LEWISVILLE, Texas — In a squeaker on Texas’ Lewisville Lake, Mark Tucker of St. Louis found 12 pounds and an ounce worth of bass to take home his first B.A.S.S. win, $10,000, a Skeeter/Yamaha boat-and-motor package and a berth in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. His total after three days was 45-15.
“I’ve got to thank the Lord big time. This is all thanks to Him. This has been a long time coming, and to finally get it feels great. You strive to be the best, and when something like this happens, there’s nothing like it,” he said. “This is an awesome lake and it’s great to be here.”
However, Tucker almost didn’t make it out of the gate this morning. An expired insurance policy on his BassCat meant he had to be held at the dock until an updated policy was shown to B.A.S.S. staff. The ordeal cost him 15 minutes and a lot of stress.
Tucker feels that he was the only one employing the pattern that he did. He was slowly working a Smithwick Rogue jerkbait over 8 to 10 feet of water along rocky points. The keys, he says, were his line, patience and cold water. He searched for the coldest water that he could find.
“They wouldn’t hit it if it fell down, so I used Trilene XT monofilament so it would rise a bit,” he said. “I’d slowly twitch it, and then they’d load up on it.”
Tucker’s jerkbait pattern triggered a flurry of Kentucky (spotted) bass activity, but the big ones wouldn’t stay buttoned up. He lost what would have been the biggest fish of the tournament at his boat. Tucker estimated it to be in the 9-pound range. If he had fished flawlessly, Tucker said he would’ve had 25 pounds in his first hour on the lake. What’s more, the big fish that he lost took his Rogue that was working. So, he scrounged around his boat, found a similar color pattern and modified it to look like the one that was working.
“I know these guys in the top 12 are awesome fishermen, and with the fish on the bank I thought the weights would skyrocket,” he said.
Per his statement yesterday, Tucker plans on heading to Shreveport, La. — the sight of the 2012 Classic, his eighth — to practice right away.
Eleven ounces behind Tucker is Casey Scanlon of Lenexa, Kan., with 45-4. Scanlon weighed in 19-1 today, the heaviest stringer of the tournament, for a total of 45-4. His bag was anchored by a 6-14 big bass.
“The key for me was to fish slow,” he said. “I had about an hour that was awesome where I really caught ‘em good.”
In third place is Chris Ford who added 15-7 to his total for a cumulative weight of 35-4. In fourth place is Billy Cline of Grapevine, Texas, who could only manage two keepers that went 3-15, giving him a total of 33-15. Rounding out the top 5 is Kevin Ledoux of Choctaw, Okla., whose three fish went 6-1, giving him a total of 23-1.
Also notable is aspiring Elite angler Janet Parker, who finished sixth. She wound up with a total of 22-10.
Despite the heaviest bag of the tournament crossing the stage today at Bass Pro Shops in Grapevine, Texas, weights were down significantly. Two of the final-day pros and four co-anglers failed to register any keeper bass. There wasn’t a single three-fish co-angler limit brought to the scales today. Warm, windy conditions had Lewisville’s prespawn bass in a tailspin.
On the co-angler side, Clayton Coppin of Wagoner, Okla., took home a brand new Skeeter/Yamaha rig valued at $35,000 for his winning weight of 18-8, more than 4 pounds ahead of second place.
“This is not easy to do; there’s some tough competition out there,” Coppin said. “The way that things were going this morning, I thought we were going to whack ‘em. We didn’t, but I got enough to win and that’s all that matters.”
In second place is Michael Curbow whose two bass that weighed 3-0 brought his total up to 14-7. In third is Wade Garcia of Alma, Ark., who didn’t register a bass today, but wound up with 13-13. In fourth is Darryl Hanks who also blanked today but had 12-2, and in fifth place is John Englund, who added a 1-11 bass to his total for 12-0.
The next Bassmaster Open is on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., April 28-30, where another 2012 Bassmaster Classic berth will be awarded. After the final event on the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Okla., set for Sept. 8-11, the third and final Classic berth will be handed out, and the top five anglers in the points race will be offered a spot in the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series.
