Christie Wins Bass Fishing League Okie Division Event on Grand Lake
GROVE, Okla. (March 17, 2008) - Boater Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., won the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League® Okie Division tournament on Grand Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces. The victory earned Christie $4,444 plus a $784 Ranger contingency bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
"The weather was brutal," Christie said. "The wind was about 25 or 30 out of the North, and it was about 37 degrees, so it was kind of cold. My hands are still swollen from Saturday."
Christie caught all his fish in shallow water around rock in the dam area on a ½-ounce Booyah spinnerbait.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Darrin Hill of Grove, Okla. (five bass, 18-05, $2,614); Mike Smith of South West City, Mo. (five bass, 16-14, $1,745); Russ Reagan of Edmond, Okla. (five bass, 15-13, $1,220) and Walter Andries of Coweta, Okla (five bass, 11-06, $1,046).
Smith took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $815 for a 7-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.
Sam James of Gentry, Ark., earned $2,577 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to three bass weighing 8 pounds that he caught in 6-8 feet of water on a white Rapala crankbait.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Williams Jr. of Dewey, Okla. (two bass, 7-06, $1,288); Danny Giacomo of McAlester, Okla. (four bass, 6-13, $858); Greg Whitaker of Pecan Gap, Texas (two bass, 5-15, $601); Dana Kifer of Stillwater, Okla. (two bass, 5-13, $493) and Bill Sage of Tulsa, Okla. (two bass, 5-13, $493).
Michael Purse of Springfield, Mo. earned $397 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught flipping wood.
Okie Division anglers will visit Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Okla., April 5 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Okla., April 26. The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Okla., June 14. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., Sept. 6-7.
