The Team of Hargis & Bell win at Old Hickory
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Sunday, May 6, 2018 was a clear and sunny day for the ABA 100% Plus Team Tour event that launched from Sanders Ferry Park on Old Hickory Lake located in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Fifty-Six teams went to battle to try and win the 2018 Triton 17TX powered by a 60HP Mercury four-stroke with Garmin Echo-map plus 93SV valued at 20K, but James “Randy” Hargis & David Bell would prevail with the victory by weighing in 5 fish at 13.75lbs. They also won $1,000 for being 1st place in the high-stakes option pot.
“Started off really well this morning we put a 4.5 pounder in the boat on a jerk bait and an hour and a half later a 3.5 pounder came on a jerk bait as well. Then it all went all downhill for about 5 -5 ½ hours we didn’t have a bite. Then we eased back down the lake and the last couple hours we were able to get 2 more keepers. Then Randy came in there strong with a good solid 2.25 pounder on a jig to finish out the limit in the last hour. We had a good amount of keepers caught on a Hoppy’s Jig today and 4 keepers on a jerk bait today,” stated Bell.
Second place team Jason Dies brought 5 fish to the scales weighing 13.61lbs with a 5.37lb kicker fish he earned a check worth $2000.00 for his efforts.
“I patterned the back of pockets by flipping docks, the key was the last two docks in every pocket. If I got to the last 3 or 4 docks and it was in 10 foot of water I turned the boat around and left. I needed the back of docks to be in about 5 foot of water or less. Between the docks I was throwing a swim jig and was targeting the warmest water on the lake,” said Jason.
Coming in 3rd place was the team of Josh Womack and Lance Olingschlaeger bringing 5 fish to the scales weighing 13.42lbs with a big fish of 4.25lbs. Earning a check for $1400.00 and also placing second place in the high-stakes option pot adding $600.00 for total of $2000.00 for their catch.
“Today was a pretty much a slow day, we pretty much ended up culling about 4 fish and we didn’t get that many bites. We were flipping mostly shallow wood and a little bit around boat docks, we had to go through several different types of baits brush hogs, beavers in a lot of different colors it was just a grind all day long. We wouldn’t have done anything different. I think we missed a couple of fish that could have put us over the edge but we don’t know for sure, so we just did the best we could,” stated Olingschlaeger.
Finishing 4th was the team of Stacy Newman and Ronald Perry weighing in 4 fish at 13.22lbs with a kicker weighing 6.58lbs. Earning a check for $1000.00 and a $400.00 check for the high-stakes option pot for their efforts. Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Eric Blankendalf and Jeff Jewell weighing in 5 fish for 13.17lbs. They earned a check for $800.00 plus a $300.00 check for the high-stakes option pot. The team that was awarded the over-all big fish was John Grissim and Tyler Patton bringing a beautiful bass weighing 7.29lbs to the scale that was part of their 12.13lb bag. They earned a check for $480.00 for their catch.
“Caught it on a Jackson Slough Old Heavy ¾ oz. jig in about 10 inches of water in a wood pile on gravel about 20 ft off the bank. We caught it around 10:00 o’clock in the morning,” stated Grissim.
The next Triton Plus 100% Team Tour Tournament is August 12, 2018 on Kentucky Lake going out of Paris Landing State Park in Buchanan, Tennessee.
For more information on this event call/text Tournament Manager: Daniel Sylvester- (256)230-5633 Email: daniel@americanbassanglers.com
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
American Bass Anglers Inc. is supported by Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, Geico, Berkley,ABU Garcia, T-H Marine, Best Western Hotels, Maui Jim, Garmin, Optima Batteries and Sirius XM Marine weather. American Bass Anglers can be contacted at (256) 232-0406 or by visiting americanbassanglers.com