Juanita Robinson Wins WBT Season Opener on Lake Amistad
DEL RIO, Texas - When Juanita Robinson clinched the 2007 season-opener Saturday on Lake Amistad with 56 pounds, 8 ounces, she broke two records, but she was only one of the anglers who rewrote the record books of the Mercury Marine Women's Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats.
Robinson's 56-8 shattered the 33-3 winning-weight record set by two-time WBT champion Tammy Richardson of Amity, Ark., on Lake Neely Henry in April 2006.
"With the fish I was on all week, I knew I had a good chance of winning," said Robinson, who jumped from 11th on Thursday to 8th on Friday before clinching the winner's spot. It was her first WBT victory.
The 57-year-old pro from Highlands, Texas, took home a Triton/Mercury rig valued at $50,000. Robinson will next compete in the Women's Bassmaster Tour Championship on Alabama's Lake Mitchell on Feb. 22-24.
Robinson's final-day limit that weighed 26-0 set another mark, making her the unofficial WBT "heavyweight champ" besting Lucy Mize's 24-13 catch on Friday.
"The wind helped me today and on the first day," she said, "But no wind yesterday hurt me. And I really didn't think I had that much weight today."
Scoring second place was Pam Martin-Wells of Bainbridge, Ga., with 53-5. She shot from 20th on the Thursday to fourth on Friday, and missed the top spot by 3 pounds, 3 ounces. Martin-Wells holds the title of the first WBT event ever held, a "preview" tournament, on Lake Lewisville in Texas in 2005.
Third was Sheri Glasgow of Muskogee, Okla., with 52-11 and fourth was Mize of Ben Lomond, Ark with 51-11. Karla Bullard of Del Rio, Texas, who led the first two days, slipped to fifth with a total of 48-9.
Co-angler winner Julie Shivers of Del Rio did more than her part to rewrite the WBT record book. In the first tournament of her life, she brought in a winning weight of 42-6, demolishing the 18-0 co-angler record set by Bonnie Ward of Snohomish, Wash., at Lake Neely Henry in 2006.
"I used a 'secret weapon,' " said Shivers, a 48-year-old who regularly fishes Lake Amistad with her husband. "I had beginner's luck, but I give all the credit to my pro partners. They helped me find my fish." Shivers received $1,000 cash and a Triton/Mercury rig valued at $25,000.
The second-place co-angler was Kim Tucker of Red Bay, Ala., who totaled 38-9. She led the first two days on the strength of 22 pounds, 2 ounces on Friday, but finished more than three pounds behind Shivers.
Co-anglers finishing at the top were Crystal Langston of Leighton, Ala., third with 36-12; Cheryl Holloway of Pollack, La., fourth with 32-13; and Lesa Brown of Harrison, Ark., fifth with 29-14.
Anglers in both pro and co-angler divisions contributed to new WBT records for number of five-fish limits and tournament weight.
With Saturday's win, pro Robinson and co-angler Shivers top their respective WBT division's points standings. The pro with the most points at season's end will become the Toyota Women's Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year, a title currently held by Dianna Clark. Pros and co-anglers finishing in the top 12 earn a berths in the WBT Championship.
The second stop of the 2007 regular season will be Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark., March 29-31.
