By Don Hampton
“The Fisherman’s Guide News”
Lake Fork’s Lines To Get Hooked On!
With Lake Fork being 5.5’ low this didn’t stop anglers from coming to compete at the Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash held on Lake Fork, September 16th, 17th, and 18th.
A total of 2,208 anglers participated in this great event. Some came from as far as Illinois and Arizona. Anglers and staff could not believe the moderate temperatures they were gifted with. Temperatures ranged from the mid 80’s to upper 60’s and low 70’s at night.
As anglers are quite aware of the reason it is called fishing and not catching is that the bite isn’t always what they want or expect. There were a lot of 2-pound plus bass brought in and 20 bass over the 24” slot. With the slot on Lake Fork being between 16” to 24” no bass between those measurements could be brought in. Some anglers did learn the hard way to measure their bass properly. Many of the anglers reported catching bass in the slot or too small to bring to the weigh-in.
On Friday, the first day of the tournament there were ten bass over the slot brought to the scales. It all began in the 8 to 9 o’clock hour. David Roulston Sr. from Allen, Texas weighed in a 10.21-pound bass and Jason Maxim from Midland, Texas weighed in a 7.70-pound bass; in the 9 to 10 o’clock hour Orren Aden from Angleton, Texas weighed in an 8.34-pound bass, Cliff Williams from Demopolis, Alabama with a 6.62-pound bass, and Doug Gibbons from Longview, Texas weighed in a 6.35-pound bass. In the 11 to 12 o’clock hour Kent Sikes from Roanoke, Texas weighed in an 8.82-pound bass, and Robert Bandy from Springtown, Texas weighed in a 7.22-pound bass. In the 12 to 1 o’clock hour two Lake Fork hawgs came to the scales, Bowie Wheeler from Round Rock, Texas weighed in a 9.84-pound bass and Jason Smith from Forney, Texas weighed in an 8.66-pound bass.
On Saturday, the second day of the tournament seven bass over the slot were brought to the scales. In the 7 to 8 o’clock hour Nathan Bryan from Fayetteville, Arkansas weighed an 8.49-pound bass; in the 8 to 9 o’clock hour Jerry Pate from Downsville, Louisiana weighed in an 8.25-pound bass, and Richard McDowell from Alba, Texas weighed in a 7.21-pound bass; in the 12 to 1 o’clock hour William Sword from Rusk, Texas weighed in an 7.72-pound bass, Colton Mackey from Gilmore, Texas weighed in a 7.62-pound bass, and Tony Sattler from Marthaville, Louisiana weighed in a 7.01-pound bass. During the 1 to 2 o’clock hour Brian Bayless from New Caney, Texas weighed in a 7.88-pound bass.
On Sunday, the last day of the tournament there were five bass over the slot brought to the scales. In the 7 to 8 o’clock hour Tomas Degelia from Valley View, Texas weighed in an 8.64-pound bass and Gary Scott from Hot Springs, Arkansas weighed in a 6.93-pound bass. In the 8 to 9 o’clock hour Jeffery Horn from Glenwood, Arkansas weighed in a 9.97-pound bass; in the 12 to 1 o’clock hour Edward Shehane from New Waverly, Texas weighed in a 7.22-pound bass; in the 1 to 2 o’clock hour Matthew McClure from Mansfield, Texas weighed in a 8.29-pound bass.
In Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash Tournaments on Lake Fork the first exact weight of a 2.50-pound bass is worth $5,000 and for any day that exact weight is not caught there is a drawing for the prize money. The heaviest under the 16” slot on any day of the tournament wins $5,000. On Friday the heaviest bass under the slot was brought in by Paul Pedlar from Waxahachie, Texas weighing 2.68-pounds winning him an additional $5,000. On Saturday of the tournament the heaviest bass under the slot weighed 2.56-pounds and was caught by Mike
Alls from Ft. Worth, Texas winning him an extra $5,000. On Sunday the heaviest under the slot was 2.41-pounds caught by Weston Bates from Garrison, Texas winning him an extra $5,000.
Since there wasn’t a 2.5-pound exact caught on three days of the tournament, there was a drawing after the tournament for that prize money. In the drawing Brandan Hylander from Walls, Mississippi, Kendall Goodhue from Conway, Arkansas and Daniel McKeen from Menard, Texas had a surprise win of a check for $5,000 each.
Being there wasn’t an exact caught of an exact weight over the slot for the three days of the tournament, there was a drawing after the tournament for that prize money. In the drawing Jacob Moore from Lipan, Texas, Donna Teriaje from Harsborne, Oklahoma, and Daniel Wilder from Amity, Arkansas had a surprise win of a check for $5.000 each.
In the elimination drawing Felica Ellison from Kilgore, Texas won a Phoenix 819 powered by Mercury, and equipped with MinnKota trolling motor. Also, John Zanter of Ross, Texas won $1000 in the Open Drawing.
David Roulston from Allen, Texas won 1st Place overall for heaviest bass caught in the tournament with his 10.21-pound bass. For his efforts he won $5,000 hourly pay, a Phoenix 721 Pro XP powered by Mercury equipped with MinnKota, Lowrance Navionics, & Power Pole and X2 Power Batteries; a RAM Truck plus $5,000 cash. Winning 2nd Place overall with a weight of 9.97 was Jeffrey Horn from Glenwood, Arkansas. He took home an extra $15,000. Winning 3rd Place overall was Bowie Wheeler from Round Rock, Texas with a weight of 9.84-pounds. For his efforts he won an extra $10,000. Winning 4th place overall with a weight of 8.82-pounds was Kent Sikes rom Roanoke, Texas. He took home an extra $5,000. Coming in 5th Place overall was Jason Smith, from Forney, Texas with a weight of 8.66-pounds. For his catch he took home an extra $2,500.
During the course of the tournament there were twenty bass weighed in over the slot. On Friday there was a total of 271 bass weighed for a total weight of 539.35-pounds. On Saturday there were 244 bass weighed for a total weight of 468.46-pounds. On Sunday there were 245 bass weighed for a total weight of 449.74. Total bass weighed in the tournament was 760 for a total weight of 1,457.55 pounds. The Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association did an excellent job with their Live Release Boat returning all the bass into the lake in healthy condition to be caught another day.
It was disappointing that the double-digit bass Lake Fork is known for did not show up in a greater number, but the weather was great, safety factors were taken, and the bite for all those winners was terrific. Next year’s dates are September 15-16-17, 2023.
Thank you to Wood County, Lake Fork Marina & Motel, Phoenix Boats, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Lowrance Electronics, Navionics, Power-Pole, X2Power Batteries, T-H Marine, Costa Sunglasses, Shimano, Texas Fish & Game Magazine and Weaver Motors of Kirbyville, TX.
God Bless America, Fish Friendly, and I hope to see you on the lakes.