EUFAULA, Ala. - It didn't take 54 pounds and 5 ounces of bass for Prattville, Ala.'s Russ Lane to win the BASS Federation Southern Divisional bass fishing event, but his nearly 20-pound lead certainly didn't hurt.
Lane's final weight gave him a 19-11 lead over second-place finisher John Bynum of Raleigh, N.C., 34-10, but Bynum will have a chance to get some of his own back next spring, when he and Lane both head to the BASS Federation Championship. This week's divisional tournament qualifies one angler from each of the seven state teams in the Federation's Southern Division for the world amateur championship. From there, the top angler in each division will earn a berth in the world championship of professional bass fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.
"I'm extremely excited," Lane said. "That's what I came down here for, was to try to make the Classic."
Lane's success comes after much preparation. While Eufaula is a relatively short drive from Lane's Prattville home, Lane has only fished one other tournament on the popular bass lake. Instead of tournament experience, Lane depended on his fishing partner, Chris Rutland, who finished in 39th place.
"We worked together to practice for this thing," Lane said, adding his thanks to Rutland. "We practiced together and what we did was anticipate what was going to happen. The water was extremely muddy and it was cooler than it usually is this time of year."
The two focused on fishing ledges and heavy structure in Lane's Skeeter boat, a strategy that paid off with Rutland's day one big bass and Lane's eventual win.
"It just got better every day," Lane said, adding that they flipped 1-ounce black-and-blue Rattleback lures in the morning and catfish shad later in the day.
Lane will be joined at the Federation Championship by Bynum, Lakeland, Fla.'s Troy Olivier (32-4), Marvin "Al" Horton of Palmetto, Ga. (31-7), Brent Riley of Ridgeville, S.C. (30-11), Richard Smith of Wine Grove, Ky. (28-2), and Joe Leonard of Bristol, Va. fishing for Tennessee (24-10).
BASS Federation TOURNAMENT TRAIL 2003 SOUTHERN DIVISIONAL LAKE WALTER F GEORGE, EUFAULA, AL FINAL STANDINGS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLACE NAME CITY STATE FISH LBS-OZ WINNINGS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Russ Lane Prattville, AL AL 15 54- 5 200 2 John Bynum Raleigh, NC NC 15 34-10 3 Troy Olivier Lakeland, FL FL 13 32- 4 4 Marvin 'Al'Horton Palmetto, GA GA 14 31- 7 5 Tony Wood Bowdon, GA GA 13 31- 4 200 6 Bobby Joe Underwood Americus, GA GA 15 31- 2 7 Brian Gunn Savannah, GA GA 15 30-12 8 Brent Riley Ridgeville, SC SC 15 30-11 8 Thomas Vickers Lincolton, NC NC 14 30-11 10 Mike York Jackson, GA GA 14 29-11 11 Mark Lamb W P B, FL FL 14 28- 9 12 Richard Smith Wine Grove, KY KY 11 28- 2 13 Rusty Dail Bailey, NC NC 12 27- 6 14 Brian Hickey Cadiz, KY KY 13 27- 1 15 Joe Frye Lake City, SC SC 11 26-12 