Justin McClelland and Mike Hubbard, both of Bella Vista, won the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce Buddy Bass Tournament held Saturday at Beaver Lake with six bass that weighed 18.99 pounds. Their prize is a fully-rigged Bass Tracker boat, outboard and trailer.
The pair fished purple Bass-X jigs paired with a Big Bite twin-tailed grub, green pumpkin in color, McClelland said. They fished from Prairie Creek east to the Rocky Branch area for the win.
"We were in areas where we thought we'd catch fish, but it was pretty random actually," McClelland said. They fished four to eight feet with 20-pound test line. They caught about 20 bass during the day, McClelland added. The tournament has a six-bass limit.
The tournament is the largest of the year on Beaver Lake. A field of 296 boats fished the event. With two anglers per boat, that's nearly 600 fishermen.
Chad Glenn of Siloam Springs and his dad, David Glenn, of West Siloam Springs were a close second with six bass that weighed 18.9 pounds. They used crank baits and top-water lures.
"We had a limit by 7 and were culling fish by 7:10," Chad Glenn said. "They kind of shut down when the sun came out."
Rounding out the top 10, all with six fish: third, Rance Carter and Dustin Simon, 18.59 pounds; fourth, Tim Clark and Charlie Brown, 17.65; fifth, John Campbell and Kevin Ceola, 17.26; sixth Lonnie Neavear and Chuck Neavear, 16.51; seventh, Nick Frakes and Roger Frakes, 16.44; eighth, Matt Lee and Scott Hines, 15.9; ninth, Wade Reed and Fred Carnes, 15.82; 10th, Ron Rossicoe and Bill Jared, 15.74.
The good fishing anglers have reported this spring was evident at Saturday's tournament, said Joe Papczynski, tournament chairman.
"We've never had this many fish weighed in the 25 years of the tournament," he said.
A total of 172 teams weighed fish. All fish are released.
Productive lures included soft jerk baits, plastic worms and top-water lures, he said. Muddier water than usual has helped the fishing, he said.
"We've had this off-colored water all year, and that's been the ticket," he said.
In team competition, Hook, Line and Sinker team No. 1 in Rogers and Bella Vista won the eight-boat division. Hook, Line and Sinker team No. 2 won the four-boat division. Bekaert Corp. won the two-boat division.
Profits from the tournament benefit economic programs of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, said Raymond Burns, chamber CEO.
Sports on 05/01/2016