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ABA District 45 Toledo Bend 1-10-09 Results
Horrible, that's the only way to describe the weather for the 4th tournament of ABA District 45 held on Toledo Bend January 10. When the 40 anglers lined up to start the day there was fog and mild temperatures. Then the fog was replaced by 30 MPH winds, scattered rain and falling temperatures. At 10:30 a cold front blew in and the Big Bend got rough. Anglers returned to the weigh-in with broken equipment and sore bodies from fighting the 3 to 4 feet swells on the main lake. There was almost nowhere on the lake you could escape the wind.
Despite the rough conditions, Tony Clemens ran his Evinrude powered Triton to the mid lake area and put together a nice stringer of bass. Tony fished Rat-L-Traps around grass in 2 to 3 feet of water to catch over 15 keepers with his best five weighing 15.74 lbs. Clemens caught some fish early but really started putting good fish in the boat after the cold front hit. For his efforts Tony won $705.00 plus $500.00 from Triton Gold.
Second place finisher and American Rodsmiths Big Bass of the Tournament winner Dean West of Lake Charles also fought the rough water and ran his Yamaha powered Skeeter 250 ZX to the mid lake area of Toledo. Dean fished spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps in 2 to 6 feet of water around drains and grass to catch over 15 keepers. When the scales settled Dean's bag weighed 13.47 lbs, just .01 lbs over the next stringer. Dean also won the American Rodsmiths Big Bass of the Tournament with 4.33 lbs bass. For the catching the big bass West won $200.00 and an American Rodsmiths fishing rod. West commented that he caught most of his fish from 7:30 to 12:00. Dean West is sponsored by Dawson Marine and is a member of Team Skeeter.
Ricky Blankinship of Many, LA found himself just .01 lbs short of second place (about 2 drops of water). His 13.46 lbs stringer took third place and $203.00. Like Clemens and West, Blankinship ran his 200 ZX Yamaha powered Skeeter to the mid lake area and fished Rat-L-Traps in shallow water around drains and grass. Spinnerbaits also helped Ricky catch over 30 keepers. Unlike most contestants in the 40 boat field Blankinship was able to catch fish all day.
Rounding out the field were Jerry Coutee in 4th place with 11.91, Terry Helgeson in 5th place with 11.62, and Chris Clemens in 6th with 11.38. Robert More finished one place out of the money with 11.30 and won the Rat-L-Trap award for the tournament. More recieved a package of Rat-L-Traps donated by Bill Lewis Lures.
We would like to thank all the anglers from this weekend and look forward to seeing them at our next ABA District 45 event on the Calcasieu River January 31. Special Thanks to our District sponsors American Rodsmiths and Bill Lewis Lures, maker of the Rat-L-Trap.
Despite the rough conditions, Tony Clemens ran his Evinrude powered Triton to the mid lake area and put together a nice stringer of bass. Tony fished Rat-L-Traps around grass in 2 to 3 feet of water to catch over 15 keepers with his best five weighing 15.74 lbs. Clemens caught some fish early but really started putting good fish in the boat after the cold front hit. For his efforts Tony won $705.00 plus $500.00 from Triton Gold.
Second place finisher and American Rodsmiths Big Bass of the Tournament winner Dean West of Lake Charles also fought the rough water and ran his Yamaha powered Skeeter 250 ZX to the mid lake area of Toledo. Dean fished spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps in 2 to 6 feet of water around drains and grass to catch over 15 keepers. When the scales settled Dean's bag weighed 13.47 lbs, just .01 lbs over the next stringer. Dean also won the American Rodsmiths Big Bass of the Tournament with 4.33 lbs bass. For the catching the big bass West won $200.00 and an American Rodsmiths fishing rod. West commented that he caught most of his fish from 7:30 to 12:00. Dean West is sponsored by Dawson Marine and is a member of Team Skeeter.
Ricky Blankinship of Many, LA found himself just .01 lbs short of second place (about 2 drops of water). His 13.46 lbs stringer took third place and $203.00. Like Clemens and West, Blankinship ran his 200 ZX Yamaha powered Skeeter to the mid lake area and fished Rat-L-Traps in shallow water around drains and grass. Spinnerbaits also helped Ricky catch over 30 keepers. Unlike most contestants in the 40 boat field Blankinship was able to catch fish all day.
Rounding out the field were Jerry Coutee in 4th place with 11.91, Terry Helgeson in 5th place with 11.62, and Chris Clemens in 6th with 11.38. Robert More finished one place out of the money with 11.30 and won the Rat-L-Trap award for the tournament. More recieved a package of Rat-L-Traps donated by Bill Lewis Lures.
We would like to thank all the anglers from this weekend and look forward to seeing them at our next ABA District 45 event on the Calcasieu River January 31. Special Thanks to our District sponsors American Rodsmiths and Bill Lewis Lures, maker of the Rat-L-Trap.
Tony Clemens
"Winner"
Dean West
"2nd Place and Big Bass "
Ricky Blankinship
"3rd Place"
Money Winners from Left to Right
Ricky Blankinship, Tony Clemens, Chris Clemens,Terry Helgeson, Jerry Coutee, Dean West, Robert More
Sean "Yogurt" Meche
