Five-Fish Limit for 10 of Today's 12 Boats

And it would have been 11 limits, if not for the fact one team had a rambunctious bass wiggle free during the transfer from livewell to weigh-in bag. The fish bounced once on the boat's hull before hitting the water and procuring its freedom.

The 18 anglers in 12 boats ended the day's competition with a total of 55 bass (including two dead fish), for a combined total weight of 114.84 lbs., a 2.08-lb. average weight per fish, and a 9.57 average weight per boat.

Here are the anglers who went home with a payday in their pockets:

1st Place, Eddie Sapp, five fish, 17.02 lbs. total weight, 3.94-lb. big fish.

2nd Place, the team of Dave Anderson & Ken Testorff (not pictured), five fish, 14.72 lbs. total weight, 3.88-lb. big fish.

3rd Place, Bob Glass, five fish, 14.70 lbs. total weight (after 0.25 deduction for one dead fish),  4.53-lb. big fish, which was good enough to earn him the day's lunker award.

Winners of the Mystery Weight award were the team of Steve Bailey and Bobby Moore (not pictured), whose 6.41 lbs. total weight (for four fish) was closest to the drawn weight of 5.75 lbs. They didn't have a big fish.






Here is how everyone else finished the day's competition:

     * The father-son team of Rick and Ricky Plemons, five fish, 10.74 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Stan Krason, five fish, 10.52 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Gary Coderre and Josh McCord, five fish, 9.95 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, 9.76 lbs. total weight, 2.57-lb. big fish.
     * Wayne Hayes, five fish, 6.78 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Tom Wells, five fish, 6.75 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Jim Crist and Eric Killian, five fish, 6.49 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Skip Schaible, one fish, 1.00 lb. total weight (after 0.25 deduction for a dead fish).

Two more anglers joined the list of those now eligible to participate in our season-ending, two-day Classic tournament. Those two new anglers are Eddie Sapp and Wayne Hayes.

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thanks to everyone who came out for today's event. I also take off my hat to those who helped me orchestrate everything.

For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 24, from safe light (about 6 or 6:15 a.m.) to weigh-in about 2:30 p.m. I hope you can join us.

One Last Cast

After today, the 2019 Angler of the Year competition lines up as follows:

Steve Bailey - 126.64 lbs.
Ken Testorff - 119.21 lbs.

Gary Coderre - 118.19 lbs.

Bobby Moore - 112.11 lbs.
Dave Anderson - 111.07 lbs.

Rob Peppers - 108.25 lbs.

Don Carter - 100.45 lbs.

Stan Krason - 96.00 lbs.

With five more qualifying events remaining on the season's schedule, it's still anyone's ballgame to win or lose.

Incidentally, on a different note, the "large sponges in the livewell" trick I've talked about in a couple of previous postings didn't work as well today as it has in the past. For most of the day, the fish were anything but calm.