Big Bass Challenge A Success

October 25, 2013
Tournament News Archive

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Randy Hooker from Nevada, TX brought in his 8.58 pounder
Randy Hooker from Nevada, TX brought in his 8.58 pounder
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct. 25 2013) - The 8th Annual Berkley Big Bass Challenge hosted by BassChamps was held on October 19th – 20th on Lake Fork, TX. Over 800 amateur anglers vied for more than $120,000 in cash, prizes and bass boats. While conditions were tough and the weather changed dramatically over the two-day event, the anglers found the fish and claimed all of the prizes.

Lake Fork is a slot lake, meaning to be legally weighed all fish must be under 16” or over 24”. Randy Hooker from Nevada, TX brought in his 8.58 pounder at the 11:00am hour on day 2 and claimed the grand prize Skeeter ZX200 and Yamaha 200SHO motor valued at almost $50,000. Peter Cherkas from Des Moines, IA weighed his 2.67-pound “under” fish during the same hour to claim the Skeeter ZX190 with a Yamaha 150 motor valued at over $30,000.

Each angler received a goody bag valued at over $40 that included Berkley baits they would later use to bring several fish to the scales to receive checks. The new Berkley PowerBait Rib Snake was instrumental in this event for many as were 7-inch & 10-inch PowerWorms and last year’s PowerBait Thief. Some other Berkley's Havoc baits were also used extensively to fill anglers pockets with cash including the Juice Worm, Bottom Hopper, Craw Fatty and Grass Pig.

Andrew Marks, Marketing Director for Berkley, said, “We far exceeded our goal of exposing anglers to our broad spectrum of Berkley baits in a fun format. The partnership with Chad and Jeff at BassChamps continues to make this event a success. We are looking forward to the 9th annual next October and already making plans for a blow out event for the 10th in 2015.”