BASSMASTER CENTRAL OPEN- PRO- FINAL Lake Lewisville, Lewisville Texas (BOATER) Standings Day 3 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Mark Tucker Saint Louis, Mo. 15 45-15 315 $55,600.00 Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 17-04 Day 3: 5 12-01 2. Casey Scanlon Lenexa, Kan. 15 45-04 295 $15,900.00 Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 13-10 Day 3: 5 19-01 3. Chris Ford Kennedale, Texas 14 35-04 290 $13,250.00 Day 1: 4 6-10 Day 2: 5 13-03 Day 3: 5 15-07 4. Billy Cline Keller, Texas 12 33-15 285 $10,600.00 Day 1: 5 16-05 Day 2: 5 13-11 Day 3: 2 3-15 5. Kevin Ledoux Choctaw, Okla. 10 23-01 280 $9,540.00 Day 1: 3 7-01 Day 2: 4 9-15 Day 3: 3 6-01 6. Janet Parker Little Elm, Texas 8 22-10 276 $8,480.00 Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 1 4-12 Day 3: 2 4-03 7. Chris Zaldain San Jose, Calif. 8 22-02 272 $7,420.00 Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 3 9-10 Day 3: 0 0-00 8. Jared Miller Norman, Okla. 8 20-09 268 $6,360.00 Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 1 2-02 Day 3: 2 4-03 9. Sammy Burks Joplin, Mo. 8 19-11 264 $5,300.00 Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 1 3-00 Day 3: 2 4-07 10. Tommy Durham Whitney, Texas 9 18-09 260 $4,770.00 Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 3 6-05 Day 3: 1 1-11 11. Jerry Dolezal Bullard, Texas 7 17-12 257 $4,240.00 Day 1: 3 7-08 Day 2: 4 10-04 Day 3: 0 0-00 12. Jimmy Johnson Ganado, Texas 8 17-09 254 $3,710.00 Day 1: 5 9-10 Day 2: 2 5-10 Day 3: 1 2-05 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 12 244 588-04 2 4 170 415-14 3 3 28 73-06 ---------------------------------- 19 442 1077-08 BASSMASTER CENTRAL OPEN- CO-ANGLER- FINAL Lake Lewisville, Lewisville Texas (NON-BOATER) Standings Day 3 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Clayton Coppin Wagoner, Okla. 6 18-08 310 $35,000.00 Day 1: 3 8-05 Day 2: 2 6-07 Day 3: 1 3-12 2. Michael Curbow Frisco, Texas 6 14-07 300 $4,240.00 Day 1: 3 9-11 Day 2: 1 1-12 Day 3: 2 3-00 3. Wade Garcia Alma, Ark. 3 13-13 290 $3,180.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 3 13-13 Day 3: 0 0-00 4. Darryl Hanks Pineville, Mo. 4 12-02 285 $2,385.00 Day 1: 2 6-10 Day 2: 2 5-08 Day 3: 0 0-00 5. Jon Englund Farwell, Minn. 4 12-00 280 $1,882.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 3 10-05 Day 3: 1 1-11 6. Farrell Coppin Muskogee, Okla. 4 11-05 276 $1,590.00 Day 1: 2 5-11 Day 2: 2 5-10 Day 3: 0 0-00 7. Eric Allen Highland Village, Texa 4 11-04 272 $1,325.00 Day 1: 2 5-02 Day 2: 1 4-12 Day 3: 1 1-06 8. Justin Ketteringham Terry, Miss. 6 10-07 268 $1,272.00 Day 1: 2 3-06 Day 2: 3 4-12 Day 3: 1 2-05 9. Chris Mclain Denton, Texas 5 10-00 264 $1,166.00 Day 1: 3 5-08 Day 2: 1 3-01 Day 3: 1 1-07 10. Robert Reddell Justin, Texas 4 8-07 260 $1,060.00 Day 1: 1 1-13 Day 2: 2 5-00 Day 3: 1 1-10 11. Matt Jackson Bixby, Okla. 4 8-06 257 $954.00 