White River Bassmasters : Winning Ways

September 8/9, 2007 - Day 1 - Arkansas River Pendleton - Day 2 - Morgan Point

Another WRB Classic goes in the record books. Gerald Wilson defended his Classic title and became the second angler in club history to repeat as champion. Gerald and Ken Simpson have ‘owned’ the Classic as these two anglers have combined to win 4 of the 5 Classics since the re-start of the club in 2003. It was only a fair weekend of fishing for most, but as always, a few of the guys figured out a way to put together some solid limits. Good river flow and light fishing pressure had the day looking promising as the boats were launched on Day 1, but keeper sized fish were at a premium as the fishing turned out to be sub-par for most of the anglers. Gerald took a commanding lead on Day 1 via a heavy sack of fish on that weighed 13.48 lbs. He also earned BB honors for Day 1. The closest competitor at the end of Day 1 was nearly 3 ½ lbs. behind. A new day dawned on Sunday morning as the club changed locations to Morgan Point. The fishing overall seemed to be better for most anglers, but again larger fish were hard to find. Gerald did what needed to be done as he brought in a limit to secure his win. Ken Adamson proved he’s never out of it as he caught the day’s largest bag and slid into 2^nd place and also claimed Day 2 BB honors. No stranger to strong Classic performances, grizzled WRB veteran Ken Simpson put together two consistent days to claim the 3^rd spot. The 4^th and final paying spot was claimed by Carl Smith, another angler with a strong history in this typically tough tournament. Congratulations to all of the money finishers. Great job guys!!! A big THANK YOU is due to Bobby Locke for hosting the cookout. Bobby is the man no matter what Hayes Dawg says about him. Thanks also for all the anglers that participated to make this year’s season and Classic another one to remember!

1st Place: Gerald Wilson - 10 Fish, 21.12 lbs - Wilson won his 2nd Classic in a row thanks to an extremely strong start on Day 1. He relied on a black/red jig'n'craw and said that current was the key. He caught around 20 keepers on Day 1. Entering Day 2 with over a 3 pound lead, Wilson relied on a lizard to boat a small limit early on Sunday. After catching 5 little ones, he then switched to the same jig he used on Saturday and a slowly culled up to his weight. Awesome job, G-Dubby!!!

2nd Place: Ken Adamson - 10 Fish, 19.00 lbs - Ken started off Day 1 by missing 2 giant fish on a topwater bait, but then recovered and put 3 keepers in the boat on that same bait. He finished out his limit on Day 1 using a jig. He fished the main river on Day 1 and ended the day in 5th place. On Day 2 at Morgan Point, Adamson used a combination of a spinnerbait (3 keepers) and soft plastics (Berkley Sabertail Bug) to get his limit, which included the days big bass (read below). He caught the only double digit limit on Day 2 and jumped 3 spots to finish in 2nd place. Great Job Adamson.

3rd Place: Ken Simpson - 10 Fish, 18.36 lbs - On day 1, Ken started off in Little Bayou Meto and left there at 11 am with one fish (his biggest fish of the day). From then on, he targeted current breaks on the main river to catch the rest of his 10 lb bag, finishing the day in 2nd place. On day 2, he quickly boated 3 very small keepers on a buzzbait, then slowed down for the rest of the day to slowly cull up to his weight. Simpson is sad the season is over as he made his 2nd straight appearance in the line-up photo - might be the start of something...!!

Big Bass Day 1: Gerald Wilson - 3.80 lbs - Gerald caught so many cookie-cutter fish that he's unsure of when he caught this one, but it was caught on the jig.

Big Bass Day 2: Ken Adamson - 4.80 lbs - This fish was caught mid morning in very shallow water on a spinnerbait. Ken said his bait was in just inches of water when he seen her turn on the spinnerbait.

July 21st, 2007 - Peckerwood Lake

The final regular season WRB event was held this past Saturday at Peckerwood Lake. Weather and water conditions could not have been any better for a July 21^st tournament. This was the first time the WRB club has visited Peckerwood Lake during the summer and the lake continued to produce solid stringers for those who figured out the fish. The tournament began with a very close AOY race and top guys gave it all they had. In the end, Ken Adamson dredged up enough weight to clinch the AOY crown. Ken decided to book-end his AOY campaign year with another victory. Ken brought an unbelievable mid-summer sack of fish to the scales that weighed nearly 19 lbs. This was Ken’s first full year fishing with our club and in his inaugural season he became the first person in WRB history to record three wins in a single season. Great job on a fantastic year Ken!!! James Dale Malone finished 2^nd with a sack of nearly 15 lbs. James Dale has fished off and on with the WRB club for several years and is always a force to be reckoned with, especially on Peckerwood Lake. Finishing out the top 3 was a grizzled WRB veteran. Ken Simpson proved that he still has what it takes as he brought in a solid creel weighing just shy of 14 lbs. Doug Clemons took Big Bass honors for the derby, as well overall Big Bass honors for the 2007 season, with a 7.10 lb. July beauty. Congratulations to the money finishers on some awesome catches Saturday!

