David, Moore capture Rayburn tourney with 33 lbs.
By PATTY LENDERMAN Lakecaster Managing Editor

Outdoors photo/Georgia Purdy HAROLD MOORE AND SCOTT DAVID teamed up to bring in an incredible 1st place sack weighing 33.88 lbs. for a $20,000 win.

What is it that drives a person to fish tournaments? Is it the thrill of competition? The big money that can be won?

Whatever it is, 329 teams went out on Sam Rayburn Feb. 17th on a very cold and windy day. Rayburn has been trying to hide her coveted bass in recent tournaments, but they could hide no more.

Scott David and Harold Moore won $20,000 for first place with nearly 34 pounds, and Mel Hawkins and Jason Moore brought in the 11.80 lb. Big Bass of the tournament.

The morning began with frigid temperatures and the wind was already lifting whitecaps and rollers on the lake. It was decided to allow trailering for safety reasons, allowing the teams to find a launch site closer to where they would be fishing. The teams could begin fishing at 7 a.m., but had to put their rods down at 3 p.m. All teams would have to be to the weigh in at the Umphrey Family Pavilion before the scales closed at 4:45 p.m. They faced a lot of challenges, with blue bird skies and winds gusting to near 40mph at times. True to form, these challenges were overcome bringing in some daunting sacks of fish.

Scott David and Harold Moore brought in a remarkable weight of 33.88 lbs., securing a first place win.

"We trailered to our spot," David explained. "When we got there, we just had to sit and watch the fish on our depth finder until it was time to fish."

At 7 a.m., they began throwing a 1 oz. Carolina rigged watermelon red Kicker Fish wacky worm in water 18-20' deep.

"Our spot was fairly protected from the wind, at a deep hydrilla bed. We had a limit in the boat by 8:10 a.m., and caught our last cull at 10:40 a.m. It was the only spot we fished all day," David said.

They had several nice fish in their bag, and had a hard time picking the heaviest to weigh for big bass. Their biggest kicker weighed 8.88 lbs. They won $20,000 with more than a 10-pound margin.

Rusty Clark and Shelby Shaw secured second place with 23.26 lbs. They hammered on shallower fish, concentrating on inside grass lines at around 7'.

"We started throwing Carolina rigged watermelon lizards and red 3/4 oz rattle traps in about 26', and just worked our way up to the grass," Clark said.

In just over an hour, they had a limit in the boat.

"After that, we ran up the lake and culled all but one," Clark said.

They ran their boat all the way from the north end of the lake in rough water to the weigh in. It took over an hour, but was well worth it for second place and $5,000. That's not all, they were also the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter boat that doubled their winnings to a $10,000 total.

Father and son team of Craig and Corey Waldrop won third place with 22.20 lbs.

"It was windy," Corey exclaimed. "We had a good morning bite, then it just turned off. We were using a Falcon chartreuse and white spinnerbait in water no deeper than 6'. With the water dropping, there's not much of an inside grass line."

Corey explained that they were fishing the mouths of spawning coves with isolated cover.

"We hit three major spots. The fish are really wanting to move up," Corey said.

They were presented with a $4,000 check.

The Big Bass of the tournament was weighed in by Mel Hawkins, with partner Jason Moore. She tipped the scales at 11.80 lbs.

Mel landed the fish, catching her on a 3/4 oz white Stanley spinnerbait.

"We were on a windy point, fishing the inside grass line in about 7'. I didn't even know she hit it, I thought I was hung in moss. I went to pull it out, and she started swimming off. I told Jason 'Good gravy I've got a monster!'"

It was the only bite they got all day. They won $1,000 for Big Bass plus another $650 for finishing in 31st place.

Rounding out the top 10

Fourth - $3,000 20.98 lbs. Greg Christian and Bill Wilcox

Fifth - $2,500 20.42 lbs. Douglas Posey and Lloyd Curtis

Sixth - $2,000 18.00 lbs. Joe Moss and Steven Moorhead

Seventh - $1,500 17.66 lbs. Clint West and Clay West

Eighth - $1,300 17.56 lbs. Artie Longron and Todd Soape

Ninth - $1,200 16.82 lbs. Lance Hughes and Scooter Clark

10th - $1,100 16.44 lbs. Ricky Potts and Bill Hudspeth

.......and last in the money.......

45th - $500 10.42 lbs. Gary Paris and William Eddleman

The $250 smallest fish award was won by Brian Presley and Eugene Ratcliff for their 1.56 lb bass.

Tournament statistics:

Total Entries: 329 teams

Total Collected: $85,540.00

Total payback C & P: $75,400

Payback Percentage: 88 percent

Total Fish: 416 Total weight: 1,222.08 lbs Number of limits: 30

Number of zero's: 186

The next East Texas Region tournament will be March 17 on Sam Rayburn at the Umphrey Family Pavilion. Also, mark your calendars for the First Annual Dodge Mega Bass tournament July 29 on Sam Rayburn.

It will be the largest hourly big bass tournament in the history of amateur fishing, with 10 places paid back every hour, the first place of each hour being a Dodge truck.

For more information on Bass Champs events, click to www.basschamps.com or call 817-439-3274.