Utah wins it, 20 anglers earn a spot in the 2010 Federation National Championship

2009 Western Divisional – Final Day

The last day of the TBF Western Division Championship left 20 TBF anglers blown away, literally. As the day rolled on, anglers patiently awaited tournament results in a fury of wind. But, nothing could damper their spirits, as the tournament came to a close, naming, not only, the top two anglers from each state who would advance to the 2010 Federation National Championship, but also, the division champions in both the individual and state team standings.

The top angler from each state will advance as a boater, while the runner up advances as a co-angler. The anglers who will be representing the Northwest Division are as follows: Ariz., Jason Rayls and Jeff Erickson; Calif., Cameron Smith and Randy Pierson; Colo., Lance Tillotson and Sean Hinton; Nev., Mitch Geyer and David Malone; Utah, Wayne Crowder and Mike Bozner. The anglers who will be representing the Southwest Division are as follows: Idaho, Brandon Palaniuk and Bill Golightly; Mont., Farren (Ray) Mounts and Sid Ziegler; Ore., Edward Chin and Michael Gibney; Wash., Aaron Echternkamp and Shawn McConville; Wyom., Larry Wilkins and Tom Schachten. These anglers have fished close to home for a year or more to earn a spot on the state team and now the chance to advance to the 2010 Federation National Championship. To earn these spots, on average, these anglers paid a total of $200 in dues and entry fees per year. Now, they’ve qualified to compete for a prize purse of nearly a quarter of a million dollars, the highest in federation history.

The 2009 Western Division Champion fought his way up from a fifth place standing to be crowned victorious. Wayne Crowder, from Salt Lake City, Utah, brought in the heaviest bag today that weighed 11lb 13oz, making his total tournament weight 33lb 3oz. “I had no idea I had the big bag, I definitely had no idea that I would win the whole thing,” Wayne said. “I caught my first three, about 7lb, by 7:30am. The bed fish I was finding yesterday were starting to disappear, when it warmed up the bed fish went deeper out to more mid lake, and so I followed them there.” Wayne qualified for nationals two years ago as a co-angler, but this will be his first time as a boater, and he expressed much excitement. He also had many people to thank. “I actually borrowed a boat, a net and a prop for this event. So, I have to say thanks to Paul Reutlinger and others who helped me in that. Also, I want to thank my Heavenly Father, my wife and my Utah State Federation. I’m honored to be the Western Division Champion, and I’m eager to compete at the national tournament in 2010.”

The Utah State Federation led the way the whole tournament, and it was no surprise to see them seal the deal. Their team had a total tournament weight of 288lb 8oz, making them the 2009 Western Division Champions. The Utah Team Captain, Steve Porter, had nothing but great things to say. “We just want to thank TBF for putting on such a great event,” Steve commented. “The tournament was great, we knew what we needed to do to win, and we pulled together and did it. Everyone, as a team, we did it.”

For final standings, check out the tournament results pages

Team Texas Makes Huge Jump Into The Lead After Day Two at Lake Dardanelle

2009 Central Division Day 2

Awtry leads the individual division champion’s race.

June 4, 2009

Lake Dardenelle, AR – Donny Awtry of Watauga, Texas took the lead in the overall standings by a mere 2 ounces, moving up from 4th place. He also leads his state in individual standings with a 2-day weight total 27 lbs and 3 oz turning in another five-fish limit. Donny switches places with yesterday’s Texas leader and Big Bass winner, Nathan Bourque.

Local angler Justin Lancaster of Plainview, AR is still standing strong right behind the division leader Awtry, trailing by 2 oz with 27 lbs 1 oz. Justin has managed a limit both days in the same area, we will see if it will hold up one more day. Lancaster did say he was using lures on the top of the water and grass. When asked if living only a few miles down the highway gives him an advantage above the other anglers, Justin says, “It definitely helps!” Justin has been a member of TBF since 2004 and is the top angler in Arkansas Federation.