Day 1: 3 6-15 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 1 1-07 12. Shawn Temple Lewisville, Texas 3 7-11 254 $848.00 Day 1: 3 7-11 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 0 0-00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 0 106 226-11 2 0 74 178-09 3 0 9 16-10 ---------------------------------- 0 189 421-14 BASSMASTER CENTRAL OPEN POINTS- PRO Boater Points After Lake Lewisville, Lewisville, Texas Ending 02-26-2011, Day 3 ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Tony Chachere La. 385 2 Dave Mansue Texas 340 3 Roy Sanford Texas 338 4 Keith Caka Texas 332 5 Frank Jordan JR Ga. 329 6 Mark Tucker Mo. 315 7 Teb Jones Miss. 306 8 Brian Clark Texas 296 9 Casey Scanlon Kan. 295 10 Chris Ford Texas 290 11 Billy Cline Texas 285 12 Kevin Ledoux Okla. 280 13 Janet Parker Texas 276 14 Chris Zaldain Calif. 272 15 Jared Miller Okla. 268 16 Sammy Burks Mo. 264 17 Tommy Durham Texas 260 18 Jerry Dolezal Texas 257 19 Jimmy Johnson Texas 254 20 Ken Iyobe Japan 251 21 Logan Sherrer Texas 245 22 James Biggs Texas 243 23 Rick Clunn Mo. 241 24 Jim Culp Okla. 239 25 Mark Tyler Okla. 237 26 James Niggemeyer Texas 235 27 Tommy Martin Texas 233 28 Tim Webb Kan. 231 29 Jeff Cloud Texas 229 30 Trevor Romans Texas 227 31 Ricky D Scott Ark. 225 32 Homer Humphreys La. 223 33 Lendell Martin Texas 221 34 Ryan Lovelace Texas 219 35 Sean Hoernke Texas 218 36 Jami Fralick S.D. 217 37 Cecil Kingsley Kan. 215 38 Lisa Sternard Tenn. 213 39 Jeff Kriet Okla. 211 40 Todd Faircloth Texas 209 41 Todd Castledine Texas 207 42 Keith Surber Texas 205 43 Scott Dean Texas 203 44 Clark Reehm Texas 201 45 Matt Michel La. 199 46 Denny Malone Mo. 197 47 Colt Farris Texas 195 48 Chris Wilkerson Texas 193 49 Christopher Lee La. 191 50 Dale Jackson Texas 189 51 Dale Hightower Okla. 187 52 Mark Smith La. 185 53 Travis Gray La. 183 54 Jimmy Mize Ark. 181 55 Randy Cisler Texas 179 56 Luis Sevilla N.M. 177 57 Dustin Lester Calif. 175 57 Jason Lieblong Ark. 175 59 Peter Daniels La. 171 60 Chad Griffin Texas 169 61 Gary Riffle Texas 167 62 Dewayne French Ark. 165 63 Randy Allen La. 164 64 Brandon Mosley Okla. 163 65 OT Fears Okla. 161 66 Luke Roberts Texas 159 67 Cade Alsbury Ark. 157 68 Rick Hanna Texas 155 69 Brady Winans Texas 153 70 Rob Burns Texas 149 71 Clint Alford Okla. 147 72 Ronald Rogers Texas 145 73 Jacky Hawthorne Texas 143 74 Thomas McMillan La. 141 75 John Johnson Mo. 139 76 Keith Williams Ark. 137 77 Scott Ashmore Okla. 135 78 Charles Bebber Texas 133 79 Porter Trimble La. 131 80 Marvin Ettredge La. 129 81 Mike Pharr La. 125 82 Paul Ferguson Texas 123 83 Chris Jones Okla. 121 84 Mark Goines Okla. 119 85 Brad Smith Ark. 115 86 J.C. Worley Okla. 111 87 Roger Hughes Okla. 109 88 Vince Fulks Okla. 105 89 Aaron Johnson La. 103 89 Douglas Jones Okla. 103 91 Stephen Mitchell La. 99 92 Andy Gaia Texas 97 93 David Sherrer La. 95 94 Joseph Sestak S.D. 91 94 Scott Mcgehee Miss. 91 96 Kevin Walker Texas 89 97 Kelly Lee Idaho 87 98 Gene Rasco Texas 85 99 Spencer Grace Ark. 83 100 Bart Gardner Texas 81 100 Chris Franks Calif. 