12th Annual Strike King Bass Fish Off

Clear blue skies met 74 boats Saturday morning on Kinkaid Lake for the 12th Annual Strike King Bass Fish Off. Leading up to the event two days of heavy rain and clouds had come through and then on Saturday the sun came out. Fishing was tough on everyone as the weigh in started and very few fish were brought to the scales. In fact only 50 keeper size bass were caught and no one was able to boat a limit. The bass were in all three stages of the spawn with a small group of late spawners sitting on the beds, some fish guarding fry, and others out deep. Six boats were able to bring three fish to the scales.

The team of Richard Armstrong and Steven Armstrong brought the heaviest bag to the scales. Their three fish weighed 11.46 pounds including a tie for big bass. They caught their three fish throwing plastics around the grass. They received $2000.00 for first and $360.00 for big bass.

Josh Coppedge and Larry Hastings came in second with their three bass weighing 10.52 pounds. They found four fish on beds and were able to catch three of them. They took home $1300.00 for their efforts.

In third place was the team of Scott Neighbors and Larry Lence. Their three fish weighed 10.35 pounds. They received $1000.00. Here are the results for the rest of the places.

4th place- Greg Berner/Shannon Toigo 8.79 pounds. $800.00

5th place- Terry Homan/Jerry Grammer 8.41 pounds. $500.00

6th place- Kevin Reynolds/Luke McCann 8.18 pounds. $300.00

7th place-Ronnie Korando/Craig Mueller 7.99 pounds. $220.00/tie for big bass $360.00

8th place- Duane Grammer/Todd Hughes 7.35 pounds. $125.00

9th place- Craig Cowan/Tony Ferranto 5.08 pounds. $100.00

I would like to thank our banner sponsor this year, Strike King Lure Company. They donated $4000.00 worth of product for the fishermen. It was a huge success. Some of the other great sponsors this year were Vicious Fishing Line. They donated several hundred spools of line. Ardent reels donated two culling systems and reel cleaning kits. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning. This year Stadiums Grille catered the event. They made BBQ sandwiches for all of the fishermen. Miller Lite donated beer for the anglers. I also would like to thank Mack at the Kinkaid Marina for letting us use his facilities. This tournament wouldn’t be the success that it is if it were not for all of the help from the sponsors and all of my friends for donating their time. I want to especially thank Grant Guthman for continually helping me in the morning every year. Last but not least I would like to thank my wife Heidi and my sister Lynnea for helping run the weigh in. Next year’s event is tentatively scheduled for May 21st. I look forward to seeing you all there and having another great event.