CEDAR BLUFF, Ala. (May 23, 2005) - Boater Ryan Rigsby of Hixson, Tenn., earned $2,702 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division bass fishing tournament on Weiss Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Choo Choo Division events, and the win earned Rigsby 200 points in the Boater Division.
Rigsby's winning catch of five bass weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces. Rigsby fished shallow docks and grass with a Zoom Horny Toad and a Yamamoto Senko in Yellow Creek and the Cowan area of the lake.
Finishing second was Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $1,351. Johnny Belyeu of Gadsden, Ala., claimed $884 for his third-place finish plus an additional $750 for being the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant and meeting the Powered by Yamaha guidelines. His five bass weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces. In fourth was Robert Boyd of Russellville, Ala., with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces worth $688, and finishing fifth and earning $565 was Travis Smith of Fort Payne, Ala., with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces.
Watkins took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $360 for a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a green pumpkin Senko. Roger Hicks of Rocky Face, Ga., bested the rest of the Co-angler Division competitors to earn $1,351 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jett Loach of Ringgold, Ga. (thre bass, 11 pounds, 14 ounces, $675); Danny Moss of Glencoe, Ala. (five bass, 11 pounds, 2 ounces, $444); Denny Cole of Rockwood, Tenn. (five bass, 11 pounds, $313); and Jason Owens of Attalla, Ala. (five bass, 11 pounds, $313).
Jessie Hall of Sweetwater, Tenn., earned $180 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Baby Brush Hog.
The Choo Choo Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 10-11 with a two-day Super Tournament on Watts Barr Lake near Rockwood, Tenn.