1st Place: Ken Adamson - 5 Fish, 18.94 lbs - Adamson had a poor prefishing trip for this tournament so he didn't have big expectations for bringing in a large sack. It didn't take very long to forget about the poor prefishing trip as he caught over 15 keepers on the day including two giants over 6 pounds that came on almost back to back casts. Adamson had a limit by 9:00am and he caught all his fish on a green pumpkin Berkley Sabertail Bug, targeting grass..... With this win, he overtook Mike Neal to win the 2007 Angler of the Year Race and he also ended up winning 3 regular season tournaments, which is a record in the club. Awesome job, Ken.

2nd Place: James Malone - 5 Fish, 14.98 lbs - Malone caught about 10 keepers all day. He was targeting bass that were feeding on shad on the edges of cover. His main bait was a black/red flake gidzit, although he kept trying to catch them on a spinnerbait. Great stringer James!!

3rd Place: Ken Simpson - 5 Fish, 13.98 lbs - Ken was just glad to make the Top 3 in a tournament. It's been a long time and he was reminded of that repeatedly following the weigh-in. Simpson caught 7 keepers on the day, with all but one of his fish coming on a red/black 'beaver' type bait. He targeted 2 different types of grass to catch his fish. The other keeper was caught on a crankbait off of rocks.

Big Bass: Doug Clemons - 7.10 lbs - This was the biggest fish caught all year. Doug commented that he was glad he was using heavy line because when she hit, she wrapped around a tree. But he held on and she ended up working off of the tree and into his boat. He was fishing a main lake point using a 1/2 White Booyah Spinnerbait. The fish bit around 9:30.

June 30th, 2007 - East Lake, Holly Grove

Make it three tough derbies in a row for the WRB club. East Lake in June has been a club tradition for several years now and is historically a limit-fest. Not this year. Sixteen folks showed up on a muggy June morning to find the fishing extremely tough as only four limits were weighed in and it took less than 8 lbs. to take the 1^st place check. Mike Neal continued to show he is a force to be reckoned with by winning his second club derby in a row. Mike has always been a top contender in tough bite tournaments and this win only solidified that fact. Mr. Neal also took over the lead in the AOY race. Great job Mike! Claiming 2^nd place was Jason Hayes, another WRB veteran, who has a history of being a strong performer in those ‘scratch out a limit’ derbies of summer. Rounding out the top three places was Jeremy Lindley. Jeremy managed another solid finish in his first year with the White River Bassmasters. Jody Steeland took Big Bass honors with a 3.00 lb. beauty on a day when even a 12 inch bass was hard to find. Congrats and good job to the other money finishers.

1st Place: Mike Neal - 5 Fish, 7.66 lbs - Mike brought out the little boat for this derby and took his chances with Red Cat. He caught 2 keepers real quick in the first lake, then while motoring to the second lake, he lost a $200 rod/reel combo and it happened to be the one he was catching his fish on to begin with - his buzzbait rig. Mike adjusted and picked up a couple more keepers on a spinnerbait, then one more on a gidzit. Those five were the only keepers he caught on this day. Great job on another very tough day!.

2nd Place: Jason Hayes - 5 Fish, 6.94 lbs - Hayes fished the main lake. He caught his first and biggest fish of the day on about the 5th cast on a black/blue FLW buzzbait. He caught two more keepers and a short on the buzzbait by 6:30am. He picked up keeper #4 on a beaver about 10:30am and he went old school for his 5th keeper - a Riverside Red Shad Floating Air Worm. Good Job Jason...!

3rd Place: Jeremy Lindley - 5 Fish, 5.86 lbs - Jeremy fished the main lake as well. He didn't have a fish at 10am and he realized then that it was gonna be tough, mainly from all of the boat traffic. So he broke out the spinning reel and went finesse fishing. He estimates that he caught around 17 keepers throughout the rest of the day, but just couldn't get the a big fish in the boat. Very nice adjustment Jeremy, and another solid finish. Good job.

Big Bass: Jody Steeland - 3.00 lbs - Jody caught the big brute at the very end of the day in Red Cat - He was flipping a gidzit and after he hooked it he first thought it was a bowfin.

June 9th, 2007 - White River Clarendon

The 5th tournament of the year was held on June 9th on the White River out of Clarendon. For the 2nd derby in a row, the club faced tough conditions for fishing. At the last tournament it was fast, rising water. This tournament, the bottom was falling out as the river had dropped over 5 feet in the last 10 days. The weather was nice for most of the morning, cool and overcast, but then the sun popped out and it got very warm in a hurry. Only 2-5 fish limits were brought to the scales out of 13 anglers and only 2 more managed 4 keeper fish. The pattern of someone catching them good continues as Mike Neal blew the field away with a double digit limit. Great job Mr. Neal. Thanks to Ken Simpson for filling in as Weighmaster and Mike Neal for being the secretary for Drew!!

