JACKSON, Miss. - The Bassmaster Central Divisional turned into a leap-frog contest, with Jamie Laiche taking the last leap to victory Friday at Ross Barnett Reservoir.
The Gonzales, La., angler took the lead on the first day of the bass fishing tournament, but fellow Baton Rouge Bassmasters club member Ken Sherman knocked Laiche into second place on Day 2. Laiche rallied Friday with a limit of 14 pounds, 11 ounces, to earn tournament champion honors with a total of 40 pounds, 11 ounces, while Sherman fell to the runner-up spot with 31-10.
"I was just Carolina-rigging and crankbaiting ledges," Laiche said of his winning pattern. "I narrowed it down after the second day to about three spots and today I just kept hitting the same spots, going back and forth on them."
The tournament champion was dragging and shaking a Carolina-rigged June bug Berkley Power Worm with a 1/2-ounce bullet weight sinker and running a chartreuse-and-white Bandit 100 Series crankbait along ledges and humps.
In winning this event, Laiche and seven other state leaders advance to the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship, the world championship for amateur bass anglers. Joining tournament champion Laiche at the Federation Nation Championship will be the following state winners: Doug Thompson, Arkansas; Scott Hamel, Kansas; Hollis Polk, Mississippi; Shane Long, Missouri; Pat Klausen, Nebraska; Lee Sanders, Oklahoma; and Leslie Kennedy, Texas.
Total domination by Louisiana turned the team competition into a rout. The 12-man team captured the top prize of a Triton Boats 186 bass boat rigged with a Mercury 150-horsepower outboard motor (total value of $32,000). Leading the tournament from start to finish, Louisiana accumulated a total combined weight of 229 pounds, 1 ounce. Arkansas was a remote second with 119-7.
"We had a number of guys who did some scouting and fishing, and through that we worked hard to round up some fish," said Louisiana team spokesman Richard Sherman. "The guys who came over here learned some patterns, and with our good team bond the guys shared a lot of information to help our other guys who came in cold."
The Central Divisional is the third of six regional qualifiers for the Federation Championship. Next on the slate is the Northern Divisional Aug. 12-17 at Lake Erie.