2007 Womens Tour - Lake Amistad, TX
02/08-02/10
Lake Amistad, Del Rio Texas
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Juanita Robinson Highlands, Texas 15 56-08 305 $51,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 26-00
2. Pam Martin-Wells Bainbridge, Ga. 15 53-05 295 $5,200.00
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 21-09 Day 3: 5 20-13
3. Sheri Glasgow Muskogee, Okla. 15 52-11 290 $3,680.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 15-07 Day 3: 5 22-04
4. Lucy Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 15 51-11 285 $2,180.00
Day 1: 5 10-12 Day 2: 5 24-13 Day 3: 5 16-02
5. Karla Bullard Del Rio, Texas 14 48-09 290 $1,930.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 4 9-15
6. Lisa Sternard Clarksville, Tenn. 14 46-06 276 $3,700.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 4 12-06
7. Betty Stahl Guntersville, Ala. 14 44-12 272 $1,600.00
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 4 9-04 Day 3: 5 21-01
8. Robinette Fox Hot Springs, Ark. 14 44-06 268 $1,550.00
Day 1: 4 12-09 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 5 13-13
9. Dianna Clark Bumpus Mills, Tenn. 14 41-02 264 $1,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 4 9-14
10. Secret York Benton, Ky. 14 40-07 260 $1,450.00
Day 1: 4 17-10 Day 2: 5 13-03 Day 3: 5 9-10
11. Laura Gober Pendergrass, Ga. 12 39-10 257 $1,400.00
Day 1: 4 7-00 Day 2: 5 22-11 Day 3: 3 9-15
12. Debra Hengst San Antonio, Texas 15 36-02 254 $1,350.00
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 9-12
13. Christie Thomas Reform, Ala. 11 34-04 251 $1,300.00
Day 1: 1 1-04 Day 2: 5 19-10 Day 3: 5 13-06
14. Robin Mcfarlane San Antonio, Texas 13 33-11 248 $1,200.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 16-06 Day 3: 3 5-05
15. Patti Campbell Waxahachie, Texas 15 32-11 245 $1,150.00
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 9-14 Day 3: 5 11-05
16. Lisa Johnson Aragon, Ga. 14 32-01 243 $1,100.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 4 7-01 Day 3: 5 9-05
17. Tammy Richardson Amity, Ark. 12 30-05 241 $1,050.00
Day 1: 4 9-11 Day 2: 5 14-11 Day 3: 3 5-15
18. Joan Davis West Lafayette, Ind. 14 30-00 239 $1,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 11-03 Day 3: 4 7-00
19. Penny Berryman Hot Springs, Ark. 10 29-10 237 $950.00
Day 1: 3 6-08 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 2 7-09
20. Lynda Gessner Foristell, Mo. 13 29-05 235 $900.00
Day 1: 5 8-02 Day 2: 5 14-06 Day 3: 3 6-13
21. Christiana Bradley Bealeton, Va. 11 27-09 233 $850.00
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 2 6-07 Day 3: 4 8-12
22. Emily Shaffer Mt Juliet, Tenn. 10 27-07 231 $800.00
Day 1: 3 8-12 Day 2: 4 9-05 Day 3: 3 9-06
23. Gail Criswell Del Rio, Texas 11 27-02 229 $750.00
Day 1: 2 5-05 Day 2: 4 14-03 Day 3: 5 7-10
24. Teri Neal Cumming, Ga. 10 25-00 227 $700.00
Day 1: 3 11-01 Day 2: 3 8-01 Day 3: 4 5-14
25. Kelley Shepherd Cortez, Colo. 11 23-01 225 $650.00
Day 1: 5 8-13 Day 2: 4 11-09 Day 3: 2 2-11
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Purolator Big Bass
Day
1 Lisa Sternard Clarksville, Tenn. 7-11 $1,000.00
2 Lisa Sternard Clarksville, Tenn. 10-01 $1,000.00
3 Juanita Robinson Highlands, Texas 7-14 $1,000.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 21 221 524-10
