LEESBURG, Fla. - North Carolina's Marty Stone recovered from his "self-proclaimed slump" on Sunday, sweeping past the competition to win the first bass fishing event of the 2004 Bassmaster Tour.
Stone, who has not placed higher than 33rd in the past two Tour seasons, pulled 61 pounds, 12 ounces of bass out of the Harris Chain of Lakes, earning the tournament's $100,000 top prize. Stone's last BASS victory came five years ago at Alabama's Lake Wheeler.
An emotional Stone told the crowd at the Pat Thomas Ballfield, "I've seen the bottom of this sport and this just goes to show, you never give up.
"I'll be the first to admit, when I made that first Classic, I thought I was a pretty good fisherman," he said, "but I've been in a self-proclaimed slump for the past few years. I want to be a good fisherman, and to do that I'm going to have to be on the water. I have a lot of work to do."
Stone's victory came by fishing a 7-inch Sweebo Worm, junebug in color, with an American Rodsmith 71/2-foot flipping stick. Stone also used a 3/8-ounce Gambler Ninja Spin spinnerbait, a minnow style spinnerbait that has a white and blue head.
"Those are ideal colors for cloudy weather like today," Stone said.
Stone also picked up an additional $1,000 as the of the day, the daily award for having the heaviest catch of the day. His 15-pound, 13-ounce sack for Day 4 earned him some money, but Stone doesn't think he'll see much of it.
"My wife and I made a deal," he joked. "I can keep all the trophies and she gets the money."
Arkansas pro Scott Rook came up a spot from third to finish the tournament in second, earning him $38,000. Rook came in with a 12-13 sack Sunday, giving him a total of 60-9 for the four days.
Brent Chapman took home third place Sunday and a check for $23,000. Chapman, who was fishing his 100th BASS event, wasn't satisfied with his performance.
"I need to make sure I put every fish in the boat," Chapman said. "I missed two fish today that could have been the difference in the tournament. I'm really trying hard not to think about that now, but it's hard not to."
New Jersey's Mike Iaconelli, who led Saturday's round, wound up fourth (58-12), with Texans Tommy Martin (56-7) and Bud Pruitt (48-1) taking fifth and sixth places, respectively.
The Purolator Big Bass of the day went to Martin, who brought in a 6-pound bass to earn him the $1,000 bonus. The Purolator Big Bass of the Tournament and its $1,000 prize went to Day 1 leader Alton Jones. His 10-pound 13-ounce lunker had already earned him $1,000 for Day 1.
On Friday, tournament officials erred while determining which of the two amateur anglers tied for 12th place would qualify to fish in Saturday's final amateur round.
After tournament officials discovered the error, they contacted the anglers in question and discussed reparations with the amateur who was incorrectly cut. Final measures will be determined when BASS officials meet next week.
Tournament Director Trip Weldon called the incident unfortunate and assured that corrective steps are being taken to prevent a similar situation in the future.
The Bassmaster Tour heads north next week to Smith Lake in Jasper, Ala., for the second event on the 2004 Tournament Trail, Feb. 5-8.Fans can catch a telecast of the Harris Chain tournament on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
Thousands of fans were on hand Sunday afternoon to take part in the highly interactive and family friendly BASS Sponsor Expo area. Sponsors presented interactive exhibits and provided a fun family experience for all ages.
