FLORENCE, Ala., Oct. 26, 2002 - Alabama pro Boyd Duckett put the finishing touches on a wire-to-wire victory Saturday at the $320,950 Alabama BASSMASTER Southern Open bass fishing event on Pickwick and Wilson lakes.
Duckett, a 42-year-old owner of a tank-trailer leasing company, recorded his smallest catch of the week Saturday - three bass weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces. But that catch and a sizeable lead coming into the final round paved the way to his first BASSMASTER victory with a three-day total of 33-8.
Fellow Alabama pro Randy Howell finished second with 28-11, followed by Tennessee's Wesley Strader (25-8) and Chris Baumgardner of North Carolina (23-12). Arkansas angler Mark Rose rounded out the top-five with 21-8.
"This is just tremendous," said Duckett, who earned $50,000. "This is the highlight of my career. I'm real proud of this."
Duckett's success centered around fishing a flat near the river channel in Wilson Lake with a Lucky Craft Sammy topwater bait and a Normark Shad rap crankbait. His 12 bass were all largemouths.
"I caught most of my fish on the Sammy, but today they weren't pulling current and I had to back off and fish the crankbait," he said. "With the time of year and conditions and the 15-inch (minimum length) limit working against us, the fishing was really tough. I feel fortunate to catch what I caught."
Howell, a 29-year-old four-time CITGO BASSMASTERS Classic qualifier, fished near Duckett in the shadow of the Logan Martin dam. His catch came on a soft-plastic jerkbait and a Hawg Caller three-bladed spinnerbait.
"I would have loved to have won, but I have to be happy with finishing second," said Howell, who took home $40,000. "But this was Boyd's week. He was fishing what is pretty much a community hole, but surprisingly nobody made him share his water. So he was meant to win it."
Strader, 30, remained in third place throughout the tournament on the strength of a Lake Fork Trophy Tackle tube and a Flat Shad crankbait.
The final tournament in the three-event BASSMASTER Southern Open series is set Nov. 21-23 on Alabama's Lake Martin. The tournament will determine the final point standings for the year. The top five anglers in the Southern division win a spot in the BASSMASTERS Classic set for August 2003 in New Orleans, La., and the top 15 anglers qualify to fish on the BASSMASTER Tour beginning in January on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida. Currently, Wesley Strader of Tennessee leads the standings with 392 points.
In the amateur division, Chuck Thurlow claimed the $24,000 top prize in Thursday's opening round with a 15-5 catch. As it turned out, the Alabama angler didn't even need to wet a line the next two days. After getting skunked on Friday, Thurlow brought in a single bass weighing 1-14 to finish out first place with 17-3.
"This is outstanding, a dream come true," the 42-year-old owner of an ornamental nursery said. "I had a tremendous pro partner, Scott Martin, who put me on those big smallmouths the first day, and I owe this all to him."
Georgia's Danny Bishop placed second with 12-11, followed by Phillip Burnett of Tennessee with 12-5.