His strategy paid off as the Lenexa, Kan., pro won his first B.A.S.S. event and a berth to the 2013 Bassmaster Classic by catching 49 pounds, 4 ounces of Table Rock bass. He also took home a Triton/Yamaha rig valued at $45,000 and $6,720 in cash.
“Last week on Bull Shoals, a lot of the fish were being caught on (Storm Lures) Wiggle Warts,” Scanlon said . “I caught some deep fish in practice here on a deep crankbait, and everybody knows that Brandon Palaniuk kind of put us to shame with the bags he brought in on that deep crankbait. So I looked for that pattern in practice. I caught a lot of good fish doing that in practice, and I was catching some bigger ones on the bluffs.”
He stared fishing the bluffs the first day but he noticed that bite he had in practice was fading, so he switched to the deep-diving crankbait — a chartreuse sexy shad Strike King 6XD model that produced for him in the afternoon.
“I tried to target some fish offshore that not a lot of people were fishing for,” Scanlon said. “I was deep cranking over brush piles and points leading into spawning pockets.” Most of his fish were holding over depths of 13 to 20 feet.
The second day, he caught his biggest fish along a bluff on a phantom green Wiggle Wart, but the rest of his keepers were taken on the Strike King 6XD. Scanlon did a lot of running and gunning today and threw the Strike King crankbait again to catch a 13-7 limit that clinched the victory.
Flipping Berkley Havoc baits and a 4-inch Senko produced a second-place finish for Cypress, Texas, pro James Kiser, who accumulated a three-day total of 46-09. He targeted wood cover in the backs of creeks to catch his limit the first two days.
“I left those fish yesterday at about 11 o’clock with a limit thinking that I would save some for today, but it didn’t work out that way,” he said. “I had one fish at noon today, but I had one stop that I fished in practice and had just caught keepers there. The first fish I caught there was a 4-pounder.”
The other Top 5 pro division anglers were Kelly Power, Cape Fair, Mo., in third place with 45-4; Brian Potter, Claremore, Okla., fourth, 44-4; and Tommy Martin, Hemphill, Texas, fifth, 43-14.
Cattle rancher Michael Kent Robinson won the co-angler division and a $35,000 Nitro/Mercury rig with a catch of 27-5. The Carter, Okla., angler caught all of his fish on a green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm rigged on a 1/8-ounce Slider jighead. Rounding out the Top 5 in the non-boater division were Mike Burns, Lucas, Texas, second, 27-1; Matthew Goddard, Russellville, Ark., third, 24-3; Kenneth Moore, Red Oak, Texas, fourth, 23-9; and Roger Hackman, Harrison, Ark., fifth, 22-15.
Dustin Lester of Huntington, Calif., won the Luck “E” Strike Heavyweight Award for the heaviest single-day catch of the tournament in the pro division with a 21-15 sack, and Mike Hoese, Crown Point, Ind., earned the award on the non-boater side with an 11-5 limit.
The Big Bass of the Tournament winner was Clayton Coppin, Wagoner, Okla., with a 7-1 largemouth.
2012 Bassmaster Central Open 2 Table Rock Lake 4/26-4/28
Table Rock Lake, Branson MO.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Casey Scanlon Lenexa, KS 15 49-04 0 $51,720.00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 13-07
2. James Kiser Cypress, TX 15 46-09 0 $16,628.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 13-14 Day 3: 5 13-01
3. Kelly Power Cape Fair, MO 15 45-04 0 $12,096.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 08-14
4. Brian Potter Claremore, OK 15 44-04 0 $10,752.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 15-01 Day 3: 5 12-09
5. Tommy Martin Hemphill, TX 15 43-14 0 $9,408.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 13-10
6. Dustin Lester Huntington Beach, CA 13 42-12 0 $8,064.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 21-15 Day 3: 3 05-09
7. Brady Winans Greenville, TX 13 42-09 0 $6,720.00
Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 3 05-07
8. David Gillham Heath, TX 15 41-12 0 $5,376.00
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 5 16-08 Day 3: 5 12-14
9. Gary Klein Weatherford, TX 15 40-07 0 $4,032.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 5 09-06
10. Marty Conrad Crane, MO 14 40-07 0 $3,696.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 14-07 Day 3: 4 10-15
11. Curt Warren Rose, OK 15 40-01 0 $3,360.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 14-04 Day 3: 5 10-12
12. Todd Castledine Nacogdoches, TX 12 33-10 0 $3,226.00
Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 13-08 Day 3: 2 03-13
CARHARTT BIG BASS
Clayton Coppin Wagoner, OK 07-01 $500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 87 658 1633-01
2 96 668 1690-04
3 8 52 120-05
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191 1378 3443-10
2012 BPS Bassmaster Central Open 2 Table Rock Lake 4/26-4/28
Table Rock Lake, Branson MO.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Michael Kent Robinson Carter, OK 9 27-05 0 $35,000.00
Day 1: 3 08-15 Day 2: 3 10-07 Day 3: 3 07-15
2. Mike Burns Lucas, TX 9 27-01 0 $5,408.00
Day 1: 3 07-14 Day 2: 3 10-11 Day 3: 3 08-08
3. Matthew Goddard Russellville, AR 9 24-03 0 $4,056.00
Day 1: 3 09-10 Day 2: 3 06-05 Day 3: 3 08-04
4. Kenneth Moore Red Oak, TX 9 23-09 0 $2,704.00
Day 1: 3 06-14 Day 2: 3 10-15 Day 3: 3 05-12
5. Roger Hackman Harrison, AR 9 22-15 0 $2,569.00
Day 1: 3 10-09 Day 2: 3 06-11 Day 3: 3 05-11
6. Nicholas Tislau Sharon, WI 8 21-12 0 $2,434.00
Day 1: 3 07-11 Day 2: 3 09-02 Day 3: 2 04-15
7. Chris Wolcott Branson, MO 8 20-01 0 $2,298.00
Day 1: 3 07-12 Day 2: 3 08-05 Day 3: 2 04-00
8. Rick Emmitt Nixa, MO 7 17-15 0 $2,163.00
Day 1: 3 09-01 Day 2: 3 07-05 Day 3: 1 01-09
9. Donny Murrell Sapulpa, OK 7 17-11 0 $2,028.00
Day 1: 3 07-12 Day 2: 3 08-04 Day 3: 1 01-11
10. Mike Williams Delhi, LA 5 17-10 0 $1,893.00
Day 1: 2 07-08 Day 2: 3 10-02 Day 3: 0 00-00
11. Jim Gilbert Forney, TX 6 16-06 0 $1,622.00
Day 1: 3 08-12 Day 2: 3 07-10 Day 3: 0 00-00
12. Lonnie Miller Broken Arrow, OK 6 16-01 0 $1,487.00
Day 1: 3 09-12 Day 2: 3 06-05 Day 3: 0 00-00
BIG BASS
Clayton Coppin Wagoner, OK 07-01 $500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 61 297 691-01
2 72 316 750-01
3 5 21 48-05
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138 634 1489-07
Pro Big Bag: Dustin Lester 21-15
Co-Angler Big Bag: Mike Hoese 11-5