New for 2014, the Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks cash reward program marks its biggest expansion in the program’s highly successful 7-year history by announcing the inclusion of 6 prominent team trails.
The following prominent team trails will now offer Bonus Bucks: Alabama Team Trail, Bass Champs, Nichols Marine Tournament Series, Platinum Team Trails, Priority Fishing Team Series, Skeeter XFL, Texas Team Trail and the B.A.S.S. Team Championship.
Xpress Boats of Hot Springs, Arkansas has added B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler Greg Hackney to their staff while he is serving as host of Louisiana Sportsman TV. Hackney is sponsored by Phoenix Bass Boats on the Elite Series but will run the Xpress Boats Shallow Water Bay Aluminum for his inshore and brackish water adventures on television.
1st Place: Todd Massey & Brandon Gray of Chapel Hill
The BBoats Unlimited NC Team Tournament Bass Trail Qualifier #2 almost got postponed but after looking at the road situation for Saturday morning we decided to go ahead with the plans! It was a hard decision to make
with all the damage in the area, especially around Hillsborough. All 74 boats arrived ok and the tournament went on as planned. We had a beautiful day with light winds. It was about 31 degrees that morning and around
70 that afternoon. Water temps ranged from 41 to 50 depending on the area fished and water was muddy in certain areas after the storm Thursday and Friday. The lake rose about 2 feet while we were there which
amazed even some of our long time anglers! The fishing was very tough but we did manage a few in the nets. Most were caught 5 to 10 feet off the banks and no rhyme or reason to which lure you used. Only 28 fish were
weighed in for a total of 104 pounds. We had numerous fish over 5 lbs. and all the fish looked healthy.
Todd Massey and Brandon Gray are on a winning streak! They only had two today for 12.15 lbs. but is was enough to take home 1st Place, 1st Place Big Fish (7.69 lbs.), 1st Place TWT, 1st Place Tow Boats US Bonus and
1st Place Boats Unlimited NC Bonus for a whopping total of $4,268 and Massey should get his Triton Boats Gold Bonus of $7,000 which will bring their winnings to $11,268!!
Manny Lenau and Brandon Morrissey took 2nd with 3 bass weighing 11.53 lbs winning $800. 3rd Place went
to Tony Fofi and Dave Murdock (9.38 lbs). They also won 2nd TWT and 2nd Place Big Fish (5.87 lbs.) for a
total of $1,502.
I want to thank all the anglers that participated and all our sponsors that support this trail. Our next
tournaments will be the 2014 Piedmont Bass Classics Hyco Open, Saturday Mar.15th at Hyco Lake out of
Hyco Park Ramp…The Boats Unlimited NC Team Tournament Bass Mini Trail make-up tournament will be at
Shearon Harris, Sunday Mar. 16th, out of Cross Point Landing.
All the information on our tournaments can be found at yahoo and bing search or our website:
http://piedmontbassclassics.
Now here are the full results:
1st Place: Todd Massey & Brandon Gray of Chapel Hill & Bullock…2 bass…12.15 lbs…$1,305
2nd Place: Manny Lenau & Brandon Morrissey of Vass & Ft. Bragg…3 bass…11.53 lbs…$800
3rd Place: Tony Fofi & Dave Murdock of Spring Lake & Sanford…2 bass…9.38 lbs…$575
4th Place: Larry Hipps & Patrick Arzonico of Cary & Raleigh…2 bass…8.01 lbs…$520
5th Place: Rodney Hilber & Kenneth Penderman of Hillsborough & Durham…2 bass…7.26 lbs…$463
6th Place: Corey Linton & Mark Peck of Pikeville…1 bass…5.52 lbs…$407
7th Place: Jim Nichols & Jeremy Martin of Chapel Hill & Rougemont…1 bass…5.07 lbs…$351
8th Place: Erik Ross & Les Walters of Fayetteville…2 bass…4.92 lbs…$295
9th Place: Tim Goss & Jeff Vincent of Franklinton & Durham…1 bass…4.68 lbs…$239
10th Place: Bubba Haywood & Steve Goodwin of Roxboro & Durham…1 bass…4.51 lbs…$239
11th Place: Mike Salguero & Steve Foster of Durham…1 bass…3.83 lbs…$183
12th Place: Jay Garrard & Mark Herndon of Durham & Bahama…1 bass…3.77 lbs…$183
13th Place: Bryce McClenney & Michael Christie of Cary & Fuquay Varina…1 bass…3.29 lbs….$130
14th Place: Phillip Johnson & Gene McCree of Durham…1 bass…3.14 lbs…$130
15th Place: Billy West & Tracy Sykes of Wendell & New Hill…1 bass…2.94 lbs…$100
1st Place Big Fish..1st Place Team above…7.69 lbs…$1,008
2nd Place Big Fish..3rd Place Team above…5.87 lbs…$432
1st Place TWT..1st Place Team above…12.15 lbs…$1,155
2nd Place TWT..3rd Place Team above: 9.38 lbs…$495
Boats Unlimited 1st Place Bonus: 1st Place Team Above…$750
Boats Unlimited Skeeter Boat Owner Bonus: Todd Sumner of Southern Pines…$250
Tow Boats US Award: Todd Massey of Chapel Hill: $50
Contact Information:
Phil McCarson…Tournament Director—922 Valetta Rd.—Durham, NC 27712
Home: 919-471-1571 Cell: 919-971-5042
email: philsflags@msn.com
08.Mar.2014 by Gary Mortenson
SENECA, S.C. – Throughout the first two days of competition at the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship, the University of Louisiana-Monroe team of Brian Eaton and Nick LaDart dominated nearly all of the headlines. And rightfully so. As the defending national champions, all eyes were on ULM to see if the team could pull off back-to-back titles and equal the powerhouse run of the University of Florida – who captured national championship titles in 2009 and 2010.
