March 12 - The third South Region Bass Champs tournament of the year and the second on Lake Amistad and the fish were much more cooperative this time around. Beautiful weather all week and warming water temperatures had fish following their very predictable spring patterns and many teams were getting them figured out, including the ArmyBassAnglers.
For the ArmyBassAngler team of Chuck Guthrie and Chad Nelson, the game plan was to fish ledges adjacent to spawning areas in hopes of catching some big females as they migrated towards the banks. It was a good plan…..the first keeper was well over six pounds that came on a Victory Tackle ¾ oz spinner bait. The marker bouy was thrown and the big engine never fired until it was time to head to weigh in. They circled that mark all day throwing a variety of baits, but most would come on Texas rigged and shaky head Lake Fork Trophy Lures Hyper Sticks that required a dead-sticking technique. It was crucial to have the sensitivity of the Dobyns Rods as the bite was extremely subtle. They caught several keeper fish, but the best five weighed in at 23.65 pounds, good enough for 15th in a field of 210 teams.
For the ArmyBassAngler President and founder, Cody Roberson, his day was a little more lonely. His partner, Don Bailey, was attending some military training at the University of Pennsylvania, forcing Cody to navigate the huge lake on his own. He concentrated a little shallower, in 5-7 feet, and relentlessly pounded the clear water with a Fury Lures square-bill crankbait. He found success twice bringing in two fish that would be close to six pounds, but opted to not weigh-in to support the Bass Champs conservation efforts. The circuit asks anglers that are not close to the money cut line to release their fish in the lake instead of putting them through the stress of coming to the scales. For their efforts, all anglers not weighing in are entered into a $500 drawing, referred to as the “zero bonus” program. What a great way to avoid stressing more fish than necessary.
Rodney Thompson, the newest addition to the ProStaff team also made an appearance at the Southern Region event. Notorious for throwing shaky heads, he did not disappoint those that know him. In addition, he found spinner baits and split shot rigs would work as well. He would catch fish all day long, but the large bass many other teams were finding would elude him, but he was pleased to have almost 14 pounds in his livewell by day’s end. Rodney is the first Air Force Veteran to be added to the ProStaff roster and the rest of the ArmyBassAnglers are aiming just a little higher in the name of friendly competition among professionals.
It was another great turnout among the Coalition ProStaff members. Efrem Dicochea also fished by himself and weighed in over 18 pounds for a 45th place finish. Mario Valenzuela and Wes Higgins opted to try to win the $500 zero bonus as they were just short of competing for a check.
210 Teams would compete with $56,750.00 paid out. Total number of fish brought to the scales was 582 with an avg weight of 3.54lbs. 114 Teams brought a limit to the scales. For individual standings visit http://www.basschamps.com/basschamps/results.cfm?tournament_id=124&type=team&yearSelected=2011
HOOAH!
SUPPORT.DEFEND.FISH.
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