In team standings, Texas and Oklahoma also switched places, Texas now leads at 147-03. Their 25lb 13oz lead is “comfortable,” but certainly not insurmountable. With 12 anglers on each team 25 pounds is really only one (1)- two pound fish person, so anything can still happen. Team Texas Anglers Donny Awtry, Clint Farris and John Littleton all caught their 5 fish limit in day 2. Team totals were actually 4 lbs less than the first day, but Oklahoma took a largest team nose dive in total weight by about 27 lbs, turning in only 44 lbs 4 oz today and winding up with a two day total of 121-06, which is still enough to hang on to second.

We all thought our Big Bass winner was turned in early in the first flight. Matt King of Olathe, Kansas turned in a nice bass weighing 5 lb 3 oz. Matt had a great day of fishing, turning in 4 live bass with a total weight of 14 lbs 11 oz! Some fisherman thought the cold front that moved through the area negatively affected their fishing from the first day, but Matt made some changes in his fishing and thought it definitely helped him. His four fish weight was only 13 oz short of his state teammate and Kansas leader Scott Hamel of Stockton, Kansas who turned in his five fish limit that finished up as the big bag of the day at 15-08.

The Kansas anglers today were making their move we’re all wondering what they all did different! In the second flight, we had our Big Bass Winner checked in. Kerry Kreup, non-boater from Paola, Kansas paired with Rick Riley, boat 14. His bass weighed a very nice 5 lbs 7 oz. That tops yesterdays Big Bass by 3 oz.

With those three anglers from Kansas having a fantastic fishing day, Team Kansas won day 2 with team totals being 75 lbs 13 oz. That is a 34 lb 1 oz jump, from day 1 to day 2, making their 2 day total 117 lbs 9 oz.

So Texas sits in first place in the team standings and looks on a roll to win the division Champions title and the Central Championship Cup, at this point this is their event to win or lose. Only 4 lbs separates the 2, 3 and 4 place team standings of Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kansas respectively. Individual standings can go either way in some states and is fairly well set in others at this point. The top two anglers from each state will advance to the 2010 TBF Federation National Championship, Presented by the National Guard and compete for their share of the nearly 250,000.00 prize purse, including the TBF “Living The Dream” Package. The top placing anglers form each state will proceed as a boater and the second place anglers form each state as a co-angler. Final weigh-in starts Friday at 2:30pm CST and is free to the public.

2009 Western Divisional – Day 2

Day two finds a new leader, Utah still on top

Twenty, TBF anglers are one, 8 hr day away from qualifying for the 2010 Federation National Championship presented by the National Guard. Ten anglers from the Northwest Division and 10 Southwest Division anglers will move on to fish for their share of nearly a quarter of a million dollars, which includes $100,000 TBF Living the Dream Package. Each state will advance their top angler as the boater and their 2nd place finisher as the non-boater. The race is tight, and the top spots could go to anyone, so, the last day of the 2009 Western Division Championship should be one exciting day of fishing.

The anglers who are currently holding the top two spots in their states, and who will be fighting to defend those spots tomorrow are as follows: from the Northwest Division, Ariz., Jason Rayls and Jeff Erickson; Calif., Cameron Smith and Mitch Thiele; Colo., Sean Hinton and Scott Johnson; Nev., Mitch Geyer and Mike Ledford; Utah, Mike Bozner and Wayne Crowder; from the Southwest Division, Idaho, Brandon Palaniuk and Bill Golightly; Mont., Sid Ziegler and Tyler Polesky; Ore., James Thompson and Edward Chin; Wash., Aaron Echternkamp and Jeff Boyer; Wyo., Larry Wilkins and Tom Schachten.

