EUFAULA, Ala. - In one of the most dramatic tournament finishes in recent memory, Missouri's Denny Brauer snatched victory and a $100,000 prize purse from Idaho's Bink Desaro Sunday at the Bassmaster Tour at Lake Eufaula. The BASS legend's margin of victory over his rookie challenger? A mere 3 ounces.
Brauer, who has held the lead since day two of the tournament, brought in 19-2 to narrowly escape Desaro, whom standing-room-only crowds had all but crowned the event winner. Desaro brought in 24-5 on Sunday, but couldn't overcome his more then 5-pound deficit from Saturday.
"This is probably the most exciting tournament that I've ever won," Brauer said. "When you are sitting in back of the line and you hear a guy ahead of you weigh in 24 pounds, it kind of gets you wondering."
Though he was disappointed, Desaro had plenty of consolation. In addition to the $38,000 second place purse, his 24-5 catch was the largest of the day, earning him $1,000 for the catch of the day. If that weight holds out for the remainder of the Tour and Bassmaster Elite 50 series, Desaro will qualify for the $160,000 Busch Shootout Tournament on a mystery lake in September. Desaro also earned an additional $1,000 from Purolator for bringing in a 7-4 lunker that was the day's largest fish.
"I'm happy with second," Desaro said. "To be second to a guy like Denny is incredible. This is more (money) than I've ever made in my whole life put together. My confidence level is way up there now."
Brauer found his victory by fishing a StrikeKing pro model jig with a 3X chunk trailer for most of the tournament.
"I was fishing stuff so ugly that it wasn't something you could put anybody on," said Brauer, who told fans all week that he had no special fishing spots or even a set strategy. "I had never fished that area before and I was catching fish there the first two days. I didn't go back there yesterday; I wanted to let the area rest a bit.
"They quit biting at about 9 a.m., because the water was dropping. I was pitching to the edge of some vegetation, pitching to grass or anything that would come along. There were so few bites to be had, though, that it was kind of a lucky deal."
Desaro was pitching with a black and blue Sweet Beaver flipping bait by Reaction Innovation, punching through heavy mats of vegetation and alligator grass to find the bass lurking below.
Texan Ben Matsubu (72-15), Californian Skeet Reese (69-15), Arkansan Ron Shuffield (65-5) and Louisiana's Greg Hackney (61-12) rounded out Sunday's Super Six anglers.
Florida's Mark Rogers, who didn't make Sunday's final round, nevertheless picked up a check when a 9-4 lunker from the competition's first day earned him $1,000 for the Big Bass of the Tournament.
The Tour presented will conclude March 25-28 on South Carolina's Santee Cooper Lakes.
Fans can watch "The Bassmasters" telecast of the Lake Eufaula tournament on Saturday, March 27 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
