35th Annual Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash On Lake Fork
By Don Hampton – “The Fisherman’s Guide News” Lake Fork’s Lines To Get Hooked On!
Many anglers said fishing was tough on the lake, but they couldn’t have asked for better weather. This didn’t stop all the bass from coming to the scales at the 35th Annual Big Bass Splash held on Lake Fork, September 17th, 18th, and 19th.
A total of 2,468 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.
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 16 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 eight bass over the slot brought to the scales. In the 7 to 8 o’clock hour Sammy Procell from Zwolle, Louisiana weighed in a 7.56-pound bass; in the 8 to 9 o’clock hour Glenon McKee from Rosepine, Louisiana weighed in a 9.98-pound bass; in the 9 to 10 o’clock hour Darren Miller from Ore City, Texas weighed in a 7.62-pound bass; in the 11 to 12 o’clock hour Raul Ramirez from Baytown, Texas weighed in a 6.97-pound bass; in the 12 to 1 o’clock hour two Lake Fork hawgs came to the scales, Mark Trull from Kennedy, Alabama weighed in a 10-pound bass and Keith White from Brookeland, Texas weighed in a 9.24-pound bass; in the 1 to 2 o’clock hour LaDarius Carpentar from League City, Texas weighed in a 7.60-pound bass.
On Saturday, the second day of the tournament three bass over the slot were brought to the scales. In the 7 to 8 o’clock hour Jeremy Flowers from Cleveland, Texas weighed a 7.73-pound bass; in the 8 to 9 o’clock hour Patrick Sutton from Arp, Texas weighed an 8.36-pound bass; in the 12 to 1 o’clock hour John Sanko from Wills Point, Texas weighed an 9.83-pound bass.
On Sunday, the last day of the tournament there were five bass over the slot brought to the scales. In the 8 to 9 o’clock hour Richard Calley from Kirby, Arkansas weighed in a 7.78-pound bass; in the 9 to 10 o’clock hour Jeff Belote from McAlester, Oklahoma weighed a 8.47-pound bass; in the 11 to 12 o’clock hour Billy Holeman from Camden, Arkansas weighed in a 7.99-pound bass; in the 12 to 1 o’clock hour Gary Hall from Newton, Texas weighed in a 9.14-pound bass and James Williams from Saline, Louisiana weighed in a 6.54-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 Stoney Stout from Paris, Texas weighing 2.68-pounds winning him an additional $5,000. On Saturday of the tournament the heaviest bass under the slot weighed 2.75-pounds and was caught by Danny Borel from Hemphill, Texas winning him an extra $5,000. On Sunday the heaviest under the slot was 2.53-pounds caught by Johnny Rape from Winnsboro, 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 Laney Jacoby from Lonoke, Arkansas, Ron Hershberger from Newton, Kansas, and Tom Tilton from Weatherford, Texas had a surprise win of a check for $5.000 each.
In the elimination drawing Charles Minard from Yantis, Texas won a Nitro Z18 powered by Mercury, equipped with MinnKota and Lowrance. In the open drawing Cathy Coleman from Buna, Texas won a Fire Disc Grill.
Mark Trull from Kennedy, Alabama won 1st Place overall for heaviest bass caught in the tournament with his 10-pound bass. For his efforts he won $4,000 hourly pay, a Triton 19 TRX powered by Mercury equipped with MinnKota, Navionics, & Power Pole; a RAM Truck plus $7,000 cash. Winning 2nd Place overall with a weight of 9.98 was Glenon McKee from Rosepine, Louisiana. He took home $4,000 in hourly pay, a Nitro Z18 powered by Mercury equipped with MinnKota and Lowrance, and $7,500 in cash. Winning 3rd Place overall was John Sanko from Wills Point, Texas with a weight of 9.83-pounds. For his efforts he won $4,000 hourly pay plus a Triton 18 TRX powered by Mercury equipped with MinnKota and Lowrance and $2,500 in cash. Winning 4th place overall with a weight of 9.24-pounds was Keith White from Brookeland, Texas. He took home $4,000 in hourly pay plus a check for $8,000. Coming in 5th Place overall was Gary Hall from Newton, Texas with a weight of 9.14-pounds. His bass won him $900 in hourly pay plus a check for $6,000.
During the course of the tournament there were sixteen bass weighed in over the slot. On Friday there was a total of 313 bass weighed for a total weight of 630.75-pounds. On Saturday there were 242 bass weighed for a total weight of 527.53-pounds. On Sunday there were 244 bass weighed for a total weight of 478.35. Total bass weighed in the tournament was 799 for a total weight of 1,636.63 pounds.
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.
Before the presentations began, there was conducted a Memorial Service for Skeeter Fowler. He passed away this September from Covid. He was a tribute to Lake Fork, the fishing industry, and anglers both young and old.
For more information on Sealy Outdoors Big Bass Splash visit their website at www.sealyoutdoors.com
God Bless America, Fish Friendly, and I hope to see you on the lakes.