81 102 Mitch Kistner Ariz. 77 103 Randy Qualls Ark. 76 104 Adam Kaltenbach Mo. 75 104 Jeff Jordan Okla. 75 106 Gary Vining La. 73 107 Steve Schiele Texas 72 108 Terry Bollom Texas 71 109 Clint Farris Texas 70 110 Jan Heavener Ark. 69 111 Johnny Grice Texas 68 112 Doug Vahrenberg Mo. 67 112 Kenny Rooke Texas 67 114 Billy McCaghren Ark. 65 114 Monty Kirby Texas 65 114 Quincy Houchin Ark. 65 117 Cody Malone Texas 62 117 Brannon Long Texas 62 119 Alan Kelly Mo. 59 120 Zach Bandy Okla. 57 120 Ed Whaley Texas 57 120 Chris Dombkowski Texas 57 120 Dave Parsons Texas 57 124 Ken Phillips Calif. 53 124 Preston Henson Calif. 53 124 Jeffery Lemoine La. 53 127 Nick Aber Okla. 50 128 Joey Nania Wash. 49 129 Shane Williams La. 48 130 Mike Haggerty Tenn. 3 131 Stephen Browning Ark. 0 131 James Baldwin N.M. 0 131 Shaun Williamson Texas 0 131 Robert Hill Texas 0 131 Steve Hayden Texas 0 131 Craig Hatchel Texas 0 131 Michael Randolph Texas 0 131 Perry Powell Texas 0 131 Jay Fuller Okla. 0 131 Yoshikazu Sato Japan 0 131 Sabrina Thompson Texas 0 131 Bill Dowding Okla. 0 131 Gene Eisenmann Texas 0 131 Mike Shadowens Okla. 0 131 Jr Howard Texas 0 131 Gene Spears La. 0 131 Kent Cella La. 0 131 Wayne Fowler Miss. 0 131 Michael Yoder Ark. 0 131 Ricky Campbell Texas 0 131 Nathan Kawlewski Wisc. 0 131 Michael Moore Okla. 0 131 Debra Hengst Texas 0 131 Robert Byrd Texas 0 131 Jason Baggett Ark. 0 131 Chip Porche Okla. 0 131 Billy Hines Calif. 0 131 Darrell Newman Texas 0 131 Mike Kernan Texas 0 BASSMASTER CENTRAL OPEN POINTS- CO-ANGLER Non-Boater Points After Lake Lewisville, Lewisville, Texas Ending 02-26-2011, Day 3 ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 John Avalos Fla. 403 2 Clayton Coppin Okla. 310 3 Michael Curbow Texas 300 4 Wade Garcia Ark. 290 5 Darryl Hanks Mo. 285 6 Jon Englund Minn. 280 7 Farrell Coppin Okla. 276 8 Eric Allen Texas 272 9 Justin Ketteringham Miss. 268 10 Chris Mclain Texas 264 11 Robert Reddell Texas 260 12 Matt Jackson Okla. 257 13 Shawn Temple Texas 254 14 Robert Parkison Texas 251 15 Charles Heavener Ark. 248 16 Tom Bever Colo. 245 17 Jared Allen Ark. 243 18 Jason Bloxom La. 241 19 Jerry Shipe Texas 239 20 Robert Richardson Texas 237 21 Craig Paine Okla. 235 22 Vincent Borrego Ariz. 233 22 Joshua Mc Daniel Iowa 233 24 Ryan Kelley La. 229 25 Bryan Welborn Texas 227 26 Rick Parker Texas 225 27 Brian Tolley Texas 223 28 Jason Harper Texas 221 29 Wendell Prothow Texas 219 30 John Hayen Texas 217 31 Brandon McDade Kan. 215 32 Dan Boche Minn. 213 33 Britney Lequieu Texas 211 34 David Cortinas Texas 209 35 Clint Estein La. 207 36 Jeff Nolte Kan. 205 37 Mark Walker Ariz. 203 38 Darrin Hannah Iowa 201 39 John Soukup Okla. 199 40 Terry Petchinsky Texas 197 41 George Salov Mo. 195 42 