Steven Meador and Aaron Stanphill, both of Bella Vista, won the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce buddy bass tournament at Beaver Lake on Saturday with six bass weighing 17.93 pounds.
Justin Mounce and Jeremy Mounce were a close second with six bass at 17.35 pounds. The father-son team of Jack Graham and Rodney Graham placed third with six bass at 16.93 pounds.
A field of 282 boats -- that's more than 500 anglers -- competed in the annual tournament. It's the largest bass tournament on Beaver Lake in terms of the number of anglers.
Meador and Stanphill won a Tracker bass boat, motor and trailer from Bradford Marine in Springdale for the win. Meador said they worked gravel banks in the midlake area and sight-fished for spawning bass. Sight-fishing involves seeing a bass on a spawning nest and fishing for that particular fish, sometimes for several minutes.
All their fish were largemouth bass, Meador said. They used mainly jigs but caught bass on other lures as well. Bass in Beaver Lake are still spawning, Meador confirmed.
Third place anglers Jack and Rodney Graham used jigs in one area of the lake for their catch, Jack Graham said.
Fourth place went to Lee McLean and Perrin Kincaid. They had six bass that weighed 15.53 pounds. In fifth were Allan Shannon and Warren Edwards with six bass at 15,51 pounds.
Sixth through 10th were: Sixth, Jones and Jones, 14.83; seventh, Carter and Simon, 14.71; eighth, Harriman and Harriman, 14.29; ninth, Neavear and Nevear, 14.25; 10th, Frank and Howerton, 14.24.
The team of Combs and Combs had big bass at 5.29 pounds. The Morey and Harris came within a fraction of an ounce with second-place big bass at 5.28 pounds. Whittle and Bilderback had third-place big bass at 5.02 pounds.
In the team division, Hook, Line and Sinker fishing stores of Rogers and Bella Vista won the 8-boat division for the 12th year in a row. They had a total team weight of 80.83 pounds. Hook, Line and Sinker team fishermen also won the 4-boat division with 31 pounds. Consolidated Improvement Services won the two-boat division with 31.17 pounds.
The buddy bass tournament has been held annually for more than 20 years. Money raised in the event benefits economic development projects of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, said Raymond Burns, CEO.
Sports on 05/03/2015