from Elmer, Louisiana with a 9.08-pound; Alfredo Martinez from DeQueen, Arkansas with an 8.30-pound; Jimmy Qualls from Euless, Texas with a 10.06-pound; Mark Harmon from New Sharon, Iowa with an 8.32-pound; Cody Mays from Yantis, Texas with a 7.06-pound; and Brian Cheek from Abilene, Texas with a 7.06-pound. On Sunday there were seven that came to the scales; Phyllis Nickel from Emory, Texas with an 8.86-pound; Gary Bell from Pine Bluff, Arkansas with a 7.02-pound; Blake Hardy from New Waverly, Texas with a 10.61-pound; Brigham Bigby, Jr from Colmesneil, Texas with a 9.32-pound; Chance Stone from Mabank, Texas with a 7.83; Ken Kerns from McAlester, Oklahoma with a 9.01-pound; and Raymond Springer from Ashdown, Arkansas with an 8.70-pound.
Winning 1st Place overall heaviest bass in the tournament was Blake Hardy from New Waverly, Texas with his 10.61-pound bass. He took home $3,000 for the hour, a 2020 Triton 19 TRX, powered by Mercury, a RAM Truck plus an additional $7,000. Second Place overall with a weight of 10.06-pounds was Jimmy Qualls from Euless, Texas. He took home $1,500 for the hour, a 2020 Triton 18 TRX, powered by Mercury, a RAM Truck and an additional $2,000 in cash. Third Place overall weight was Burl Blosser from Abilene, Texas with a 9.77-pound bass. For his efforts he won $3,000 for the hour, a 2020 Triton 18 TRX powered by Mercury, and an additional $1,000 in cash. Fourth Place was Brigham Bigby, Jr. from Colmesneil, Texas with a 9.32-pound bass. He won $900 for the hour plus an additional $8,000 in cash. Fifth Place was Carl Parks from Hemphill, Texas with a 9.25-pound bass. He took home $1,500 for the hourly plus an additional $6,000 for his catch.
The Elimination Draw Boat was won by Rocky Ramshur from Winnfield, Louisiana. He took home a 2020 Triton 189 TRX powered by Mercury. In the open drawing Johnathan Davis from Rison, Arkansas won an Academy Shopping Spree and a Fire Disc Grill.
Winners in the Little Anglers Division are to be congratulated also. They were Kaleb Woodard, Jackson Ivie, Luke Tomlinson, Lauran and Hunter Laskoskie, Kaden Lynch, Evan Culbertson, Ashlyn Edens, Logan Gaitan, Griffin Blundell, Hunter Cevar, Jackson Ivie, Colton Mackey, Hudson Blundell, Evan Culbertson, Bowen Jones, Bruce Blackwell, Logan Gaitan, Jaykob Netherland, Legend Woodard, Lane Miller, Ty Waldenville, and Casen Turner. These young anglers are the future of our sport and we will be seeing them tournament fishing in the future.
The Lake Fork Sportsman Association Live Release Boat did an excellent job returning all of the bass into the lake in great health to grow bigger and to be caught again another day. This organization truly looks out for the future of Lake Fork! Also, a big thank you goes out to the TPWD Game Wardens for the outstanding job they do. All of our prayers and thoughts go out to those effected by Hurricane Imelda.
We hope to see you all again next year on Lake Fork. For more information and the tournament results go to www.sealyoutdoors.com or call 888-698-2591