1st Place: Mike Neal - 5 Fish, 10.58 lbs - Neal started out his day in the Crookeds and 4 hours and 1 keeper fish later he moved back up river to the Cache, where he finished his limit. Neal caught 9 fish on the day of which 5 were keepers. He used a buzzbait, gidzit, and crankbait to catch his fish. Great job on a very tough day!.

2nd Place: Kris McCrea - 4 Fish, 7.62 lbs - McCrea caught his fish in the Crookeds - He caught 3 within the first 30 minutes on a spinnerbait. The 4th and biggest came later in the day on a black/blue Eakin's jig. Good job Kris.

3rd Place: Drew Vance - 5 Fish, 6.82 lbs - Drew had a bitter-sweet day. He was the only other angler besides Neal to weigh in 5 fish. Vance caught his fish in a pocket up the Cache River on a buzzbait and a crankbait. He caught 3 early and then went a long spell without a keeper, then about 10:45 it turned on for him and he boated 3 solid keepers in about 15 minutes and the last one he caught flopped the wrong way and at 11:30, he was on his way to the Emergency Room to get a hooked removed. He really didn't want to leave (he even tried to fish a little) but after several attempts to remove the hook by himself and some other competitors, they felt he needed to seek medical attention to get it removed.

Big Bass: Kris McCrea - 3.54 lbs - Came later in the day on a black / blue Eakin's jig off a cypress tree.

May 12th, 2007 - Morgan Point

The 4th tournament of the year was held on May 12th on Morgan Point lake on the lower Arkansas River. Thursday night and all throughout the day on Friday, the water was rising - 8 to 9 foot higher than what it was on Thursday during the day. Only 5-5 fish limits were brought to the scales out of 15 anglers - a far cry from what was being expected of this lake. It seems this year, someone seems to catch them good and again, this derby was no exception for that as Drew Vance came through with his 2nd club win in a big way, blowing out the rest of the field. Great job Drew. Thanks to Kevin Simpson for filling in as Weighmaster again.

1st Place: Drew Vance - 5 Fish, 16.14 lbs - Drew had a great day on the water as evident by his weight. the action for him started quickly and he had his limit by 7:15. Vance commented that he caught around 17 keepers throughout the day, with most of them coming before 8:00 that morning. Also, most of his weight was caught early as he only culled twice during the day. His magic spot was a 70-80 yard stretch of grass and he also caught a few in other areas of the lake. Vance caught a few keepers flipping and throwing a crankbait, but the damage was done on a plastic frog bait as all of the fish he weighed in were caught on a white Zoom Horny Toad. Great Job Drew!

2nd Place: Brian Pearson - 5 Fish, 10.36 lbs - Pearson fished as a non-boater in this derby and was paired with Jason Hayes. His main area was a 50 yd patch of grass where he targeted the fish with a black war eagle spinnerbait with gold colorado blades. Brian had his limit by 8:30 and he caught a total of 8 keepers on the day.

3rd Place: Kris McCrea - 5 Fish, 9.48 lbs - Kris' bait of choice was black red beaver type soft plastic. He caught 6 keepers on the day and they all came from the same patch of grass where Pearson caught his fish.

Big Bass: Drew Vance - 5.30 lbs - The big fish bit the Horny Toad around 7am. It was Drew's 3rd fish of the day. Drew commented that the brute really didn't want to get in his boat.

April 14th, 2007 - Peckerwood Lake

The 3rd tournament of the year on saw both the White River Bassmasters and the Stuttgart Bass Club holding their tournaments at the same time on Peckerwood Lake with 11 guys fishing as 'dual' members. With the not so spring-like weather the week prior and major storms that had hammered the entire state on Friday and were just passing thru the Peckerwood area just before launch time, everyone seemed kind of worried about what affect the weather would have on the fishing. The rain was mostly finished as our day started, but cool air and water temps (water temps - mid 50's) and a stout W-NW wind hammered the lake all day. Compared to what it should have been at this time of year, it did knock the bite back quite a bit, but as always, someone seems to catch them and this derby was no exception for that. Thanks to Kevin Simpson for filling in as Weighmaster again and to Jason Hayes for being the secretary and to G-Dub and Neal for helping out as well.

