Hunting - Fishing - Lone Star Outdoor News

Curt Culbertson and Jonathan Davis topped a field of 471 anglers to win $20,000 at Bass Champs’ first North Region fishing tournament of the year March 13 at Lake Fork.
The men weighed in 12.5 pounds by focusing on wacky-rigged soft plastics. They caught more than 40 fish during the day. 

“We’ve never won a tournament this big before,” Davis said. This is awesome.”

Placing second with 11.82 pounds were Chuck Turner and Mark Huffman.

“We pretty much did the same thing the winners did: watermelon red wacky-worms in the back of creeks,” Turner said. “We didn’t catch quite as many fish as they did, but we still had a great day.”

Temperatures started out in the lower 40s, rising to over 60 degrees by day’s end. The winds were fairly calm under partly cloudy skies. Water temperatures on Lake Fork is still in the lower 50s, but the bass are already trying to make the move to shallow water.

Two teams tied for third place, bringing in 11.50 pounds. Terry McGilivray and Dennis Hastings shared the win with, Ray Vereen who was fishing without a partner.

For the first time in Bass Champs history, a bass over the slot limit was weighed in to capture big bass honors. Kevin Gardner from Marietta, Okla., caught the 10.94 lb sow to win big bass honors. The fish landed Gardner and his teammate, Craig Sanders, in ninth place overall. Their plan was simple: Strictly target big bass. Using a half-ounce, chartreuse and white spinnerbait, they headed to White Oak and fished in the tree tops.

“I usually use a trailer hook on my spinnerbaits, but took it off to fish these conditions,” Gardner said.

Sitting in 18 feet of water, the team targeted depths of 8 feet right along the tree line down the side of the channel. Going into the afternoon, the team didn’t have a single fish in the livewell. Finally, with only an hour and a half left to go, they started getting the bites they were looking for.

“We caught one 23, the next was 23 ½,” Gardner said. “Finally, I caught this one that was right at 24.”

At Lake Fork, only fish under 16 inches or over 24 inches can be weighed in.

Tournament statistics.
Date: 3/13/2010
Lake: Fork
Total Entries: 239 Teams
Total Fish: 517
Total Weight: 955.56 lbs.
Average Weight: 1.85 lbs.
Number of limits: 67
Number of zeroes: 94
 
Top 50 Finishers

Place Angler 1
Angler 2
Fish Big Bass Weight Prize Amount
1 CURT CULBERTSON FT WORTH
JONATHAN DAVIS IRVING
5 0 12.50 $20,000
 