2004 Alabama Bassmaster Tour Pro 03/18-03/21 Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Ala. (PRO Division) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 20 76-14 315 $101,500.00 Day 1: 5 22-14 Day 2: 5 23-12 Day 3: 5 11-02 Day 4: 5 19-02 2. Bink Desaro Boise, Idaho 20 76-11 295 $40,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-14 Day 2: 5 17-15 Day 3: 5 16-09 Day 4: 5 24-05 3. Ben Matsubu Hemphill, Texas 20 72-15 290 $25,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 13-10 Day 3: 5 23-10 Day 4: 5 15-05 4. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 20 69-15 285 $20,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 5 14-13 Day 4: 5 18-04 5. Ron Shuffield Bismarck, Ark. 20 65-05 280 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 23-08 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 10-14 Day 4: 5 13-04 6. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 20 61-12 276 $14,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 16-13 Day 3: 5 13-04 Day 4: 5 11-14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Bass Day 1 Mark Rogers Naples, Fla. 9-06 $1,000.00 2 Kenyon Hill Norman, Okla. 6-14 $500.00 2 Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 6-14 $500.00 3 Ben Matsubu Hemphill, Texas 6-15 $1,000.00 4 Bink Desaro Boise, Idaho 7-04 $1,000.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- s Day 1 Mark Rogers Naples, Fla. 31-3 $1,000.00 2 Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 23-12 $1,000.00 3 Ben Matsubu Hemphill, Texas 23-10 $1,000.00 4 Bink Desaro Boise, Idaho 24-5 $1,000.00 Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 84 622 1754-14 2 82 584 1497-10 3 7 46 128-15 4 6 30 102-02 ---------------------------------- 179 1282 3483-09 Busch Shootout ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Mark Rogers Lake Eufaula, Ala. 31-3 George Cochran Lake Guntersville, Ala. 29-15 Stacey King Lake Guntersville, Ala. 28-2 David Wharton Harris Chain of Lakes, Fla. 26-7 Kevin VanDam Lake Guntersville, Ala. 26-3 Jason Quinn Harris Chain of Lakes, Fla. 24-14 Bink Desaro Lake Eufaula, Ala. 24-5 Denny Brauer Lake Eufaula, Ala. 23-12 Ben Matsubu Lake Eufaula, Ala. 23-10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- 2004 Angler of the Year After Eufaula, Ala. Ending 03-21-2004 ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Scott Suggs Ark. 1142 2 Gerald Swindle Ala. 1129 3 Brent Chapman Kan. 1112 4 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 1082 5 Greg Hackney La. 1059 6 Mark Davis Ark. 1046 7 Chad Brauer Mo. 1026 8 Takahiro Omori Texas 1007 9 Skeet Reese Calif. 993 10 David Walker Tenn. 992 11 Bernie Schultz Fla. 987 12 Aaron Martens Calif. 984 13 Marty Stone N.C. 979 14 Kelly Jordon Texas 976 15 Kevin VanDam Mich. 965 16 Davy Hite S.C. 928 17 Chris Baumgardner N.C. 911 18 Gary Klein Texas 910 19 Mark Tucker Mo. 907 20 Jim Bitter Fla. 900 21 Alton Jones Texas 897 22 Denny Brauer Mo. 893 23 Ben Matsubu Texas 892 24 Brett Hite Ariz. 889 25 Edwin Evers Okla. 883 26 Steve Daniel Fla. 861 27 Lee Bailey Conn. 859 28 Harold Allen Texas 854 29 Stacey King Mo. 848 30 Tim Horton Ala. 843 31 Peter Thliveros Fla. 837 31 George Cochran Ark. 837 33 Scott Rook Ark. 834 34 Todd Auten S.C. 833 35 Randy Blaukat Mo. 827 36 Tom Biffle Okla. 819 36 Dean Rojas Texas 819 38 Ishama Monroe Calif. 813 39 Guy Eaker N.C. 811 40 Dustin Wilks N.C. 809 41 Zell Rowland Texas 805 42 Paul Elias Miss. 800 43 Brian Snowden Mo. 798 44 Larry Nixon Ark. 789 45 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 784 46 David Wharton Texas 779 47 Charlie Hartley Ohio 778 48 Jason Quinn S.C. 775 49 Jimmy Mize Ark. 770 50 Mark Kile Ariz. 768 51 John Murray Ariz. 760 52 Tom Burns Ill. 744 53 Brooks Rogers Texas 742 54 Kevin Wirth Ky. 741 55 Bud Pruitt Texas 740 56 Mike McClelland Ark. 739 57 Jack Wade Tenn. 737 58 Robert Lee Calif. 