2 32 298 756-10
3 12 103 282-08
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65 622 1563-12
\2007 Womens Tour - Lake Amistad, TX
02/08-02/10
Lake Amistad, Del Rio Texas
(NON-BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Julie Shivers Del Rio, Texas 15 42-06 305 $26,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 10-08 Day 3: 5 16-06
2. Kim Tucker Red Bay, Ala. 11 38-09 305 $3,200.00
Day 1: 5 22-02 Day 2: 5 12-12 Day 3: 1 3-11
3. Crystal Langston Leighton, Ala. 9 36-12 290 $2,180.00
Day 1: 3 15-00 Day 2: 4 18-03 Day 3: 2 3-09
4. Cheryl Holloway Pollock, La. 8 32-13 285 $1,680.00
Day 1: 1 3-02 Day 2: 2 8-12 Day 3: 5 20-15
5. Lesa Brown Harrison, Ark. 11 29-14 280 $1,180.00
Day 1: 1 3-01 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 11-00
6. LORA SIMISON Beach Grove, Ind. 11 29-11 276 $900.00
Day 1: 2 3-10 Day 2: 5 19-13 Day 3: 4 6-04
7. Kimberly Martin Clayton, Ind. 10 28-07 272 $1,350.00
Day 1: 4 13-11 Day 2: 1 1-08 Day 3: 5 13-04
8. Angie Everitt Livingston, Texas 12 27-14 268 $800.00
Day 1: 2 3-07 Day 2: 5 13-05 Day 3: 5 11-02
9. Bonnie Ward Snohomish, Wash. 10 27-08 264 $775.00
Day 1: 3 9-11 Day 2: 5 13-10 Day 3: 2 4-03
10. Colleen Mckay Worcester, Mass. 8 27-05 260 $750.00
Day 1: 4 11-15 Day 2: 2 4-10 Day 3: 2 10-12
11. Laura Elkins Amarillo, Texas 9 27-00 257 $725.00
Day 1: 4 9-14 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 0 0-00
12. Toni Mode Eagle Creek, Ore. 9 25-10 254 $700.00
Day 1: 1 1-13 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 3 10-13
13. Jan Hudson Harrison, Ark. 10 24-05 251 $675.00
Day 1: 4 11-02 Day 2: 2 3-06 Day 3: 4 9-13
14. Donna Prado San Antonio, Texas 9 22-11 248 $650.00
Day 1: 3 5-14 Day 2: 2 6-05 Day 3: 4 10-08
15. Karen Williams Stark City, Mo. 10 20-14 244 $612.50
Day 1: 2 3-10 Day 2: 3 7-09 Day 3: 5 9-11
15. Barbara Gaskins Suffolk, Va. 8 20-14 244 $612.50
Day 1: 2 5-13 Day 2: 3 8-08 Day 3: 3 6-09
17. Sharon Withers Sam Rayburn, Texas 6 19-15 241 $575.00
Day 1: 1 1-15 Day 2: 5 18-00 Day 3: 0 0-00
18. Tina Newman Soddy Daisy, Tenn. 6 19-09 239 $800.00
Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 3 13-05 Day 3: 3 6-04
19. Esther Turner Crossville, Tenn. 7 19-06 237 $525.00
Day 1: 4 11-01 Day 2: 1 1-11 Day 3: 2 6-10
20. Kris Hunter Cibolo, Texas 6 18-01 235 $500.00
Day 1: 2 9-03 Day 2: 2 2-12 Day 3: 2 6-02
21. Kala Wright Pocola, Okla. 7 17-14 233 $475.00
Day 1: 1 5-00 Day 2: 2 6-00 Day 3: 4 6-14
22. Linda Thomas Pryor, Okla. 6 16-05 231 $700.00
Day 1: 1 1-11 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 0 0-00
23. Robertina Filburn Vine Grove, Ky. 7 15-10 229 $425.00
Day 1: 2 3-04 Day 2: 4 10-13 Day 3: 1 1-09
24. Marilu Ives Hot Springs, Ark. 6 14-08 227 $400.00
Day 1: 3 10-01 Day 2: 1 1-10 Day 3: 2 2-13
25. Vicki Henderson Ashdown, Ark. 6 12-10 225 $350.00
Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 5 11-03 Day 3: 1 1-07
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Purolator Big Bass
Day
1 Sarah Busby Grand Lake, La. 8-01 $500.00
2 Linda Thomas Pryor, Okla. 7-13 $250.00
2 Tina Newman Soddy Daisy, Tenn. 7-13 $250.00
3 Kimberly Martin Clayton, Ind. 7-07 $500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 6 122 318-06
2 6 164 433-14
3 3 70 180-03
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15 356 932-07