2004 Florida Bassmaster Tour Pro 01/29-02/01 Harris Chain Of Lakes, Leesburg Fla. (PRO Division) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Marty Stone Linden, N.C. 20 61-12 305 $100,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-09 Day 2: 5 14-00 Day 3: 5 12-06 Day 4: 5 15-13 2. Scott Rook Little Rock, Ark. 20 60-09 295 $38,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 16-10 Day 3: 5 12-15 Day 4: 5 12-13 3. Brent Chapman Shawnee, Kan. 20 60-02 290 $23,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-15 Day 2: 5 12-01 Day 3: 5 12-01 Day 4: 5 14-01 4. Michael Iaconelli Runnemede, N.J. 20 58-12 290 $20,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-04 Day 2: 5 17-04 Day 3: 5 13-05 Day 4: 5 8-15 5. Tommy Martin Hemphill, Texas 19 56-07 280 $16,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 11-05 Day 4: 4 12-07 6. Bud Pruitt Spring, Texas 13 48-01 276 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 3 13-10 Day 4: 0 0-00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 87 625 1554-06 2 68 553 1392-13 3 5 36 94-01 4 4 24 64-01 ---------------------------------- 164 1238 3105-052004 Angler of the Year After Leesburg, Fla. Ending 02-01-2004 ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Marty Stone N.C. 305 2 Scott Rook Ark. 295 3 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 290 3 Brent Chapman Kan. 290 5 Tommy Martin Texas 280 6 Alton Jones Texas 277 7 Bud Pruitt Texas 276 8 Jason Quinn S.C. 273 9 Scott Suggs Ark. 264 10 Chris Baumgardner N.C. 260 11 David Wharton Texas 257 12 Takahiro Omori Texas 254 13 Larry Nixon Ark. 251 14 Steve Daniel Fla. 248 15 Terry Scroggins Fla. 245 16 David Walker Tenn. 243 17 Bernie Schultz Fla. 241 18 Tom Biffle Okla. 239 19 Kelly Jordon Texas 237 20 Harold Allen Texas 235 21 Tim Horton Ala. 233 22 Byron Velvick Nev. 231 23 Mike Auten Ky. 229 24 Skeet Reese Calif. 227 25 Terry Baksay Conn. 225 26 Gary Klein Texas 223 27 Kevin Wirth Ky. 221 28 Koby Kreiger Fla. 219 28 John Murray Ariz. 219 30 Mark Kile Ariz. 215 31 Brian Snowden Mo. 213 32 Randy Blaukat Mo. 211 33 Danny Correia Mass. 209 34 Jimmy D Mize Ark. 207 35 Matt Reed Texas 205 36 Ishama Monroe Calif. 203 36 Chad Brauer Mo. 203 36 Jason Reyes Texas 203 39 Randy Howell Ala. 197 40 Davy Hite S.C. 195 40 O T Fears III Okla. 195 42 Mike Reynolds Calif. 191 43 Mike McClelland Ark. 189 44 Curt Lytle Va. 187 45 Aaron Martens Calif. 185 46 Kevin Short Ark. 183 47 Tim Loper Miss. 181 47 Edwin Evers Okla. 181 49 Brooks Rogers Texas 177 50 Art Ferguson III Mich. 175 51 Steve Sennikoff Texas 173 52 Mark Rizk Ala. 171 53 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 169 54 Jimmy Mason Ala. 167 55 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 165 56 Jay Yelas Texas 163 57 Mark Davis Ark. 161 58 Todd Faircloth Texas 159 59 Gerald Swindle Ala. 157 60 Peter E Thliveros Fla. 155 61 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 153 62 Woo Daves Va. 151 62 Dustin Wilks N.C. 151 62 Charlie Hartley Ohio 151 65 Mark Rogers Fla. 145 66 Scott A Nielsen Utah 143 67 Dean Rojas Texas 141 68 Chuck Economou Fla. 139 69 Robert Lee Calif. 