20 sacks over 20 pounds
Birchfield, Ponder win Bass Champs East Region opener
By PATTY LENDERMAN Lakecaster Managing Editor

WEIGHING IN NEARLY 30 pounds to win, Dusty Birchfield and Chris Ponder, pictured left, hold their best four that brought them a $25,000 payday. Pictured above, there were a lot of big bass weighed in, but Ricky Potts landed the biggest of them all. His double-digit bass weighed 10.34 lbs.

Bass Champs East Region anglers had their first 2008 event on Sam Rayburn at the Umphrey Family Pavilion Jan. 19. Freezing temperatures gave way to hot action, as twenty teams pulled in limits weighing more than 20 pounds! Dusty Birchfield and Chris Ponder topped them all, with nearly a 30- pound sack to win $25,000!

The morning started off with what many described as the heaviest snow they had seen in these parts in many years.

"The flakes were huge, and it was thick!" stated Jeff Welch, vice-president of Bass Champs. The short-lived snow was not the only factor that morning, as it quickly changed to sleet and freezing rain with plenty of wind. Despite these conditions, 272 teams took off in search of big bass. Many teams found them.

Outdoors photos/Patty Lenderman

As the 3 p.m. hour approached, a few cold and weary teams began trickling to the scales. Among them were Dusty Birchfield and Chris Ponder from Zavalla with a very large sack. First their big bass was weighed, coming in at 8.18 lbs. When the rest of their catch was added, their total weight was 29.04 pounds!

"It was cold and rough - bad," the team concluded. "We stayed out on main lake points throwing crawfish crank baits and red rattle traps."

They focused in areas with isolated hydrilla in 4'- 6'.

"We only hit three spots. We've been catching in these spots for the past three months, and they all produced for us again today." By 10:30 a.m. they had a small limit put together, estimated weight of about 13 pounds.

"We caught the bigger fish in the afternoon," they said.

Dusty caught their biggest bass, and they were able to cull two times before the end of the day.

"We really gave our Skeeter a good work-out," they said. They have a 2006 Skeeter I-Class, which qualified them for the Skeeter boat bonus of $5,000 in addition to their 1st place winnings of $20,000!

Outdoors photo/Patty Lenderman THE FATHER AND SON TEAM of Pete and Allan Shivers took 2nd place with 24.66 lbs.

The weigh in continued, with both their total weight and their big bass staying on top.

James Moore brought in the first even weight of the tournament at 9 lbs., qualifying him for the Skeeter Dealer bonus of $250.

"Do you have a Skeeter Dealer business card with you?" asked Chad Potts. James shook his head no, but will more than likely go to a Skeeter Dealer before the next tournament and be ready to cash in next month!

Several teams weighed in, with sack after sack tipping the scales exceeding the 20 pound mark.

Shawn Williamson weighed in their sack that included a 9.80 lb. big bass, taking the Big Bas claim from Birchfield and Ponder. Right behind him came Ricky Potts, weighing in a double digit monster! Laying her on the scales, it settled in at 10.34 lbs!

"I caught her on a Carolina rigged green pumpkin VMC lizard on an American Rodsmith rod," Ricky stated. "She was sitting in 12'-14' right next to deep water."

He latched on to her around noon, and when he set the hook

"I knew it was either a big bass or a big log!" Potts said.

Ricky and his partner Bill Hudspeth weighed in a total weight of 22.14 lbs, taking 7th place overall.

"We had to force feed them today. Really had to let (our baits) soak."

They enjoyed a $1,000 check for their big bass and another $1,080 for their 7th place finish.

As more teams weighed in, the leader board continued to shuffle.

The father and son team of Pete and Allan Shivers brought in 24.66 lbs. to secure 2nd place.

"We were able to do some pre-fishing," Pete explained. "Today we hit about 10 spots, and probably eight of them produced for us."

They were fishing hydrilla in 3'-5' with chrome/blue rattle traps.

"We started catching at 8 a.m., and had a limit in the boat by 8:30 a.m. that probably weighed about 14 pounds. There was a lull between 11-2:00, then we started catching again. I had two five pounders that came off right at the boat."

Overall, they said the bite was really good and their biggest cull of the day was a 3 pounder. Bass Champs presented them with $5,000 for their 2nd place finish.

John Lynch and Bill Rogers came in 3rd place with 24.36 lbs.

"Trap-trap-trap!" Rogers stated as to what they caught their fish on. "We threw red rattle traps on windy points in 2' of water."

They didn't have to move around much, having three producing spots.

"Around 10 a.m., they started hitting and we had a big limit in the boat in 20 minutes," Bill continued. Their two best fish weighed about 7 pounds apiece. They received $3,000 for their 3rd place win.

Top 10 teams:

1st - $20,000 29.04 lbs. Dusty Birchfield & Chris Ponder

2nd - $5,000 24.66 lbs. Pete and Allan Shivers

3rd - $3,000 24.36 lbs. John Lynch and Bill Rogers

4th - $2,000 22.78 lbs. Allen Shelton and Strider Browning

5th - $1,600 22.68 lbs. Kris Wilson and David Harvey

6th - $1,300 22.16 lbs. James Coleman and Ted Kinard

7th - $1,080 22.14 lbs . Bill Hudspeth and Ricky Potts

8th - $1,070 21.74 lbs. Selvin and Frankie Cartwright

9th - $1,060 21.58 lbs. Keith and Travis White

10th - $1,050 21.50 lbs. Rusty Clark and Shelby Shaw

……and last in the money……

37th - $600 16.92 lbs. Clayton and Roger Boulware

Big Bass - $1,000 10.34 lbs. Ricky Potts

Skeeter Bonus - $5,000 Dusty Birchfield and Chris Ponder

There were 745 fish weighed in for total weight of 2,224.18 lbs, an average per fish weight of 2.99 lbs. Over 100 teams had limits! Bass Champs paid out $68,010 in cash and prizes in this event. The next East Region tournament will be Feb. 16 at the Umphrey Family Pavilion on Sam Rayburn. For more information, click to www.basschamps. com or call 817-439- 3274.