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The Bass Federation - 12 man team from Texas held on to win the 2009 Central Division Championship

June 5, 2009

Lake Dardenelle, AR – At launch, everyone thought it was an ATTACK OF THE MAYFLIES! Tens of thousands of mayflies had hatched overnight and had covered the marina ground, lights, boats, even us! The good thing was, they don’t bite. The locals thought that might have a positive effect on the bass fishing that day. If the mayflies were close enough to the water, the bass may be more active. But that didn’t seem to be the case by watching the weigh-in….either that or the bass were so full of mayflies they would not bite the anglers lures!

It was just an overall tough final day in a tough tournament for the anglers, at least that seemed to be the consensus among many. Thirty-five anglers did not manage to bring a 15 inch keeper bass to the scales. Not that they weren’t catching any, some just couldn’t make the length. Only two anglers in the ninety-six person championship field checked in a limit on the last day. The overall weight turned in among all states dropped almost 20 lbs from day 2. The Oklahoma team actually had the events largest day team weight of all three days, on day one but simple could not repeat it on days 2 and 3.

On the winning note! The 12 man team from Texas held on to win the 2009 Central Division Championship and take home the lions share of the cash prize purse as well as the division Championship cup that Arkansas had held onto since their win last year.

Having a “comfortable” lead from day 2 was definitely a blessing for Texas. On today’s final day the team checked in 26 lbs less than the day 2 and 30 lbs less than day one, but it was enough to keep them on top with a final team weight of 192 lbs 10 oz, 24 lbs more than the second place, come from behind team, Kansas whose day 2 and day 3 push moved them up to finish with 168-08. Always in the running, the Oklahoma federation team finished at third, with 161-15. Louisiana finished fourth at 153-07, the host state of Arkansas occupied the fifth place spot with 148-02, the Nebraska squad locked down the sixth place spot with 122-8, Mississippi and Missouri followed with 99-10 and 99-00, respectively.

Leaders Stumble?

In the race for the individual division champion’s title and the Castrol Maximum performer award bonus, Arkansas angler Justin Lancaster held on to win. It was a nail-biter folks! Lancaster checked in first with only one bass weighing 3 lbs 2 oz. Donny Awtry (TX) had only been trailing by 2 oz the day before. All he needed was 3 lbs 4 oz total weight in bass. Donny checked in with the last flight, and only had one bass to show for his days efforts, it just wasn’t enough.

The third day big bass winner was Danny Carter of Mississippi. He checked in a bass weighing 5 lbs 4 oz. He was recognized on stage and presented his check along with Day 1 Big Bass winner Nathan Bourque of Texas and Day 2 Big Bass winner Kerry Kruep. Kruep’s, bass was the largest of all 3 days at 5 lbs 8 oz.

The top 2 anglers of from each state will advance to the 2010 TBF Federation National Championship, Presented by the National Guard. The top anglers form each state will compete as a boater and the runner up from each state as the co-angler. There, they will compete for nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash and prizes. The following anglers earned their spots in the National Championship:

Arkansas: Justin Lancaster – Boater, Shawn Gordon – Co-Angler

Kansas: Scott Hamel – Boater, Matt King – Co-Angler

Louisiana: Scott Graves – Boater, Eugene Morris – Co-Angler

Missouri: Kevin Smith – Boater, Mike Johnson – Co-Angler

Mississippi: Danny Carter – Boater, Ronnie Gordon – Co-Angler

Nebraska: Robert Walla – Boater, Jason Citta – Co-Angler

Oklahoma: John Pritchett – Boater, John Garcia – Co-Angler

Texas: Donny Awtry – Boater, Clint Farris – Co-Angler

Not one person was heard saying anything but positive comments about the event and the local area, even though the Dardenelle did not show the fishing it is capable of while we were there. TBF would like to offer our special thanks to the Arkansas TBF Federation for making all the anglers feel right at home. Everyone was looking to coming back to Russellville, Ar. and fish Lake Dardenelle again. The weigh in facility at Lake Dardenelle, that was built for fishing tournaments, is world class and one of a kind, Arkansas should be very proud to be able to host such a tournament at a great location.

For other information about TBF please visit our website. Full standings can be found on the TBF website at www.bassfederation.com under the ‘Tournaments’ link.