After five bass fishing tournaments in the regular season for the East Texas Region anglers, this was the day to determine the Champions for the 2006 season. Boat numbers were assigned in order of each team's ranking, and the 153 teams who qualified to fish the Championship headed out on Sam Rayburn May 21st. Sixty eight teams brought in limits, but it was Jason Hanks and Mark Woolems who topped them all with 18.14 lbs to win.
Water levels were just right to barely edge up to the bushes, but yet amply cover the vegetation, effectively scattering the bass making them hard to track down. Prevailing winds, increasing throughout the day kept the anglers working hard to hold their positions to catch their fish. The top 10 teams from the previous five tournaments were already heading to the State Championship, and 10 more would qualify from this Region Championship.
Hanks & Woolems started out their day fishing Ribbits in the pepper grass. They caught four good keepers that way, but needed to finish up their limit. "We decided to go for broke, and headed out to main lake humps throwing Carolina rigs. We drifted with the wind, relaxed and just had a good time. We caught two keepers, finished up our limit and headed in." Their 18.14 lb limit took them to the top, earning the title of East Region Champions. Bass Champs awarded them a Skeeter SX190 powered by a Yamaha 150 motor.
Pete and Allan Shivers won 2nd place with 17.90 lbs. "We just got lucky" Pete explained. We caught one on a jig, a few on a frog, and some on a Texas rig. It was all trial and error. We caught less fish today than we did yesterday fishing the same spots, but they were all bigger fish. Last night we were sitting in 11th place in the overall points standings. Our main goal today was to make it to the State Championship." They achieved their goal, and will be at the State Championship in September.
In 3rd place with 16.96 lbs was the team of Rick Scott & Roy Ellison. They are also consistently top contenders, earning a spot in the Mexico challenge last year, and heading to the State Championship again this year. "We'd like to say that we really appreciate Bass Champs for giving these opportunities to anglers. We enjoy fishing with you." Yesterday they had caught most of their fish on a DD-22 at the grass lines. That technique didn't work today. Roy caught their 6.88 lb kicker on a frog, then they went to flip the bushes. "Frogs were the bait for us today!" Roy stated.
Ronald Risenhoover and Charles Ford seized 4th place with a 16.94 lb limit. "Most of our fish were caught on Carolina rigged gator pups and flukes, fishing in deep water. Our big bass (7.18 lbs) was caught on a drop shot with a 4" worm with a Daichi hook, bleeding bait. We'd also like to thank some of our other sponsors - Honda Motors, Champion Boats, Lighthouse Marine, Tri Lakes Tackle and Performance Propellers."
5th place was won by Joe Rials and Bobby Hebert. "We used a variety of baits, from topwaters, to spinnerbaits and jigs. All of our fish came out of one area, we just pounded it back and forth, fishing in water 1'-8' deep." Their limit weighed 16.14 lbs, and also earned them a spot in the State Championship.
The Big Bass of the tournament was caught by James Elliot, fishing with Ron Hendricks. James caught this 8.64 lb bass on a baby bass Bomber 9A in 11' of water at 10:00am. They took 7th place in the standings with 15.94 lbs.
All total there are 21 teams from the East Texas region heading to the State Championship. The first 10 qualified as the top teams by points. The second 10 qualified in this Championship, taking the top 10 teams who hadn't already qualified. The last team is the top adult / jr angler pair, and Ford & Austin Adkins earned that position.
"Congratulations to all of our winners" stated Chad Potts, Tournament Director. "We'd like to thank each and every angler who participated with us this year, making Bass Champs the biggest team tournament in East Texas. This region is also the largest division in Bass Champs. It's been a great season, and we're already gearing up for 2007. Each year we try to make it bigger and better for the anglers, so hope to see everyone then. In the mean time, good luck to all of the State Championship qualifiers!"