Lucky 7's
Hughes, Burgay win team Media Bass
By DONALD GERVAIS Lakecaster Correspondent

Outdoors photo/Donald Gervais STAN BURGAY, left, holds the 9.67-pound Toledo Bend lunker caught at the 7-7-07 Media Bass Deep East Texas Team tournament. Larry Hughes holds fish that were part of their winning 21.21-pound catch.

There were three important questions unanswered as the 72 fishing teams launched their boats for takeoff for the fifth tournament of the Media Bass Deep East Texas 2007 season. Would the sun shine for the first time after a week of solid clouds and rains? Would the three time winners in the season's trail, Bill Hudspeth and Larry Potts, make it a fourth consecutive victory? How lucky would the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year be for the anglers? The answers: yes, no and for some yes.

Luck was with Lance Hughes and Stan Burgay as their five fish limit, anchored by a 9.67-pound Toledo Bend lunker and big bass of the day, took the top spot.

Their catch was 0.03 pounds heavier than the tally of the not-so-lucky second place anglers Larry Weppler and Dennis Fikes.

The runners up actually brought the largest stringer of the day to the scales, 22.18 pounds, anchored by the second largest fish of the day, an 8.23-pound bass. However the team took a one-pound penalty for two dead fish, for a 21.18-pound total.

Outdoors photo/Donald Gervais DENNIS FIKES, left, and Larry Weppler, with a helping hand of tournament director Gordon Stauffer, show the five-fish limit that fell 3/100's of a pound short of winning the 07/07/07 Media Bass Deep East Texas Division tournament on Toledo Bend Reservoir.

Shane Gibson and Jimmy Johnson, fishing in their first Media Bass in 2007, brought in a five fish limit weighing 20.95 pounds to take third spot.

Greg Christian and Bill Wilcox, also fishing their first Media team tournament of the year, took fourth with 20.78 pounds, the fourth 20+ pound stringer of the day.

Torrential rains for the week prior to the tournament brought the lake level steadily rising to 172 foot mean sea level, the full pool mark.

Anglers who had prefished for the tournament reported good catches under rainy skies, with top water and an early morning bite. However, as the sun broke the horizon on tournament day nearly a cloud could not be seen, nor would they appear for the rest of the day.

Outdoors photo/Donald Gervais Top three teams at the 7-7-7 Media Bass Deep East Texas Team tournament pose for a photo. Pictured left to right are: first place Stan Burgay and Lance Hughes; second place Larry Weppler and Dennis Kikes; third place Shane Gibson and Jimmy Johnson.

The bite didn't come for the three-peat winners of the season Hudspeth and Potts. The duo had claimed top honors for the last three events, including two on Toledo Bend and the previous event on Lake Sam Rayburn.

They did not come to the scales with a fish and failed to earn points for the season's championship race. They have left a chance for another team to claim the season's bragging rights with the final tournament scheduled on Aug. 4 on Lake Sam Rayburn. They and the day's winners are the only teams who have victories this season.

Winners of the 7/7/07 tournament won the season's opener on 3/3/07. Burgay, of Timpson and Constable of Shelby County, stands in 3rd place in the standings for the 2007 season of the BFLStren Series Texas Division Trail.

In mid June he finished in fifth place on the Big Bend in the BFLStren event. Hughes, of Center and employed in the forestry business, has been partnered with Burgay since 1992.

While most of the teams struggled to catch a limit of keepers- 21 of 72 teams made the mark, Burgay and Hughes reported catching three limits of fish through the day using DD22 crank baits and 10-inch redbug colored worms. They motored to their spots in the northern region of the where they concentrated their efforts along structure in 8-14 foot depths.

They took home $2,385 for the top spot and $355 for big bass. Fikes and Weppler's second place payday was one half of the winner's check, $1,192.

"We only culled one fish, it was a tough day" said a disappointed Fikes from Kenwood and employed by Warren Alloy of Houston, when he learned of the 0.03 pound loss. "Four were alive when we got to the weigh tubs, one of them didn't make it alive to the scales."

Weppler, a civil engineer of Houston and employed by Jones and Carter, motored to mid lake areas on the Texas side where they targeted fish on humps that had lay downs in 10-16 feet of water.

They used 18-inch leaders and dipped the tails in chartreuse dye.

Johnson of Ganado and Gibson of Kilgore, fishing partners for 10 years, also concentrated their efforts mid lake on the Texas side to claim third place. They targeted fish at the edge of submerged grass in 11-15 foot depths. They took home a check for $775.

Scott Bailey and Jimmy Johnson took fifth place with 15.59 pounds ($600) and are the division leaders for the season. Rounding out the top six teams were Alan Moore and Staton Marsh with 15.58 pounds. The 0.01 pound lighter weight made there check $99 lighter, taking home $501.

Cut off weight to earn a check was 12.2 pounds, 14th place ($200). Jeff and Angela Cooley, a young married couple from southern Louisiana, didn't make the cut off with their three-fish catch that weighed 6.46 pounds. The young hubby and wife team may have been the unluckiest anglers of the day, coming to the scales early.

"I think I threw a rod in my motor," said a concerned Jeff. But they did collect their earnings from a previous finish in the season from tournament director Gordon Stauffer.

"It'll help with the repair," said Angela.

"It was another good turnout and tournament," said Stauffer at the awards presentation.

"We are averaging 84 boats each tournament and the championship race is still on. Forty-three teams will compete for the season championship where the winners will take home a fully loaded Bass Cat boat and Mercury motor. "

Stauffer invited all anglers to the final team event of the trail on Aug. 4 at Lake Sam Rayburn and to the individual event to be held July 28 at Toledo Bend.

Information for the trail, a list of the event's standings and the season standings can be found online at: http://www.mediabass. com/ or by contacting Stauffer at 972-222- 2207.