White River Bassmasters Winning Ways
April 19, 2008 - Lake Dardanelle
Post front conditions…..bright bluebird skies…..an Arkansas River that has been plagued with high water all spring…… the year of the grinders continues…………
The WRB’s packed up and headed west to Russellville and Lake Dardanelle on the Arkansas River for the 4th derby of the year. This tournament was held in conjunction with the Stuttgart Bass Club, with several of the anglers fishing both tournaments. The big waters of Lake Dardanelle produced decent action for the anglers, but most of the fish caught fell short of the 15” length limit. The anglers hung in there and battled it out as always. When the smoke cleared, tournament favorite Mark Hensiek proved that he is the man to beat on this west Arkansas fishery. Mark dominated the field with the only 5 fish limit brought to the scales. Mark’s limit tipped the scales to 17.14 lbs. Great job Mark!!! Coming in 2nd place was WRB veteran Drew Vance. Vance brought in 4 fish that weighed 10.80 lbs. Carl Smith claimed the Big Bass award with a 5.36 lb. whopper. Congratulations to the money finishers and a BIG thank you for all who participated in the tournament!!!
1st Place: Mark Hensiek - 5 Fish, 17.14 lbs - Mark commented that he caught his fish on a black/blue jig in 1-3' of water around grass and around wood. He caught most of his fish between 10am and Noon, but his biggest fish (a 5 lber or so) was caught early in the day. Awesome limit Mark.
2nd Place: Drew Vance - 4 Fish, 10.80 lbs - Drew started and stayed in the upper Illinois Bayou all day. He bounced around in the bayou until he caught keeper #1 on a jig. Made a round in the strip pits with no luck - too many boats. Made another pass in the upper bayou with no luck and came back to the pits - less boats and high sun. Went into Carl Smith mode and picked up 3 more keepers on a generic soft plastic flipped to matted vegetation. Great job DV.
3rd Place: Carl Smith - 2 Fish, 8.96 lbs -
Big Bass: Carl Smith - 5.36 lbs -
March 29, 2008 - Peckerwood Lake
The 3rd derby of the 2008 season is in the books and the streak of rough weather days continues for the 2008 season. The club had 21 anglers sign up to participate in the WRB’s annual March tournament on Peckerwood Lake this past Saturday. The early part of the week looked promising as air and water temperatures were on the rise. That all came to a screetching halt Friday morning as winds became strong from the north and temps fell for the next two days. It was reported that water temps fell as much as 8 degrees from Friday to Saturday. The cold front coupled with high, muddy water and a cold rain off and on made for one of the toughest tournament days the club has experienced in a while. The numbers from the derby supported this as no 5 bass limits were brought to the scales. Mr. Jim Wallace easily claimed 1st place and Big Bass with four fish that weighed over 11 lbs. Mr. Jim has fished off and on with the club for a few years, and his win Saturday marked his first victory with the White River Bassmasters. Way to go, Jim!!! The next five places were separated by less than ½ pound. There was a tie for 2nd place between Kris McCrea and Jason Ellis. Both of these anglers brought in 6.08 lbs. Tiebreakers go to the angler with the largest single fish, and McCrea claimed 2nd place based on a 3.84 lber. he brought to the scales. This is also the third consecutive Top 5 finish for McCrea. Jason Ellis was awarded the 3rd place position on the strength of three fish. Terry Hackleton finished in 4th place due to a dead fish penalty that proved to be awful costly with the tight weights.
1st Place: Jim Wallace - 4 Fish, 11.38 lbs -
2nd Place: Kris McCrea - 2 Fish, 6.08 lbs -
3rd Place: Jason Ellis - 3 Fish, 6.08 lbs -
4th Place: Terry Hackelton - 4 Fish, 5.98 lbs -
Big Bass: Jim Wallace - 5.70 lbs -
March 9, 2008 - Morgan Point
Domination. High, cold water. Winter storm on Friday, forced the club to move their event to Sunday. Still, Mr. Carl ‘owned’ Morgan Point Sunday and handed the field a bona fide tail whoopin’ with a sack of nearly 22 pounds to easily take 1st place and Big Bass honors with a 6.72 lb monster. With his latest performance, Mr. Carl took the lead in the AoY race and has claimed $539 in winnings in two tournaments. Dwayne Williams brought in the only other limit with nearly 10 lbs, which was quite an accomplishment on a day when most of the field struggled. His finish was good for $113. Terry Hackelton claimed 3rd with two fish that weighed 8.10 lbs. and took home $76 for his efforts. Ken Dooley brought in two fish for 6.88 lbs. and received a gift card from Academy Sports. Kris McCrea rounded out the top 5 with two fish that weighed 6.62 lbs. and took home a nice pair of pliers donated by the Stuttgart Wal-Mart. Thanks to all those who participated and a special thanks to Academy Sports and Wal-Mart for their generous donations.