736 58 Jay Yelas Texas 736 60 Rick Clunn Mo. 723 61 Luke Clausen Wash. 720 62 Kevin Short Ark. 717 63 Tommy Martin Texas 712 64 Mark Rogers Fla. 708 65 Tim Loper Miss. 696 66 Randall Romig Pa. 686 67 O T Fears III Okla. 671 67 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 671 69 Mike Auten Ky. 669 70 Ron Shuffield Ark. 663 71 Chris Price Md. 656 72 Matt Reed Texas 655 73 Joe Thomas Ohio 654 73 Terry Scroggins Fla. 654 75 Randy Howell Ala. 652 76 Mike Reynolds Calif. 645 77 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 644 78 Mark Rizk Ala. 641 79 Art Ferguson III Mich. 639 80 Bink Desaro Idaho 638 81 Mark Shepard Fla. 635 82 Marcel Veenstra Mich. 632 83 Kenyon Hill Okla. 629 83 Morizo Shimizu Calif. 629 85 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 625 86 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 623 87 Danny Correia Mass. 621 88 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 618 89 Jack Gadlage Ky. 616 90 David Fritts N.C. 614 91 Jimmy Mason Ala. 592 91 Jimmy Houston Okla. 592 93 Mark Menendez Ky. 589 94 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 585 95 Mike Wurm Ark. 580 96 Darryl Burkhardt Ore. 570 97 John Crews Va. 566 98 Mark Tyler Ariz. 558 99 Jordan Paullo Conn. 553 100 Roland Martin Fla. 551 101 David Mansue N.J. 548 102 Randy Yarnall Pa. 531 103 Jeff Kriet Okla. 529 104 Elton Luce Jr Texas 527 105 Chuck Economou Fla. 524 106 Chris Daves Va. 512 107 Dennis Kolender Nev. 507 108 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 506 109 Rick Morris Va. 505 110 Coby Carden Ala. 502 111 Jason Reyes Texas 499 112 Randy Dearman Texas 498 113 Todd Faircloth Texas 479 114 Jarrett Edwards Colo. 448 115 Byron Velvick Nev. 441 116 Charlie Weyer Calif. 434 117 Terry Baksay Conn. 433 118 Charles Hammack Texas 430 119 Curt Lytle Va. 429 119 Sean Hoernke Texas 429 121 R J Bennett Calif. 427 122 Lance Vick Texas 425 123 Doug Garrett Ark. 424 124 Danny White Ga. 422 125 Mike O'Shea Calif. 419 126 Ken Cook Okla. 416 127 Mike Hicks Va. 405 128 Frank Ippoliti Md. 395 128 Tim Carroll Okla. 395 130 Casey Iwai Ariz. 394 131 Cody Bird Texas 387 131 Jason Barber Texas 387 133 Robert Hamilton Jr Miss. 386 134 Charles Ingram Tenn. 385 135 Woo Daves Va. 377 136 Johnny Lesesne Ga. 367 137 Tom Mann, Jr Ga. 365 138 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 347 139 Stephen Browning Ark. 339 140 Steve Sennikoff Texas 337 141 Pete Gluszek N.J. 324 141 Frank Scalish Ohio 324 143 Dalton Bobo Ala. 323 144 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 319 145 Jay Kendrick Tenn. 307 146 Scott Nielsen Utah 299 147 Pete Ponds Miss. 295 148 Jody Cordell Ga. 285 149 Norio Tanabe Japan 280 150 Thomas O'Bryant Tenn. 278 151 Roger Boler La. 272 152 Eric Nethery Ga. 238 153 Koby Kreiger Fla. 219 153 Gary Yamamoto Texas 219 155 Duke McCardle Ga. 214 156 Terry Segraves Fla. 203 157 J T Kenney Md. 201 158 Jeff Magee Miss. 73ELITE 50 After Eufaula, AL ending 03-21-2004 2003 Standings as of Montgomery, AL ending 05-25-2003 Top 20 All Time Money 1 Denny Brauer $1,822,939.21 2 Rick Clunn $1,537,144.53 3 Larry Nixon $1,532,533.58 4 Jay Yelas $1,253,632.00 5 Shaw Grigsby, Jr $1,217,380.23 6 Kevin VanDam $1,207,683.33 7 Gary Klein $1,168,918.97 8 Roland Martin $1,007,142.16 9 Ron Shuffield $988,921.00 10 George Cochran $977,501.45 11 Mark Davis $957,071.30 12 Davy Hite $851,050.00 13 David Fritts $836,905.00 14 Zell Rowland $787,215.90 15 Tom Biffle $746,278.80 16 Jim Bitter $741,343.60 17 David Wharton $714,380.80 18 Alton Jones $686,941.67 19 Peter Thliveros $683,654.00 20 Randy Blaukat $683,392.70 Top 10 on Bubble for Money 1 Ken Cook $642,367.20 2 Tommy Martin $624, 176.51 3 Woo Daves $538,210.80 4 Takahiro Omori $482,250.00 5 Harold Allen $388,168.69 6 Aaron Martens $370,972.33 7 Joe Thomas $369,448.47 8 Tom Mann, Jr $357,075.80 9 Jimmy Houston $344,299.00 10 Stephen Browning $335,300.00 Top 27 2002, 2003, 2004 Angler of the Year Combined Standings 1 Brent Chapman 32 2 Kelly Jordon 42 3 Tim Horton 65 4 Edwin Evers 66 5 Dustin Wilks 67 6 Bud Pruitt 72 7 John Murray 85 7 Skeet Reese 85 9 Kevin Wirth 109 10 Mike Wurm 119 11 Randy Howell 128 12 Gerald Swindle 132 13 Ishama Monroe 145 14 Brian Snowden 148 15 Ben Matsubu 155 16 Bernie Schultz 157 17 Chad Brauer 159 18 Kenyon Hill 161 19 Robert Lee 162 20 O T Fears III 164 21 Dean Rojas 165 22 Todd Auten 169 23 Todd Faircloth 172 24 Paul Elias 175 25 Stacey King 177 26 Guy Eaker 178 26 Mark Menendez 178 Top 10 on Bubble for Angler of the Year Combined Standings 1 Mike Auten 179 2 Brett Hite 182 3 Scott Rook 184 4 Takahiro Omori 186 5 Elton Luce Jr 187 6 Jeff Kriet 199 7 Jack Gadlage 202 8 Tommy Martin 208 9 Kotaro Kiriyama 209 9 Yusuke Miyazaki 209Tie Breakers: 1st - Combined 3 year weight total 2nd - Highest individual season weight ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2004 Tournament Year After Eufaula, AL ending 03-21-2004 Place Angler Name City State Total Points 1 Scott Suggs Alexander Ark. 1142 2 Greg Hackney Gonzales La. 1059 3 Kevin Short Mayflower Ark. 717 4 Bink Desaro Boise Idaho 638 5 Mark Shepard Labelle Fla. 635 6 Marcel Veenstra Brighton Mich. 632 7 Jimmy Mason Rogersville Ala. 592 8 Jordan Paullo Coventry Conn. 553 9 Jason Reyes Humble Texas 499 10 R J Bennett Grass Valley Calif. 427 11 Scott Nielsen Salt Lake City Utah 299 12 Thomas O'Bryant Drummonds Tenn. 278 2004 Horizon Award After Eufaula, AL ending 03-21-2004 --------------------------------------------------------- Place Name 2003 Finish Current Standings --------------------------------------------------------- 1 Davy Hite 163 16 2 Aaron Martens 147 12 3 Mark Tucker 138 19 4 Michael Iaconelli 102 4 5 Scott Rook 129 33 6 Lee Bailey 122 27 7 Art Ferguson III 165 79 8 Chad Brauer 92 7 9 Bernie Schultz 94 11 10 Larry Nixon 120 44 11 Marty Stone 78 13 12 Todd Auten 95 34 13 John Crews 157 97 14 Charlie Hartley 106 47 14 Rick Clunn 119 60 16 Tom Biffle 93 36 17 George Cochran 87 31 18 Jason Quinn 103 48 19 Tommy Martin 117 63 19 Chuck Economou 159 105 21 Brett Hite 71 24 21 Paul Elias 89 42 21 Danny White 171 124 24 Chris Price 116 71 25 Denny Brauer 66 22 26 Brooks Rogers 96 53 26 Coby Carden 153 110 28 Gerald Swindle 39 2 29 Randall Romig 101 66 30 Dean Rojas 70 36 31 Ben Matsubu 56 23 31 Steve Sennikoff 173 140 33 Takahiro Omori 40 8 33 Randy Dearman 144 112 35 Morizo Shimizu 114 83 36 Chris Daves 134 106 37 Tim Carroll 153 128 38 Randy Yarnall 126 102 39 Gerald Gostenik 111 88 40 Stacey King 51 29 41 Robert Lee 78 58 41 Danny Correia 107 87 43 Yusuke Miyazaki 85 67 44 Brian Snowden 57 43 44 Homer Humphreys, Jr 158 144 44 David Fritts 104 90 47 Brent Chapman 16 3 47 Doug Garrett 136 123 49 Guy Eaker 51 39 49 Mark Rizk 90 78 51 Jim Bitter 31 20 51 David Mansue 112 101 53 Jeff Magee 162 158 54 Edwin Evers 28 25 54 Mark Rogers 67 64 56 Tim Horton 32 30 56 Luke Clausen 63 61 56 David Wharton 48 46 59 Skeet Reese 10 9