KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. - It's been a long wait for three-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year and Classic champion Mark Davis, but on Sunday, Davis won the Bassmaster Tour event on Table Rock Lake, his first BASS victory since claiming the world championship title at the 1995 Classic.
The Arkansan brought in a 17-pound, 8-ounce limit to claim the $100,000 victory with a four-day weight of 67-2. Davis, who fished an antique Wiggle Wart crawfish crankbait during the final round, had his five-bass limit by 8:40 a.m. and was elated to get the victory with hopes that it's a sign of things to come.
"It's always a weight off your shoulders to get a win," Davis said. "I think, other than that, the only win I had was the Classic in 1995. It's always great to get a win and the good part about this is, if you look, usually when a guy breaks through and wins one, he usually goes ahead and wins two or three. It's a confidence thing. You get on a roll and get momentum.
"Fishing is a lot like other sports. Some people look at fishing and see a guy out on a boat casting and reeling, but I think there's a lot to be said for momentum. When you get momentum going and you get confidence and know what's going on, you just roll with that momentum."
Florida's Roland Martin, who finished in the lead on Saturday, was close behind with 59-7, but had nothing to complain about considering the $38,000 second-place prize moved him into the BASS Millionaire's Club, something he had been looking forward to for a long time.
"I got the million dollars," Martin said. "That was a big goal. That was a big deal.
"I saw the weather report before the tournament," Martin added, "and saw that there was a front moving in. I figured it would muddy up the water a bit and I thought, 'This might be alright. Muddy water is my kind of thing.' I threw a jerkbait in practice, but caught most of my fish on a spinnerbait this week."
Martin led going into day four, but had some trouble Sunday, bringing in only one fish. That fish, however, was a 4-9 whopper worth $1,000 for Big Bass of the day. South Carolina's Jason Quinn's 7-pound 10-ounce bass on day two proved to be the biggest of the tournament, earning him an additional $1,000 for the Big Bass of the tournament.
Alabamian Gerald Swindle's four-day total of 55-66 was good enough for third place, putting him solidly at the top of the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with two events remaining on the Tour.
Illinois' Chad Morgenthaler brought in 14-6 that made him the Busch Heavyweight of the day, earning him an additional $1,000. It was a little shy of the 15-13 mark that would qualify him for September's Busch Shootout, a $160,000 tournament that will pit the top 10 Heavyweights from the Tour and Bassmaster Elite 50 series against one another and the top Heavyweights from the Open Championship (John Murray), the Classic, and the 2004 BASS Federation Championship.
South Carolina's Todd Auten and Mississippi's Paul Elias rounded out Sundays' Super Six with 49-9 and 42-6 respectively.
Fans can watch "The Bassmasters" telecast of the Table Rock Lake tournament on Saturday, March 13 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
2004 Missouri Bassmaster Tour Pro 03/04-03/07
Table Rock Lake, Kimberling City, Mo.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total
$$$
1. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 20 67-02 305
$100,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 14-09 Day 3: 5 16-07 Day 4: 5
17-08
2. Roland Martin Naples, Fla. 17 59-07 300
$40,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 18-14 Day 4: 2
7-06
3. Gerald Swindle Hayden, Ala. 18 55-06 290
$25,000.00
Day 1: 4 11-10 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 17-13 Day 4: 4
10-07
4. Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, Ill. 17 53-07 285
$21,000.00
Day 1: 3 8-11 Day 2: 4 16-10 Day 3: 5 13-12 Day 4: 5
14-06
5. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, S.C. 14 49-09 280
$15,000.00
Day 1: 3 12-02 Day 2: 4 15-09 Day 3: 5 16-14 Day 4: 2
5-00
6. Paul Elias Pachuta, Miss. 12 42-06 286
$15,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-05 Day 2: 5 17-03 Day 3: 1 2-13 Day 4: 1
2-01
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Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 10 256 717-1 2
2 27 347 1000-14
3 6 37 115-07
4 2 19 56-12
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45 659 1890-13
Purolator Big Bass of the Day (pro) 1
Jarrett Edwards Del Norte, Colo. 6-10 $1,000.00 2
Jason Quinn Clover, S.C. 7-10 $1,000.00 3
Gerald Swindle Hayden, Ala. 7-03 $1,000.00 4
Roland Martin Naples, Fla. 4-09 $1,000.00
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NAME BODY OF WATER ST LBS-OZS