16 Tim Harbison Pinson, AL AL 10 26- 5 17 Joey Nichols Cumming, GA GA 12 25- 8 18 Jacob Whitman West Palm Bch, FL FL 14 25- 7 19 Nelson Walker Manning, SC SC 10 25- 6 20 Keith Adcox Northport, AL AL 10 25- 4 21 Richard Thi Walker Muscle Shoals, AL AL 13 25- 0 22 Joe Leonard Bristol, VA TN 10 24-10 23 James Roberson Naylor, GA GA 10 24- 7 24 Henry McFadden Georgetown, SC SC 11 24- 4 25 David Givens Hernando, FL FL 14 23- 2 26 Stanley Gunter Salvda, SC SC 10 22-13 27 Jerry Perkins Asheville, NC NC 11 22-10 28 Tim Moore Canton, GA GA 10 22- 7 28 James Faulk Tabor City, NC SC 10 22- 7 30 Chris Lane Lakeland, FL FL 15 22- 1 31 Neil Smith Wilmington, NC NC 11 21-14 32 Richard Held Lake Worth, FL FL 11 21-11 33 Robert Evans York, SC SC 8 21- 8 34 Michael Blumer Louisville, KY KY 10 21- 6 35 Richard Odom Frankfort, KY KY 11 21- 5 36 Doug Mahoney Belton, SC SC 11 21- 4 37 Robby Sacora Moncks Corner, SC SC 11 21- 2 38 John Hendry Lakeland, FL. FL 12 20-13 39 Chris Rutland Wetumpka, AL AL 8 20- 1 200 40 Steve Haysley Louisville, KY KY 11 20- 0 41 Donald Odor Butler, KY KY 10 19-15 42 Bill Lowther Branclenburg, KY KY 9 18-13 43 Mark Tyler Estill Spgs, TN TN 10 18-10 44 Robin Collins Rockingham, NC NC 9 18- 8 45 Brett Norris Abingdon, VA TN 12 18- 7 46 Paul 'Wayne' Gales Mt Holly, NC NC 11 18- 3 47 Rick Kelly Union City, TN TN 10 18- 1 48 Joe McMinn Harvest, AL AL 8 17- 9 49 Shane Simpson Lakeworth, FL FL 9 17- 7 50 Greg Scythes Ironton, OH KY 7 17- 2 51 George Crain Pell City, AL AL 9 16- 7 52 Robert Rikard Lexington, SC SC 8 16- 5 53 Benny Beckham Newberry, FL FL 7 16- 2 54 Vincent Brooks Erin, TN TN 8 15-11 55 Quillie Trott Deatsville, AL AL 9 15- 9 56 Barry Macchione Winter Haven, FL FL 7 15- 7 57 Brian Anderson Denver, NC NC 7 14-15 58 Mark Richardson Irmo, SC SC 6 14-10 59 Hugh Moss Gaffney, SC SC 7 14- 5 60 Ken Jones Pinson, AL AL 7 14- 2 61 Cary Chester Palmetto, GA GA 6 13-11 62 Jason Hale SPENCER, TN TN 10 13- 6 63 J Braxton Tanner Battleboro, NC NC 6 13- 0 64 Scott Jones Louisville, KY KY 6 12-10 65 Johnnie Johnson Springville, TN TN 6 12- 6 66 Jesse Lyons Summertown, TN TN 5 11-15 67 Matthew Phillips Lakeland, FL FL 6 11-14 68 Joseph Harris Taylorsville, GA GA 7 11-13 69 Ellis Strickland Duncanville, AL AL 5 10-14 70 Steven Taylor Coxs Creek, KY KY 5 10- 8 71 Doug Long Ewing, VA TN 5 10- 0 72 David Schmidt Tn Ridge, TN TN 5 9- 7 72 Steve Mitchell Leeds, AL AL 5 9- 7 74 Carl Robertson Clarksville, TN TN 6 9- 0 75 Derek Lee Clifton Garner, NC NC 4 7-15 76 Mark Speagle Burlington, KY KY 4 7-14 77 Barry Tarpley Palm City, FL FL 5 7-13 78 Lee Fowler Calhoun, GA GA 4 7- 7 79 Gerald Smith Louisville, KY KY 5 7- 6 80 Chris Newell Phil Campbell, AL AL 3 5- 3 81 William Brian Bowman Vidalia, GA GA 3 4-14 82 Kevin Tidwell Bon Aqua, TN TN 3 4- 6 82 Jamie Lee Howard Robbins, NC NC 3 4- 6 84 Johnny Ferrell Wilson, NC NC 2 3- 7 DAY BIG BASS NAME CITY STATE CASH --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 5/ 3 Chris Rutland Wetumpka, AL AL 200.00 2 7/ 0 Tony Wood Bowdon, GA GA 200.00 3 6/15 Russ Lane Prattville, AL AL 200.00 DAY # FISH # LIMITS LBS/OZ ------------------------------------------- 1 261 25 540/ 8 2 265 23 532/ 8 3 241 23 531/ 4 ------------------------------------------- 767 71 1604/ 4
