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Big Bass Bonanza

Monday, June 09, 2014

The big bass tournament format is new to U.S.A. Bassin but has been gaining popularity across the country. The strategy involved in these unique tournaments add another dimension for the fishermen and as one top finisher said, it evens the playing field as it takes just one big fish to take home a big check.

The inaugural event offered prizes for four different two-hour weigh-in periods where teams could weigh in their biggest fish. 6am-8am, 8am-10am, 10am-12pm and 12pm-2pm were all open to any angler willing to take their chances at weighing the biggest fish of that two hour window. Some teams chose to weigh their bigger fish later on or weigh them immediately - it was a gamble either way. 

6:00-8:00

The first time slot was won by the team of Bill Schroeder and Billy Schroeder, who had a 6.30lb big bass that also was the biggest fish of the tournament. "We caught three that were four pounds right away and then caught the big one. We planned to weigh one of the four pounders in the first two hour window, but we heard a 4.6lb fish weighed in so we had to weigh the big one first," added Bill Schroeder.

They found a good school of fish right away and several of their fish on jigs before switching to a big swimbait to try for a bigger one. The bait change worked as they caught the big one almost immediately afterwards.

8:00-10:00

The 8:00-10:00 time slot was won by Kevin Alderdice and Austin Brown with a 4.40lb bass.

10:00-12:00

Terry Elliot and John Thyer won the 10:00-12:00 section with a 4.44lb bass. "We caught that one around 11:15 and didn't take a chance, we weighed it right away. If we had waited for the last two hours we might not have won and we wanted to keep fishing for a bigger one," said Thyer.

Their winning bass came from fishing a shakyhead in a brushpile.

12:00-2:00

Brad Kell and John Meyers had a 4.42lb bass that was big enough to win the last time slot.​ "We started off in Kentucky Lake in the morning and didn't catch anything, but we went into Barkley for our last stop. We started throwing swimbaits and started catching good ones," said the last winning team.

They reflected on the format and said they had planned on going to their spot in Barkley first thing in the morning, but had they caught that fish in the first two hour window they would not have won anything.

The Big Bass Bonanza was a unique format for a tournament where strategy played a big role. Congrats to the winning teams.

For complete results, click here.