1st Place: Ken Adamson - 4 Fish, 15.90 lbs - Once Ken caught a fish, he stayed within that same 80 yard stretch of bank to catch 3 more keepers that looked identical to his 1st one, flipping at every piece of cover with several repeated flips at the same cover. He used a black/blue jig to catch his fish and they were all in the 2.5 ft. range. Adamson caught one more fish that was a borderline keeper, but it turns out he didn't need it anyway as he not only won this tournament, but the Stuttgart Bass Club tournament as well. Great job Ken.

2nd Place: Jeremy Lindley - 5 Fish, 15.00 lbs - Jeremy caught 11 fish throughout the day, 9 of which were keepers. He had his weight by 9:00 am and the couple of keepers he caught after that did not help him. He was fishing the grass with a black/red jig to catch his fish.

3rd Place: Mike Neal - 5 Fish, 14.98 lbs - This is two tournaments in a row for Mike to appear in the Winning Ways section. He targeted brush with soft plastics to catch all of his fish. Mike had his initial limit by 9:30 and culled twice to reach his final weight by 1:30.

Big Bass: Kris McCrea - 6.08 lbs - Kris borrowed 2 creature type plastic baits on the water from Mike Neal. The HOG was Kris' 5th fish of the day and it bit one of those borrowed baits. Kris wanted to be sure tell his hero 'Thanks' for those 2 baits.

March 24, 2007 - Peckerwood Lake

The 2nd tournament of the year was held on March 24th, 2007 at Peckerwood Lake. It was a beautiful day for fishing and for some, a good day for catching. The air temp was close to 85 degrees and the water temps were reported to be as high as 70'. Thanks to Kevin Simpson for filling in as Weighmaster while Jody was absent.

1st Place: Todd Chapman - 5 Fish, 21.58 lbs - This was Todd's largest tournament stringer. After his 2nd keeper fish, both on a red/black pig-n-jig, he put all of his other poles into the rod locker and threw that jig the rest of the day. Todd had a non-boater, Kevin Simpson and credits his "guide" for putting him on the fish. He caught 6 keepers throughout the day, including 2 fish over 6 lbs. Great job Todd (and Kevin).

2nd Place: Mike Neal - 5 Fish, 20.72 lbs - A bitter-sweet day for Neal. This was also his largest ever tournament stringer - it just came on the wrong day. Neal said that his day was slow at first but it started picking up about 10:30. He was targeting both wood and grass and caught 7 keepers total on both a spinnerbait and a jig. Great stringer Mike.

3rd Place: Bobby Locke - 5 Fish, 13.68 lbs - Locke said that he caught one keeper early off of some grass and was pumped about the day but it slowed down from there. He had 2 fish around noon and he decided to make a change and began pitching a lizard to the shady side of shallow wood to catch 4 more keepers for a total of 6 keeps on the day.

Big Bass: Todd Chapman - 6.36 lbs - Chapman also had a 6.22 lber and he's not sure which one was the biggest. One came off of grass and one off of a willow tree - both on the jig.

March 3, 2007 - Arkansas River Pendleton

The 1st tournament of the year was held on March 3rd, 2007 on the Arkansas River at Pendleton. The weather was mostly sunny and cold as a predominantly south wind for the previous several days gave way to a strong north wind on tournament day that only seemed to intensify as the day progressed and brought along with it Lake Wind Advisories. Air temps remained in the 40s during most of the event and struggled to reach the low - mid 50s by weigh-in. Reported water temps varied and they ranged from 59' in the AM to 55' in the PM. The moon phase was full and was the only positive that Mother Nature allowed, but it was all that about 1/2 of the 28 participant field needed to fill their live boxes with chunky AR river bass.

1st Place: Ken Adamson - 5 Fish, 18.80 lbs - Adamson had an unbelievable day. He was culling by 8:30 a.m. and probably caught upwards of 100 fish throughout the day. He was targeting fish that were just stacked up on flats in the Coal Pile area of the Pendleton pool. A chart/white spinnerbait did the damage. Great job Ken.

2nd Place: Bubba Smith - 5 Fish, 16.32 lbs - Smith commented that he caught most of his fish on a black/white jerkbait and chart/white spinnerbait. He fished mostly in an area known as Hole-n-the-Wall. Bubba claims that he went “Ike” by catching his 5^th keeper, a nice spotted bass, with only minutes to spare before weigh-in. Never Give Up!!

3rd Place: Kris McCrea - 5 Fish, 15.88 lbs - McCrea said that he had 1 keeper by 9:30 a.m. in the carp hole and decided to make an adjustment. He ran into the Coal Pile area of Pendleton and on his first flip w/ an Eakin’s Jig, he caught a 3 lber. and continued to pick up a keeper here and there throughout the day until he had his five.

Big Bass: Bobby Locke - 5.90 lbs - Locke said that he caught the gorilla off of an isolated cypress tree on a Bill Lewis Rattle-Trap in a little known backwater area of the Pendleton pool. This hog was part of nice stringer that helped Bobby place 4^th in the tournament.