Chris Jones and Jeff Siress Crowned Region 3 Champions

U.S. Angler’s Choice Region 3 Tournament of Champions was held October 24^th thru the 27^th on bass fishing renowned Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. Kentucky Lake extends 184 miles and has over 2,060 miles of shoreline and its parallel partner Barkley Lake is 118 miles in length and has over 1,000 miles of shoreline. This vast area would be the hunting grounds in which over 160 teams would search for that winning area and or pattern. The event was hosted by Marshal County Tourism and Moors Marina and Resort which offered teams an easy access to either body of water and excellent accommodations.

Teams gathered Thursday for a first class banquet followed up with a short meeting held at the Kentucky Dam Village banquet center. Southern hospitality was in full force as teams were treated to a fantastic dinner consisting of tossed garden salad, fried catfish fillets, hush puppies, Southern fried chicken, country green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, hot rolls and plenty of deserts to top it off.

Following the dinner of and for champions a brief review of the water and event specific rules were covered. Teams were officially welcomed to the lake by Kelli Van Blaricom of Moors Marina and Resort. Legend Boats representative Duane Hanshew congratulated the attendees on their qualification and welcomed all in attendance. The evening was then finalized by recognizing each of the divisional angler of the year teams and awarding plaques for their accomplishments.

Leading up to the first day of competition teams were dealt with rapidly changing conditions. An already slow moving system simply stalled over the top of the region for nearly a week. It saturated the area with rain that seemed to be absent for months leading up to the event. Water levels were rising rapidly and surface temps cooled by nearly 10 degrees in some cases.

As teams took off on the first day of competition the rains and over cast skies along with gusty winds continued to be part of the mix and these conditions persisted throughout the day. The weigh-in started at 3pm and it would soon be evident why Angler’s Choice teams have gained the reputation of being the best of the best. With the tough conditions 132 teams would weigh fish on this day and 33 of those teams would bring five fish limits to the scales.

As the smoke cleared on day one leading the way was the team of Chris Shultz and Jeff Denton fishing out of the Indiana division. They weighed in a five fish limited seeing the scales reach 17.35 lbs that was anchored by a nice 4.78 lb largemouth.

They were followed closely by the Smithland Pool team of Steve Schimsa and Roger Beczkala with a five fish limit weighing 16.91 lbs anchored by a 4.74 lb largemouth.

Big bass on this day would not be claimed by either of the leading teams as the Southern Illinois team of Matt Swalls and Ron Robinson would bring only one fish to the scales weighing in at 6.87 lbs and earning them day 1 big bass worth $1,000.00.  

On day two change was in the air as the sun started to peek, the winds changed directions and even laid down a bit. Teams would once again have to adapt to the weather changes thrown at them. As the weigh-in on day two began it was clear that not only the weather had changed but leader board was changing as well. Fish seemed to be on the move and many who excelled on day one found the going tough to say the least, yet others who struggled on day one excelled on day two. Huge leaps were made going both up and down the leader board which made for an exciting conclusion to the event.

Minutes after the last bag was weighed the results were in. The Smithland Pool team of Chris Jones and Jeff Siress narrowly take the win and were crowned Region 3 Champions. The team had only 4 fish on day one weighing 12.47 lbs but they followed it up with a day two limit weighing in at 16.70 lbs giving them a two day total of 29.17lbs. The team reported being on good fish throughout the week but really needed the sun to get their bites. On day one the team caught the majority of their fish slow rolling spinnerbaits. Day two the sun popped out and their fish bit much more aggressively and a faster retrieve was key. They concentrated on a main lake flats with water depths ranging from four to six feet. Their day two sack was anchored by a beautiful 5.61 lb Smallmouth. For the win the team takes home a new fully rigged Legend Alpha 199 with a Mercury 225 Opti Max.

Part of the winning teams catch day 2

Coming in second place and missing the win by only two hundredths of an ounce was the Wappapello Team of Scott Fischer and Rob Williams. On day one the team weighed in a five fish limit of 16.01 lbs and followed it up on day two with a five fish limit of 13.14 lbs giving them a total weight of 29.15 lbs. The team reported catching their fish on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits over flooded matts in the first half of creeks. Their fish were located shallow as they worked the baits over grass in two to three feet of water. They reported catching ten to twelve keepers per day and stuck with two main areas they located in practice. For the second place position the team takes home a new fully rigged Legend Alpha 199 with a Mercury 200 Opti Max 

2nd Place Scott Fischer and Rob Williams

Taking the third place position was the Wappapello team of Terry Young and Terry Holmes. They brought 5 fish to the scales on day one weighing 13.42 lbs and followed it up on day two with a limit weighing 15.07 lbs. giving them a two day total of 28.49 lbs. They reported a similar pattern as the second place team with spinnerbaits and buzzbaits producing their fish. The team found busting fish over and around the outside edges of grass lines in four to six feet of water. They fished two separate areas throughout the event. The team is sponsored by The Boat Shop, Ellis Batteries and Cape Janitorial Supply. The team wins a new fully rigged Legend LE 185 with a Mercury 150 Opti Max

3rd Place Terry Holmes and Terry Young

Coming in fourth place was the Smithland Pool team of Kerry Betz and Jim Hammersley They weighed in a five fish limit on day one seeing the scales reach 13.90 lbs. They only were able to bring three fish to the scales on day 2 but they were dandies and weighed in at 14.12 lbs. The day two bag was anchored by the Big bass of the day weighing 6.67 lbs. The team earned checks totaling $4,300.00

4th place and day two big bass Kerry Betz and Jim Hammersley

Tournament Notables:

Day one leaders Chris Shultz and Jeff Denton weighed in four smaller fish on day two and ended the event in 11th place winning $1,200.00

The second place day one team of Schimsa and Beczkala struggled on day two and failed to weigh a fish. Their fish seemed to have moved from the area.

Chuck Davis and Robby Biggiliazzi moved from 53rd place on day one with a little over 7 pounds to 16th place with a limit over 15lbs and won $700.00

Danniel York and Chuck Rounds had one fish on day one weighing a little over 2 pounds and were in 126th place but had big stringer of the tournament on day two weighing 19.48 lbs moving them into 21st place and taking home $400.00

12 fish were weighed for big bass over 5 lbs.

Three of the top five teams were from the Wappapello Division

Paying places went to teams from 14 different divisions.

Plans are in the works to add new trails to Region 3 in 2008. Anyone who may be interested in becoming a director in 2008 should contact Rick Byrnes at 618-496-3610 or at rickb@actournaments.com