MANY, La. - Before Sunday afternoon, Arizona's John Murray had never won a BASS event, but when he finally took the top spot, it was in style, at the Bassmaster Open Championship on Toledo Bend Reservoir. Murray's four-day total weight of 64 pounds, 9 ounces was a full 16-4 over second place Gary Klein from Texas.
"I'm pretty happy, no complaints over here," Murray said. "When you win and do it in good style, it makes you feel good. One day I didn't really get to fish my fish that well and another day I didn't really understand how many were there.
"I learned as I went. I think I could have had another big bag today. I had one break off and another 4-pounder come off so, there were good fish there if I could have put them all in the boat."
Murray caught the majority of his fish drop shotting Yamamoto 7-inch and 5-inch split tail worms in grass beds, and cranking a Rat-L-Trap in 3 to 5 feet of water.
"This is a good day," Murray said, in a major understatement. "We've got a lot of good sponsors and I'm happy to do it for them as well."
With the win, Murray took home a $10,000 check, free entry to the 2004 Bassmaster Tour, the $1,000 big bass award for his 7-5 lunker and was the first to qualify for the all-new Busch Shootout, scheduled for September 2004 on a mystery lake. Had Murray not already qualified for the Bassmaster Classic through the Western Opens, he would have a berth to that as well.
Second place Klein (48-5) knew he would have a hard time catching Murray, but worked a shallow-running crankbait to find his fish. Between that and his jerkbait, Klein gave it his best shot.
"First place is bragging rights in this tournament," said Klein, whose second place finish also netted $10,000 and entry fees. "For me to fish the Open Division is good. To me, I didn't want a break. I want to fish. I wish I had a tournament to fish next week. I am really looking forward to the Tour next year and I didn't want to have a four-month break and not compete,and show up at the first tournament and get a spanking."
In addition to Murray and Klein, the top five included Louisiana's Greg Hackney, 48-0; Tennessee's Jack Wade, 45-4; and Missouri's Stacey King, 42-7. They will also receive paid entry fees for the '04 Tour. King said the entry fee payment, in particular, is a major help.
"It's just a nice thing to know that you don't have to come up with it to pay those entry fees in the next three weeks," King said. "It's kind of an investment for the future and you have the opportunity to win some big money in six to 10 events."
2003 Open Championship BO 12/04-12/07 Toledo Bend Reservoir, Many La. (BOATER) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 20 64-09 $12,000.00 Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 11-11 Day 3: 5 21-00 Day 4: 5 17-09 2. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 19 48-05 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 12-03 Day 4: 4 8-06 3. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 20 48-00 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 5 14-03 Day 4: 5 9-09 4. Jack L Wade Knoxville, Tenn. 19 45-04 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 12-15 Day 3: 4 6-10 Day 4: 5 9-09 5. Stacey D King Reeds Spring, Mo. 17 42-07 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 16-09 Day 2: 5 11-04 Day 3: 4 8-13 Day 4: 3 5-13 6. Rick Clunn Ava, Mo. 15 39-00 $11,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 16-08 Day 3: 4 7-04 Day 4: 1 1-09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Bass Day 1 Tim Horton Muscle Shoals, Ala. 7-01 $1,000.00 2 Rick Clunn Ava, Mo. 5-09 $1,000.00 3 Edwin Evers Mannsville, Okla. 5-12 $1,000.00 4 John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 7-05 $1,000.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 32 270 651-15 2 12 171 388-02 3 5 44 106-00 4 3 23 52-07 ---------------------------------- 52 508 1198-08