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 Strader Wins Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division Tournament on Watts BarROCKWOOD, Tenn. (Sept. 28, 2009) - Team Goodwill pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division two-day Super Tournament on Watts Bar Lake Sunday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 10 ounces. The victory earned Strader $5,137. "I felt pretty confident going into the second day of the tournament because I knew I had found something that was working, but I really needed it to get bright and sunny again," Strader said. "The last couple of tournaments I figured out something about the fish and why they do what they do." Strader said he had noticed that during cloudy conditions, when conventional wisdom says to fish a buzzbait, he couldn't get solid hookups on the buzzbait. As soon as the sun came out, though, the fish hit more aggressively. "It got cloudy the first day of the tournament and they wouldn't eat the buzzbait good," Strader said. "I knew a cold front was coming through and it got bright and sunny. And then when I caught them on the buzzbait, it caught them good. They had it deep in their mouths. You can fish that buzzbait all day long - you don't get a lot of bites on it, but the bites you do get are big." Rounding out the top five boaters are Joe Lee of Knoxville, Tenn. (10 bass, 26-7, $2,569); Team Febreze pro Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn. (10 bass, 25-10, $1,712); Mark Mauldin of Knoxville, Tenn. (nine bass, 25-8, $1,199) and Jonathan Pelfrey of Rockwood, Tenn. (nine bass, 23-0, $1,027). Strader took home the Boater Division Folgers Big Bass award, earning $645 for a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught. John Sanchez of Friendsville, Tenn., earned $2,569 as the co-angler winner Sunday thanks to a two-day catch of eight bass weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught fishing a deep-diving crankbait and jigs 10 to 15 feet deep. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Garry Collins of Russell Springs, Ky. (five bass, 17-6, $1,284); Timmy Cales of Peterstown, W.V. (six bass, 17-5, $858); Jason Meade of Knoxville, Tenn. (five bass, 14-7, $599); and Jerry Last of Chattanooga, Tenn. (five bass, 13-8, $514). Dan Hayes of Lake City, Tenn., earned $322 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winner after catching a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass on a crankbait. |
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