BASS Federation TOURNAMENT TRAIL 2003 SOUTHERN DIVISIONAL LAKE WALTER F GEORGE, EUFAULA, AL FINAL STANDINGS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLACE STATE WEIGHT PRIZE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 001 GEORGIA 264/ 7 22962.49 002 SOUTH CAROLINA 261/ 7 13121.42 003 FLORIDA 242/10 9841.07 004 ALABAMA 240/ 2 6560.71 005 NORTH CAROLINA 217/ 9 5248.57 006 KENTUCKY 212/ 2 4592.50 007 TENNESSEE 165/15 3280.36
BASS Federation TOURNAMENT TRAIL 2003 SOUTHERN DIVISIONAL LAKE WALTER F GEORGE, EUFAULA, AL FINAL STANDINGS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE NAME WEIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GA Marvin 'Al'Horton 31/ 7 GA Tony Wood 31/ 4 GA Bobby Joe Underwood 31/ 2 GA Brian Gunn 30/12 GA Mike York 29/11 GA Joey Nichols 25/ 8 GA James Roberson 24/ 7 GA Tim Moore 22/ 7 GA Cary Chester 13/11 GA Joseph Harris 11/13 GA Lee Fowler 7/ 7 GA William Brian Bowman 4/14 SC Brent Riley 30/11 SC Joe Frye 26/12 SC Nelson Walker 25/ 6 SC Henry McFadden 24/ 4 SC Stanley Gunter 22/13 SC James Faulk 22/ 7 SC Robert Evans 21/ 8 SC Doug Mahoney 21/ 4 SC Robby Sacora 21/ 2 SC Robert Rikard 16/ 5 SC Mark Richardson 14/10 SC Hugh Moss 14/ 5 FL Troy Olivier 32/ 4 FL Mark Lamb 28/ 9 FL Jacob Whitman 25/ 7 FL David Givens 23/ 2 FL Chris Lane 22/ 1 FL Richard Held 21/11 FL John Hendry 20/13 FL Shane Simpson 17/ 7 FL Benny Beckham 16/ 2 FL Barry Macchione 15/ 7 FL Matthew Phillips 11/14 FL Barry Tarpley 7/13 AL Russ Lane 54/ 5 AL Tim Harbison 26/ 5 AL Keith Adcox 25/ 4 AL Richard Thi Walker 25/ 0 AL Chris Rutland 20/ 1 AL Joe McMinn 17/ 9 AL George Crain 16/ 7 AL Quillie Trott 15/ 9 AL Ken Jones 14/ 2 AL Ellis Strickland 10/14 AL Steve Mitchell 9/ 7 AL Chris Newell 5/ 3 NC John Bynum 34/10 NC Thomas Vickers 30/11 NC Rusty Dail 27/ 6 NC Jerry Perkins 22/10 NC Neil Smith 21/14 NC Robin Collins 18/ 8 NC Paul 'Wayne' Gales 18/ 3 NC Brian Anderson 14/15 NC J Braxton Tanner 13/ 0 NC Derek Lee Clifton 7/15 NC Jamie Lee Howard 4/ 6 NC Johnny Ferrell 3/ 7 KY Richard Smith 28/ 2 KY Brian Hickey 27/ 1 KY Michael Blumer 21/ 6 KY Richard Odom 21/ 5 KY Steve Haysley 20/ 0 KY Donald Odor 19/15 KY Bill Lowther 18/13 KY Greg Scythes 17/ 2 KY Scott Jones 12/10 KY Steven Taylor 10/ 8 KY Mark Speagle 7/14 KY Gerald Smith 7/ 6 TN Joe Leonard 24/10 TN Mark Tyler 18/10 TN Brett Norris 18/ 7 TN Rick Kelly 18/ 1 TN Vincent Brooks 15/11 TN Jason Hale 13/ 6 TN Johnnie Johnson 12/ 6 TN Jesse Lyons 11/15 TN Doug Long 10/ 0 TN David Schmidt 9/ 7 TN Carl Robertson 9/ 0 TN Kevin Tidwell 4/ 6