137 70 Jim Bitter Ind. 135 70 Jordan Paullo Conn. 135 72 George Cochran Ark. 131 73 John Crews Va. 129 74 Johnny Lesesne Ga. 127 75 Elton Luce Jr Texas 125 76 Randall R Romig Pa. 123 76 Morizo Shimizu Calif. 123 78 Gary Yamamoto Texas 119 79 Stacey D King Mo. 117 80 Zell Rowland Texas 115 81 Frank Scalish Ohio 113 81 Cody Bird Texas 113 83 Marcel Veenstra Mich. 109 84 Luke Clausen Wash. 107 85 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 105 86 Roland Martin Fla. 103 87 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 101 88 Randy Dearman Texas 99 89 Lee Bailey Conn. 97 90 R J Bennett Calif. 95 91 Brett Hite Ariz. 93 92 Roger Boler La. 91 93 Ron Shuffield Ark. 89 94 Terry Segraves Fla. 87 95 Kenyon Hill Okla. 85 96 Mike Hicks Va. 83 97 Randy Yarnall Pa. 81 98 Charles Hammack Texas 79 99 Sean Hoernke Texas 77 100 Doug Garrett Ark. 76 101 David Fritts N.C. 75 101 Kevin VanDam Mich. 75 103 Bink Desaro Idaho 73 104 Chris Price Md. 72 104 Jack L Wade Tenn. 72 106 Charles Ingram Tenn. 70 107 Rick Clunn Mo. 69 108 Tim Carroll Okla. 68 109 Denny Brauer Mo. 67 110 Rick Morris Va. 66 111 Thomas O'Bryant Tenn. 65 112 Chris Daves Va. 64 113 Tom Mann, Jr Ga. 63 114 Todd Auten S.C. 62 114 Dennis Kolender Nev. 62 116 Greg Hackney La. 60 117 Mark Tyler Calif. 59 118 J T Kenney Md. 58 119 Tom Burns Ill. 57 119 Robert Duke McCardle Ga. 57 119 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 57 122 Jason Barber Texas 54 122 Casey Iwai Ariz. 54 124 Jay Kendrick Ga. 52 125 Dalton Bobo Ala. 51 126 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 50 126 Paul L Elias Miss. 50 128 Mike O'Shea Calif. 48 129 Pete Ponds Miss. 47 129 Mark Shepard Fla. 47 131 Jarrett Edwards Colo. 45 132 Robert Hamilton Jr Miss. 44 133 Frank Ippoliti Md. 43 133 Jimmy Houston Okla. 43 135 Norio Tanabe Japan 41 136 Mike Wurm Ark. 40 137 Jody Cordell Ga. 39 138 Mark Menendez Ky. 38 139 Mark Tucker Mo. 37 140 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 36 141 Darryl Burkhardt Ore. 35 142 Ben Matsubu Texas 34 143 Jeff Kriet Okla. 33 144 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 32 144 Jeff Magee Miss. 32 146 Coby Carden Ala. 30 147 Charlie Weyer Calif. 29 148 Jack A Gadlage Ky. 28 149 Ken Cook Okla. 27 150 Pete Gluszek N.J. 26 151 Danny White Ga. 25 151 Stephen Browning Ark. 25 153 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 23 154 Lance Vick Texas 22 155 Guy H Eaker N.C. 21 156 Joe Thomas Ohio 20 157 Eric Nethery Ga. 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Purolator Big Bass Day 1 Alton Jones Waco, Texas 10-13 $1,000.00 2 Mark Rizk Arab, Ala. 10-03 $1,000.00 3 Bud Pruitt Spring, Texas 6-03 $1,000.00 4 Tommy Martin Hemphill, Texas 6-00 $1,000.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 2004 Tournament Year After Leesburg, FL ending 02-01-2004 Place Angler Name City State Total Points 1 Scott Suggs Alexander AR 264 2 Jason Reyes Humble TX 203 3 Kevin Short Mayflower AR 183 4 Jimmy Mason Rogersville AL 167 5 Scott A Nielsen Salt Lake City UT 143 6 Jordan Paullo Coventry CT 135 7 Marcel Veenstra Brighton MI 109 8 R J Bennett Grass Valley CA 95 9 Bink Desaro Boise ID 73 10 Thomas O'Bryant Drummonds TN 65 11 Greg Hackney Gonzales LA 60 12 Mark Shepard Labelle FL 47