By By Mikes Giles/outdoors writer
March 1, 2002
The Alabama team of Fred Schoenrock and Jimmy Williams battled extremely tough fishing conditions at Ross Barnett Reservoir in the latest tournament on the Bass Anglers' Tournament Trail. This veteran team caught a string of bass weighing 6.14 pounds, which was good enough for first place in the first tournament of the year. First place was worth a nice $1,000.00 check. On a day when the minimum length was 15 inches, keeper bass were hard to come by indeed.
Although they tied for first place in total weight, the team of Harold Smith and Rick McGinty lost the tiebreaker. Schoenrock and Williams's biggest fish of the day bested the big fish in Smith and McGinty's creel. Although it's a tough way to lose a tournament, they can take solace in the fact that nobody caught more keepers than they on one of the toughest days of the year. In fact, only 10 boats weighed in a keeper!
One for the money
To make the top 10 and get a check, all a team needed to do was catch one keeper size bass. Now that might sound easy, but with this many good fishermen involved, it's a sure bet that it wasn't too easy on this day.
The third place team of Mike Holloman and Billy Sollie were the only other team to catch at least 3 keepers on the day. Their total weight of 6.06 pounds kept them out of first by only a minuscule amount.
Fourth place went to the team of Brent Baucum and Adrian Coleman with 3.83 pounds of bass. This team also weighed in the lunker of the tournament as well. Fifth place went to the team of Frank Sullivan and Leland White with 2.56 pounds. The remaining money winners were as follows:
6th: Richard Chisolm, Jimmy Eubanks
7th: Tommy Hudnall, Jack Gordman
8th: Charles Wilson and John Mason
9th: Ken Murphy, Tim Fox
10th: David Everett and Tim Lindley
Angling team race
The angling team of the year race continues to be red hot with several teams battling neck and neck with just a few tournaments remaining. Charles Wilson and John Mason lead the pack with 470 points. Fred Schoenrock and Jimmy Williams are breathing down their necks with 468 points. Ken Murphy and Tim Fox come in third with 446 points. Ricky Smith and Willie Johnston are currently tied for third as well with 446 points. Tommy Hudnall and Jack Gordman are in fifth with 444 points. The team of Newell and Stokes is right on their heels with 440 accumulated points.
The tight race suggests the angling team of the year is far from being decided at this point.