By By Mikes Giles / outdoors writer
June 28, 2002
Robbie Miles and Billy Morgan caught a five-fish limit of bass that weighed 10.66 pounds last Sunday to take the Bass Angler's championship. The competition was held on Gainesville Lake. Miles and Morgan saved their best for last as they finished the second day of the classic in first place, which garnered them $1,000.00. This talented duo had survived the cut on the first day while coming in second.
On the first day of the tournament all of the contestants competed for a slot in the top ten and the chance to fish for the money in the Sunday finale. The top ten teams then started over with no weight carryover, thus giving all teams an equal shot at the big money.
No tomorrow
Sunday was the day to pull out all the stops and that is just what Miles and Morgan did. They started the day early with a plan to hit the cuts and ledges with crankbaits and Carolina rigs. After quickly catching a limit of keeper size bass on the ledges, they changed their strategy and started hitting the sloughs and lakes back off the river.
Between 1:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. they culled four of the ledge bass with bigger fish from the lakes. According to Miles, Morgan really put on a show by catching three nice bass that culled the smaller ones during crunch time. The fish were keying on big tops and grass in six to ten feet of water. The bass were deep in the structure and they were really smashing jigs.
Other winners
The Alabama team of Fred Schoenrock and Jimmy Williams turned in another fine performance with a limit of bass that weighed in at 9.91 pounds. Second place was worth $500.00. This veteran team also finished as the top team in the Angling Team of the Year race with 750 points. This award was worth a cool $2,000.00.
Third place went to the team of Andy and Tom Mayatt with 9.19 pounds. Fourth place was claimed by Ricky Smith and Willie Johnston. Fifth place was awarded to the team of Jerry Stewart and Jackie Penny. The remaining money winners were as follows:
6th: Will Roberts, Steven McMullen
7th: Randy Gabriel, Todd Ratcliff
8th: Wayman Newell and Chris Stokes
9th: Mark Sullivan, Thomas Rigdon
10th: David Wheat
The hard luck award would have to go to Wayman Newell and Chris Stokes as they caught a massive string of bass on the Saturday qualifying day. They literally blew away the field with a limit of bass that weighed in at 16.34 pounds. That string was anchored by an impressive 8.64-pound lunker caught by Newell. That bass turned out to be worth $320.00 for the Saturday lunker pot. If it had been caught on Sunday it would have been a whole different ball game.
Anyone interested in joining the Bass Angler's Tournament Trail for the upcoming fall and spring tournament season should attend a meeting at the Mississippi Power Service Center on Hwy 45 north on July 9th at 7:00 p.m.