This past weekend Crappie USA held a qualifying event at Washington Lake in Washington County, Mississippi where the Memphis, Tennessee team of Warren Cotton and Kirk Lewis took an overwhelming victory weighing in 7 crappie totaling 15.17 pounds on Big Bite Baits.
Weather conditions hampered anglers in the tournament on Saturday with temperatures running from 40-44 degrees and falling all day. To top it off it rained all day with bone chilling Northeasterly winds 20-25 MPH.
Anglers from 10 different states were competing for not only cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela's Crappie USA Classic. This year's classic will be held October 24th-27th, 2012 on the Barkley/Kentucky Lakes at Cadiz, Kentucky.
Taking first place was the team of Warren Cotton and Kirk Lewis of Memphis, Tennessee with a total weight of 15.17 pounds and earning $1,200.00. Warren and Kirk caught 35 fish for the day using orange/chartreuse Big Bite Baits slow trolling in 12 feet of water on the west end of the lake. "This is one of the heaviest weights in years for 7 fish we've seen and would be in the record territory on most lakes", said Van Vactor.
Second place went to the Dyersburg, Tennessee team of Brian Ramm and Jeff Heathcott with a total weight of 8.64 pounds and earning $800.00. Brian and Jeff were slow trolling crappie rigs with red/chartreuse Southern Pro Tubes in the center area of the lake. The team caught 15 fish for the day.
In third place was the team of Ricky Smith of Brookhaven, Mississippi and Jimmy Smith of Bogue Chitto, Mississippi with a weight of 8.22 pounds and earning $400.00. Ricky and Jimmy were also slow trolling using minnows in 12 feet of water from the south to north end of the lake to catch 35 fish for the day.
Eli Rowell of Foxworth, Mississippi and Terry Stewart of Clinton, Mississippi took fourth place with a weight of 7.89 pounds. Eli and Terry were slow trolling minnows 8 feet deep in 13 feet of water in the main center area of the lake.
Fifth place went to Steve Coleman and Ronnie Capps of Tiptonville, Tennessee with a weight of 7.53 pounds. Steve and Ronnie were fishing the center area of the lake using Southern Pro jigs on B'n'M Poles to catch 15 fish 8 feet deep in 17 feet of water.
Jason and James Westerberg of Conway, Arkansas took first place in the Ranger Cup Semi-Pro Award winning $250.00.
First place in the amateur division was Steve White of Monticello, Arkansas and David N. White of White Hall, Arkansas with a weight of 9.52 pounds and earning $600.00. Steve and David were using a different technique than other anglers by bouncing their baits off the bottom using orange and chartreuse tubes on Roadrunner heads in 16 feet of water on the south end of the lake. The team only caught 7 fish for the day, but they were 7 fish good enough to take first place in the amateur division of the event.
Second place went to Ricky McWilliams of Halls, Tennessee and Matthew Tosh of Dyersburg, Tennessee weighing in only 4 fish for the day totaling 8.87 pounds and earning $400.00. Ricky and Matthew also took 2nd big fish of the day with a 2.72 pounds and earning them an additional $90.00. The team was slow trolling the middle of the lake in 8-10 feet of water using orange/chartreuse glow Southern Pro jigs.
Taking third place was the team of David Davidson of Halls, Tennessee and Novis Fisher of Friendship, Tennessee weighing in 7.5 pounds and earning $200.00. David and Novis also had big fish of the event with a 3.26 pounds giving them an additional $210.00. The team was slow trolling jigs tipped with minnows in 10 feet of water on the southern end of the lake. The team only caught 7 fish for the day.
In fourth was the team of David McWilliams of Yazoo City, Mississippi and Lance Evans of Flora, Mississippi with a weight of 7.48 pounds. David and Lance were slow trolling orange/lime/chartreuse jigs in 10 feet of water near the middle of the lake.
Fifth place went to the St. Louis team of Steve and Daniel Gentz weighing in 5.31 pounds. Steve and Daniel were spider rigging in 15 feet of water running double minnow rigs 8 feet deep using their B'n'M Poles to catch 5 fish for the day.
Ricky McWilliams of Halls, Tennessee and Matthew Tosh of Dyersburg, Tennessee took first place in the Ranger Cup Amateur Division Award winning $250.00.
Carl Morris Jr and Sean Martin of Ohio take home $2,500 after winning a King Kat tournament on the Monongahela River at Morgantown, West Virginia.
IGFA Saltwater Adventures, hosted by industry veteran Bill Boyce and produced by WFN: World Fishing Network and the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), will return to WFN for its second season on Wednesday, May 23rd at 8:30 p.m. ET.
National Guard pro Scott Martin, the reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion, led wire-to-wire in a tight FLW Tour event on the Potomac River, earning $125,000 for the victory.
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds sport anglers to be vigilant about properly identifying their salmon before keeping them.
The spring chinook fishery will reopen this weekend (May 19-20) for two days of fishing on a section of the Columbia River stretching 163 miles upstream from Bonneville Dam.
WFN: World Fishing Network is the only 24/7 television network dedicated to all segments of fishing with programming that covers instruction, tips, tournaments, travel, food, boating, outdoor lifestyle and more. WFN's wide-ranging programming lineup includes a selection of the best international series and the most diverse species coverage of any outdoor network. Featuring popular programs hosted by the world's top anglers, the network also includes a variety of exclusive lifestyle shows including Hookin' Up with Mariko Izumi and WFN's Reel Fishy Jobs. WFN also delivers the beauty of fishing in stunning High Definition with WFN HD, which delivers 100 percent High Definition programming 24/7. Originally launched in December 2005, today WFN and WFN HD are available in more than 20 million households through North American cable, satellite and telecommunications distributors. In the U.S., distributors include Verizon FiOS, Dish Network, Comcast, AT&T U-Verse, GVTC and Charter Communications.