However, while ULM found itself atop the leadearboard on days one and two and seemed poised to sweep the most coveted trophy in all of college fishing two years running, a plucky little team from the University of Minnesota had other plans. Flying under the radar for a good portion of the tournament, U of MN teammates Austin Felix and Chris Burgan carefully plotted their strategy. After quickly analyzing the conditions – which were frigid, windy and downright nasty over the first two days of competition – Burgan and Felix opted to abandon their initial game plan and let the weather dictate their strategy.
Pro angler Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., brought the largest stringer to the scale on Sunday – for the third time in four days of competition – to win the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Ranger Boats. Ashley weighed in a five-bass limit worth 15 pounds, 10 ounces to win the $100,000 prize after leading wire-to-wire in the four-day event that showcased 176 of the best bass-fishing professionals in the world.
Ashley’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 68 pounds, 5 ounces gave him an impressive 14-pound, 8-ounce margin of victory over second-place finisher Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., whose four-day total of 20 bass weighed 53 pounds, 13 ounces and earned him $30,000.
“This week has been magical,” said Ashley, who earned the first Walmart FLW Tour victory of his career. “I’m not taking away from any major tournament that I’ve won, but it really means a lot to win at home. When you win at home, everybody you know is here. A lot of times my family gets to travel to my closer tournaments, but at home everybody gets to be there. A lot of them were out on the water watching me. I think the whole town of Donalds is here. It’s just an awesome feeling.”
Ashley said that he concentrated his efforts this week fishing the lower end of Lake Hartwell in the clear water. He targeted deep brush piles from 25 to 40 feet deep.
“A lot of the stuff that I was fishing was natural brush,” Ashley said. “I knew that would hold up well despite the screwy weather going into this tournament and I felt like that would be the only way that you can win. Every move that I made this week was the right one.”
Ashley said that he caught all of his fish this week throwing a green pumpkin-colored ½-ounce Shooter Lures hand-tied jig trailered with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. and a shaky-head rig with a watermelon candy- or gourd green-colored Zoom Finesse Worm.
“I caught around 10 fish today,” Ashley continued. “I didn’t catch many because I was running some new stuff trying to catch big fish. I ended up catching my 4-pounder where I’d been fishing all week. When I got the big one, I knew it was game over.”
The top 10 pros finished the tournament in:
1st: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 20 bass, 68-5
2nd: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 53-13
3rd: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 19 bass, 50-9
4th: Repel pro Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 19 bass, 49-14
5th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 16 bass, 48-14
6th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 18 bass, 46-14
7th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 18 bass, 43-15
8th: George Foreman pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 13 bass, 43-14
9th: Ryan Davidson, Huntington, W. Va., 16 bass, 41-4
10th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 16 bass, 40-2
1st Place with five fish 18.94lbs. Jerame Edwards & Butch McMurray
2nd place with five fish Craig Blankenship & Robert Hoyt with 18.92
3rd place with four fish Toby Peters & Nathan Hale with 17.99lbs
Click Here to See the rest of the results
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1st Place with five fish 18.94lbs. Jerame Edwards & Butch McMurray
2nd place with five fish Craig Blankenship & Robert Hoyt with 18.92
3rd place with four fish Toby Peters & Nathan Hale with 17.99lbs
Click Here to See the rest of the results
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At 6-feet, 9-inches, Jasper, Alabama’s David Kilgore appears better suited to basketball than bass fishing.
His victory at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Allstate was an impressive slam-dunk.
Kilgore lead the tournament from start to finish. His three-day tally of 54-pounds, 11 ounces of chunky largemouth and spotted bass earned him $6,741 and a Nitro Z9 powered by a Mercury 225 Pro XS. Even more important is an invitation to compete in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.
