Lake Eufaula, Alabama was this years site for the National Championship for 288 anglers who qualified thru 70 divisions across the entire United States. The three day tournament lasted from October 19th thru the 21st and saw day one start out with heavy fog, a drop in temperature on day two and three along with windy conditions and the arrival of a cold front, proved challenging for most competitors. Mike, who qualified five times for the tournament but only fished in three, used a Nories Frog in the heavy pad fields to weigh-in a limit and place seventh after day one. Day two was a different story as high wind and dropping temperatures, due to an incoming cold front, resulted in only a single bass. Fishing remained tough on day three, but two nice fish weighing 7.81 pounds brought his total up to 27.08 pounds, good for a 15th place finish and a good pay out. The weather was not the biggest obstacle which he had to overcome as the heavy pads were tough to navigate. Using an innovative new device called a weed chopper from trollingmotorhelper.com to cut the pads and stems from the trolling motor, he could reach the back water areas which were holding bass in three to five feet of water.
The winning weight was 54 pounds and took home a nice 21' Triton boat, fully rigged with a 250 hp Mercury motor, Motor Guide trolling motor, Carlisle tires and the latest Garmin electronics. The big bass pay out was $2,660.00 each day and included a 7.32 lb day one, 7.16 lb day two and 5.95 lb on day three. The final evening banquet included dinner and a large array of prizes from sets of Carlisle tires and rims, Lit coolers, rods and reels from Abu Garcia and the latest electronics from Garmin. Mike noted that each function during the tournament began with a prayer for good luck and a flag ceremony presented by the local veterans groups along with the National Anthem, which everyone stood with hat in hand or hand over heart.
Good Job Mike!!!