1st Place: Carl Smith - 5 Fish, 21.92 lbs - Mr. Carl stayed put on one area for the better part of the day. He caught 7 keepers on the day, all but one came on a jig/craw trailer. His other keeper was caught on a Texas-rigged, black craw-type soft plastic bait. All of his fish were in very shallow water around brush and Mr. Carl was like Hoover vacuum in there. It could of been a larger margin of victory, as he lost a couple toads right beside the boat. What a day! Great Job Mr. Carl!!!!
2nd Place: Dwayne Williams - 5 Fish, 9.98 lbs - Dwayne put on a clinic for junk fishing. He caught two real early on a rattle trap, then hit a long dry spell. He then caught one on a jig, one on a spinnerbait, and one on a lizard. Very good limit on a very tough day of fishing.
3rd Place: Terry Hackelton - 2 Fish, 8.10 lbs - T-Hack did a little junk fishing himself, but managed to catch the 2nd big bass of the day - a 6 lber. He caught the smaller fish on a lizard at 10am and the bigger one at 1:30 on a spinnerbait - both fish hit in 'shallow' water.
4th Place: Ken Dooley - 2 Fish, 6.88 lbs - Ken Dooley caught his 2 keepers on a spinnerbait around visible grass in very shallow water. He commented that his front Depth Finder wasn't registering a depth when he caught his fish.
Big Bass: Carl Smith - 6.72 lbs - Came on a jig fished really slow in some brush in about 1.5-2 feet.
February 23, 2008 - Arkansas River Pendleton
The 1st tournament of the year was held on Feb 23rd, 2008 on the Arkansas River at Pendleton. Fishing overall was tough, as evident with only 3 limits of bass weighed in, but even when it's stingy, the lower Arkansas always produces some quality catches. The overall average weight was almost 3.5 lbs. The weather had been cold for several days leading up to the derby, and continued that trend throughout much of the tournament day. The anglers got a nice break in the weather with a couple hours left as the sun popped out and warmed the air temps into the mid to upper 40s. Water temps remained below 50 degrees throughout the event. Ken Adamson picked up where he left off from last year by dominating the field at AR River-Pendleton. Ken took 1st place & $250 with a new club record limit of 22.00 lbs.!!! Great job Ken! Carl Smith came in 2nd and received $145 with a beautiful limit of 18.10 lbs., which included the day’s big bass of 6.56 lbs. Rounding out the top 3 finishers was Dwayne Williams, who brought in four dandies for 15.16 lbs. 3rd place was good for $100. Coming in 4th was Drew Vance. Vance received a gift certificate to Academy Sports. Kris McCrea was awarded a Stanley Lures lure pack for his 5th place finish. Congratulations to the top 5 finishers. Good job fellas! See the tournament results link for complete results from the AR River-Pendleton derby. Jason Hayes won a draw prize at the pre-tournament meeting of a Stanley Lures lure pack. Thanks to Academy Sports and Stanley Lures for their generous donations to our event.
1st Place: Ken Adamson - 5 Fish, 22.00 lbs - Adamson had an unbelievable day. He was culling by 7:30 a.m. and caught 25-30 fish on the day. He was fishing in the Coal Pile area of the Pendleton pool and he used a Jig/craw to catch his fish. Another Great job Ken.
2nd Place: Carl Smith - 5 Fish, 18.10 lbs - Mr. Carl declined to say how or where he caught his fish. He said that he thinks he'll keep that to himself and Kris McCrea.
3rd Place: Dwayne Williams - 4 Fish, 15.16 lbs - Here's what Dwayne said about his day - "Had planned on going to Coal Pile first thing but it looked like it might be a little crowded so I opted for Merrisach. Threw a red rattle trap in the grass and caught my 1st keeper around 7:30. Caught two more keepers on the trap within the next hour then the bite seemed to die. Went to Coal Pile, caught my fourth fish off a stump on a Berkley Chigger Craw. Just couldn't find that 5th fish!" Great finish Dwayne.
4th Place: Drew Vance - 5 Fish, 13.54 lbs - 7 keepers on the day. Started and stayed in Merrisach the entire day. Caught one keeper on a rattletrap in the pad stems early. Changed tactics and locations around noon and then picked up six more keepers on a spinnerbait. Way to adjust Drew!
Big Bass: Carl Smith - 6.56 lbs - Same as above.
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