Chris Nunnelee Texas 193 42 David Easley Texas 193 44 Jacob Greenwell Texas 189 45 Rick Rickman Texas 187 45 Richard Vallis Ark. 187 47 Matt Crawford Texas 183 48 Chris Berry Texas 181 49 Travis Tunnell Kan. 179 50 Jeff Snyder Texas 177 51 Christopher Mccoy Ill. 173 52 Randy Rhoades Texas 171 53 Keith Bryan Texas 169 54 Chad McClendon Texas 167 55 Brandon Dillard Texas 165 56 Randall Ellis Texas 163 56 Brian Hope La. 163 58 Dan Wilson Texas 159 59 Ronald Miller Texas 157 59 James Slocum Texas 157 61 Dan Stevens La. 153 62 Wess Larabee Wyo. 151 63 Bob Howard Colo. 149 63 Miguel Valdez Texas 149 65 Keith Bettis Texas 145 66 Keith Johnson Okla. 143 67 Jerry Mooney Texas 141 68 Jim Nelson Ill. 139 68 Dustin Abel Texas 139 70 Eugene Morris La. 135 71 Nathan Lintner Texas 133 72 John Silberbauer Texas 131 72 Darin Comstock Texas 131 74 Bruce Jones Texas 127 75 David Counts Mo. 125 76 Lee Boutwell Ga. 123 76 Bo Rhodes Texas 123 76 Carlos Pacheco Texas 123 76 Jay Moore Texas 123 76 Dennis Bush Texas 123 76 David Fanning Texas 123 82 Brandon Curtis Mo. 111 82 Dylan Forney Texas 111 84 Jack Giles La. 107 84 JD Myers N.M. 107 86 Michael Huss Texas 103 86 Nicholas Tislau Wisc. 103 86 Matt Mcmillan Texas 103 89 Brad Friloux La. 97 90 Jeff Stevens Texas 95 91 Masanari Ota Japan 93 92 Dan Jolly Texas 65 93 Lynn Roller Texas 0 93 Brian Pierce Colo. 0 93 Daniel Price Calif. 0 93 David Reifsteck Okla. 0 93 Michael Hesson Ark. 0 93 Michael Savage Mo. 0 93 Stanley Grice La. 0 93 David Fuller Texas 0 93 Kc Raper Kan. 0 93 Kevin Lindesmith Okla. 0 93 Tom Wilkins Minn. 0 93 Matt Richardson Texas 0 93 Keith Faber Iowa 0 93 Paul Bosco Texas 0 93 Noe Aguilar Texas 0 93 John Roberts Mo. 0 93 Robb Line Okla. 0 93 Scott Simpson Texas 0 93 Aaron Towner Texas 0 93 Chris Digino Texas 0 93 James Biggerstaff Texas 0 93 Clint Greenwell Okla. 0 93 Chris Black Texas 0 93 Jubal Cannon Texas 0 93 Steve Fuller Okla. 0 93 Jerry Biggs Texas 0 93 Randall Payne Ark. 0 93 Adrian Smiley La. 0 93 Mark Hanson Minn. 0 93 Don Brown Texas 0 93 Donald Bartlett Texas 0 93 Seth Leblanc La. 0 93 Brian Dickirson Okla. 0 93 Rodney Bunge Iowa 0 93 Jack Byers Okla. 0 93 Michael Johnston Texas 0 93 Walter Ward Texas 0 93 Joey Deans Texas 0 93 John Taylor Ark. 0 93 Charles Pratt Texas 0 93 Art Acuff Wash. 0 93 Henry Baker Okla. 0 93 Kelly Kennedy Okla. 0 93 Jesse Lee Minn. 0 93 John Aikens Texas 0 93 Aaron Kerchner Colo. 0 93 Joel Porter Kan. 0 93 Patti Campbell Texas 0 93 Leonard Baudino Texas 0 93 Daniel Richman Texas 0 93 Mark Vos Texas 0 93 Carl Gould Mo. 0 93 Danny Montgomery Texas 0 93 Keith Glasby Texas 0 93 Randy Reehm Ark. 0 93 Dan Hamdorf Iowa 0 93 Kirk Smith Okla. 0 93 Gary Tongate Texas 0 93 John Hobson Texas 0 93 Steve Shultz Utah 0 93 Claude Rabb La. 0 93 John Moon Texas 0 93 Bill Ferguson Texas 0 93 Steven Schmidt Neb. 0 93 Lloyd Parker Texas 0 93 Bennie Anderson Texas 0 93 William Hindman Okla. 0