Anglers of the Year (2016) Elshout and Mark Price took the final crown for the East Region, bringing in an impressive 29.78 lbs. They targeted water 12’ to 15’ deep with football head jigs all day. “We had one point in the day where we had a good flurry, and caught a six, a seven and an eight pounder,” they reported. Their big bass weighed in at 8.04 lbs to anchor their 1st place win.
Glen Freeman and Jeff Rice also had a great sack of bass, bringing in 27.51 lbs for a 2nd place win. “We went ‘old school’ for our fish,” Freeman explained. Using Texas rigged Double Z worms at ridges and humps in 15’-20’ depths.
Ryan Pinkston had to go it alone this last tournament, and reeled in a 3rd place finish with 23.35 pounds. “I dragged a V&M football jig all day,” he recalled. Fishing in depths 10’ to 15’, he estimates catching a total of 15 bass throughout the day to cull from.
The remaining overall top ten lineup:
4th $3,400 21.12 lbs Ricky Madole & Ronnie Madole
5th $2,400+ 20.03 lbs Ben Matsubu & Brandon Davidson
6th $2,000 19.59 lbs Malcolm Williams & Andy Williams
7th $1,600 19.43 lbs Perry Moss & Greg Smith
8th $1,500+ 19.10 lbs Gil Leger & Scott Eastman
9th $1,400 18.65 lbs Kris Wilson & Bryan Lohr
10th $1,300 18.15 lbs Sidney Aucoin & Henry Aucoin Jr
And last in the money
33rd $300 14.63 lbs Braxton Hollenshead & Dustin Boyt
Several bass in the seven pound range were brought in, and a few eights. The biggest of them all weighed in at 10.99 lbs, caught by Scott Eastman fishing with Gil Leger. “We were fishing the South end of the lake in areas with patchy grass in 12’-14’ with big Texas rigged worms,” Eastman began. “It was right at 8am when I felt the hit. I eased my pole up to check it, and she took it down so I set the hook. As I was reeling her in, I got to see her as she came up out of the water. Gil grabbed the net and scooped up the trophy.
Angler of the Year:
Clayton Boulware and Albert Collins were leading the points race coming into this final event. Before it was all said and done, the final standings in the Angler of the Year race took quite a shuffle. Coming up from a 3rd place position and over 35 points to make up for, Kris Wilson and Bryan Lohr made it to the top, and are the Bass Champs East Region Anglers of the Year.
The next big tournament coming up on Sam Rayburn June 25th is the Techron TX Shootout. This is the richest one day team tournament with $50,000 guaranteed up for grabs for the 1st place winners.
For more information, click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274