2019 World Championship
Bass on The Fly Fishing Tournament
Results
The 10th World Championship Bass on The Fly Fishing Tournament was held at Lake Fork Marina on Saturday, May 25th. The weather was good on tournament day but the wind did pick up and made paddling a challenge for the kayakers. This year there were 62 competitors from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, California, and Louisiana.
There were a 20 teams (37 people) entered in the boater division and 25 in the kayak division. Eleven (55%) of the boater teams caught fish with four 5-fish limits. A total of 43 fish were photographed by the boaters. It was tougher for the kayakers where only 9 (36%) of them caught 20 fish and there were two limits. This is a catch-photo-release tournament so even the Lake Fork slot fish can be measured to get the total length of the longest 5 fish caught.
The 2019 World Champions are:
Boater Division
1. Bubba Headrick & Dennis North $800. 78.5
2. Johnny Martinez & Suresh Venu, $400. 77.5
3. Don & Kim Penick,, $325
4. Rex White & Eric Dilts, $240
5. Timothy Kapp & David Howse, $140
Big Bass Matt Lough, 21, $180
Kayak Division
1. Kevin Fuller, $400. 63.5
2. Peter Maddox, $285
3. Andrew Wesling, $225
4. Wade Peterson, $170
5. Catch Cormier, $80
Big Bass Tie, Wade Peterson & Greg McMullen, 17, $125
(Cash payouts are determined by the number of entries in each division.)
The winners consistently reported they caught fish on streamers, some of which were homemade, early in the day or around Noon. A few were caught on poppers and other surface flies. The fish were on windy points or around grass & lilly pads.
The winners of the boater division said they had a dream come true. They pulled up on their first stop, a windy point, and found bass chasing shad and caught their limit in 20 minutes! Their competitors said they sure were lucky, but they attributed it to superior skill and knowledge.
The optional Friday afternoon Blue Gill tournament paid $120 and was won by Catch Cormier with a 10.25 blue gill. This will be a new lake catch & release record!
The accuracy casting contest was won by Michael Schraeder, Jr. and the distance casting contest was won by Matt Lough. The winners each received the TFO NXT Combo that was used for the respective contest.
The early entry Sage Bass II rod with a matching Sage reel was donated by Sage Rods & Tailwaters Fly Shop. It was won by the guy in the blue shirt (name?).
The coveted TEAM trophy , and bragging rights, was retained by the Lone Star Fly Fishers of Tyler. They were the only club/team with fish from 3 participants. This makes them an easy target for next year.
The tournament donated $1005 to Reel Recovery (retreats for men with cancer) and $405 to the Texas Council of Fly Fishers International, both 501(c)3 organizations. A special thanks to those who donated their winnings back to these organizations.
Tournament Shirts and Hats were introduced at this years tournament and are still available. Contact tedwarren@peoplescom.net for more information.
Our great product sponsors provided door prizes which included rods, reel, fly lines, leaders, flies & fly boxes, waist pack, gift cards, belt, hats, shirts, sun gaiter, lip protection, sunscreen, key rings, towels, sunglass straps, line & rod cleaner, accessories, lodging, bracelets, a bayou painting, and many decals. Once again, we had enough prizes for everyone to win something thanks to our sponsors.
Our Sponsors include: Sage Rods, Skeeter Boats, Umpqua, Tailwaters Fly Shop, Redington, Rio, TFO Rods, Bass Pro Shop-Garland, Simms, Lake Fork Marina, Ranger Boats, Gypsy Jack Lures, Lone Star Fly Fishers, Gray Wolf Fly Shop, Sight Line Provisions, East Texas Fly Fishers, Mudfish Adventures, Flymen Fishing, Pultz Poppers, Bream Bugs, Mike George, R&M Associates, and the Wood County Industrial Commission. Thank you all for making this a fun tournament!
We will try to move next years tournament back to the first Saturday in May. Check the website,
www.bassonthefly.org, for the latest information.
Fly fishing clubs around the world -
bring your best bass fishers to see if they can measure up
to the clubs in North East Texas.