2 CHUCK TURNER
MARK HUFFMAN YANTIS
5 0 11.82 $5000
 
3 RAY VEREEN EMORY
 5 0 11.50 $2,500
 
3 TERRY MCGILIVRAY FLOWER MOUND
DENNIS HASTINGS FLOWER MOUND
5 0 11.50 $2,500
 
5 JAMES MOHLER
 TODD MAYES LONGVIEW
5 0 11.48 $1,200
 
6 FRANCISCO TENORIO JR PLANO
CHRIS LAM SACHSE
5 0 11.34 $1,090
 
7 TAYLOR BROOKS
 FRED BROOKS
 5 0 11.20 $1,080
 
8 MIKE MANROSE FORNEY
GARY KINARD DALLAS
5 0 11.08 $1,070
 
9 CRAIG SANDERS
 KEVIN GARDNER
MARIETTA
1 10.94 10.94 $1,060 + $1,000 Big Bass
 
10 ALLEN SHELTON COPPELL
SCOTT DEAN TERRELL
5 0 10.80 $1,050 + Skeeter Double $1,050+Fun n Sun $500
 
11 HEATH MOODY GRAPEVINE
ZACH PARKER AUBREY
5 0 10.62 $1,040
 
12 CHRIS MCAFEE ROYSE CITY
JIMMY ROBERSTON
 5 0 10.48 $1,030
 
13 JERRY KETCHAM WEATHERFORD
TOM MCKNIGHT SANGER
5 0 10.46 $1015.00
 
13 MARK MCDONALD
 LORA MCDONALD
 5 0 10.46 $1015.00
 
15 CHRIS SINKEY LEWISVILLE
ZACH HUGHES PLANO
5 0 10.40 $1000
 
16 BRETT KILLINGSWORTH ROWLETT
STEVE HOPE OVILLA
5 0 10.24 $900
 
17 STEVE MEE IRVING
STEVE STEPHENS ALLEN
5 0 10.14 $800
 
18 STAN LAWING POETRY
JD LAUGHERY ROCKWALL
5 0 10.08 $800
 
19 TROY ROSSMAN ROWLETT
TROY CLEMENS PLANO
5 0 10.06 $700
 
19 TOMMY CLIMER JR MESQUITE
TONY CLIMER MESQUITE
5 0 10.06 $700
 
21 MIKE WITHROW CORSICANA
RUSTY MCMAHON CORSICANA
5 0 10.04 $600
 
22 ROBERT LITTLEJOHN FRUITVALE
ROBERT MERONEY GRAND SALINE
5 0 10.02 $600
 
23 JOHN GOERGEN EMORY
SCOTT SPINDLE MCKINNEY
5 0 9.98 $600
 
23 DEAN TILL ATHENS
TROY SLAUGHTER TRINIDAD
5 0 9.98 $600
 
23 MARK MCWHIRTER
SCOTT CLAWSON
5 0 9.98 $600
 
26 TIM WILCOXSON ROCKWALL
ERIC ELDER ROYSE CITY
5 0 9.94 $600
 
27 JIMMY HARRISON SR BOYD
HERBERT POWELL YANTIS
5 0 9.92 $600
 
27 MIKE BURNS LUCAS
ROB BURNS PLANO
5 0 9.92 $600
 
29 BILLY DYSON ARLINGTON
KAY DYSON ARLINGTON
5 0 9.88 $600
 
30 JOHN ADAMS FRISCO
GREG FLEMING HAWKINS
5 0 9.84 $600
 
30 HAROLD BIBBEE ALLEN
MARK HANNA ALLEN
5 0 9.84 $600
 
32 BRANDON BREWER ROYCE CITY
JERAMY MARINELLI
5 0 9.82 $600
 
33 STEVE LYNAM GRAPEVINE
SCOTT SHULTZ ARLINGTON
5 0 9.76
 
34 DAVID SPEAKMAN MESQUITE
DON KUYKENDALL GUN BARRREL CITY
5 0 9.74
 
35 COREY MAPLES WYLIE
JEFF NORRIS BOYD
5 0 9.64
 
36 RICHARD DUCKWORTH FORNEY
GARY SHOFFNER
5 0 9.56
 
36 SCOTT COOKE HENDERSON
RICKEY MOON JACKSONVILLE
5 0 9.56
 
38 BILLY MCCORD GARLAND
BRANDON MONCADA KYLE
5 0 9.52
 
39 LEE YOWELL ENNIS
BRIAN SCHOTT LONGVIEW
5 0 9.50
 
40 KEITH WHITE GRAPEVINE
TRAVIS WHITE ARLINGTON
5 0 9.46
 
41 STUART ALLISON WYLIE
BRYAN WELBORN PROVIDENCE VILLAGE
5 0 9.28
 
42 BILL SWEETEN 
BRIAN SPENCER QUITMAN
5 0 9.26
 
43 CHRIS BACHTA
CHARLIE JOHNSON BEDFORD
5 0 9.24
 
43 TERRY JOHNSON COPPELL
BILL GAMMONS LEWISVILLE
5 0 9.24
 
43 CHAD HAYNES HASLET
CHARLES HAYNES HASLET
5 0 9.24
 
46 SCOTTY WENZEL POINT
ROBERT CASE JR POINT
5 0 9.22
 
47 TRACY LAWHON CORSICANA
CHARLES WILLIAMS WHITNEY
5 0 9.12
 
48 BRAD DRAKE COPPELL
ANDREW GABEL LEWISVILLE
5 0 8.98
 
49 GARY REYNOLDS BLOSSOM
BRANDON BEERS DETROIT
5 0 8.96
 
50 LESLIE KENNEDY FORT WORTH
TREVOR ROMANS PLANO
5 0 8.92