In the overall standings, Brandon Palaniuk from Rathdrum, Idaho pulled ahead of the pack today with a limit of bass weighing 12lb 3oz., making his two day total weight 24lb 11oz. Brandon said he will be sticking with the same plan tomorrow. “I plan on covering a lot of water and hopefully pulling in another 12lb bag,” Brandon said. “I’ve been using the same three different baits the whole tournament, and one certain bait has helped me find fish everyday.” He caught his limit before noon and didn’t let the change in weather affect him. “I definitely thought the weather was better yesterday, I liked the cloud cover.” Brandon is currently the top angler in the Northwest Division, but close behind is Aaron Echternkamp from Moses Lake, Wash., with a limit weighing 11lb 6oz, making his total weight 24lb 3oz. Aaron caught his limit very early and also plans on doing the same thing tomorrow. “I caught my limit before 9:30am, site fishing using a sniper snuck and a zoom fluke,” Aaron stated. Yesterday’s leader, Cameron Smith, from Dana Point, Calif., has fallen to the third spot, but only a pound separates him from the top. He brought in a limit of bass weighing 12lb 8oz, making his total weight 23lb 3oz. The leader of the state of Utah, Mike Bozner, came in fourth and he’s looking to inch up there tomorrow. Despite having boat problems early, Mike caught a limit of bass weighing, 11lb 3oz, making his total weight 21lb 15oz. “I caught two fish off the main lake and the rest were bed fish,” Mike said. “I saw lots of smaller males, the big females haven’t quite come in yet, but they will be ready to spawn soon. I definitely know I can go get another 8-9 lbs tomorrow, so I’m just hoping to find that big one.” The top angler from the state of Arizona, Jason Rayls, also said he will be fighting to hold his position. “Today was a little tougher, I was finesse fishing, and I plan on doing the same thing tomorrow,” Jason said. “I’ve never qualified for Nationals, so I’m pretty excited; I’m going to give it my best, and hopefully I will make it to the Championship.”

The Utah Bass Federation held their number one position in the tournament today, weighing in a two day combined weight of 199lb 6oz. A mere eight pounds separates the second place team, The California Bass Federation, weighing in 191lb 1oz. The Idaho Bass Federation is currently in third with 190lb 6oz. In fourth, is the Washington Bass Federation with 189lb 10oz. The home state federation of Wyoming is in fifth with 176lb. Indeed, tomorrow will be an exciting day of fishing, as only 20lb separates the top five state federations. Any angler and any state could pull out on top, as the last day of the Western Division Championship gets underway.

Oklahoma Leads TBF Central Divisional Tournament After Day 1

Plainview, Arkansas Native Justin Lancaster leads the Individual Overall

June 3, 2009 – Lake Dardanelle, Russellville, AR

Three Oklahoma anglers turned in the five fish limit to help push their team to first place in the opening round of the three day central division championship. The total team weight was 77 lbs 2 oz. John Pritchett of Claremore, OK led the team with a total weight of five fish weighing 14 lbs 5 oz, making him second in the overall standings for day one, right behind him on the Oklahoma team is Ada, Oklahoma’s Johnny Babb with 11-12. Only 1 lb 8 oz separated Oklahoma and Texas, who is in a very close second place. Louisiana sits in third with a team total of 65-10.

Nathan Bourque of Humble, Texas wins the Big Bass prize for day one. He turned in a 5 lb 4 oz bass, making his first day total 13 lbs 5 oz which landed him 3rd in the overall individual standings. Nathan and his paired partner, Eugene Morris of Farmerville, LA, both caught their limit today.

On a scale of one to ten, for Dardanelle, it is fishing about a “3 or 4” according to one local angler. The consensus among the contestants is that fishing “was tough.” Twenty of the ninety-six championship anglers did not manage to catch a minimum length 15” fish. Only three boating partners both filled their five-fish limit, one of which was Nathan and Eugene. Johnny Starks of Conway Springs, AR and Curtis Walker of Carl Junction, MO both caught limits in the same boat placing them in the individual standings at 9th and 10th place respectively. The final pair was Justin Lancaster of Plainview, Arkansas and Don Heaslet of Owasso, Oklahoma.

Heaslet’s limit landed him in 11th spot overall and third on the Oklahoma Team with 10 lbs 12 oz.

Lancaster’s bag landed him squarely in the overall tournament leader position after day one. His five fish limit weight turned in was 15 lbs 3 oz. Any day of holding the lead at a championship event is something special. For most a TBF Division Champion title is a once in a lifetime event. But Lancaster knows his work is not done just yet as there are two more days to go and he is taking nothing for granted as he has an Okie and two Texans on his tail. With the kinds of weights coming in right now. It would appear there is no middle ground, you are either “on them” or your struggling so tomorrow’s day two will likely tell the story in the individual standings as far as who the two or three anglers are that holds this tournament in their hands “to lose.”

Hopefully the cold front forecast for tomorrow won’t have a negative effect on tomorrow’s fishing day. Highs are supposed to be in the low 80s with possible record breaking lows overnight Thursday night.