Lady Angler Steals Today's Spotlight

Lovely Lady Diana Morath (at right) had ample reason to be celebrating today when tournament director Wayne Hayes passed out pay envelopes to all of the winners. For lack of a better way of putting it, she flat kicked all the guys' collective butts by flopping a 7.53-lb. bass on the scales at weigh-in. And hubby Andy was perfectly agreeable to letting her have her moment of fame.

It indeed was nice to see both Diana and Andy share the spotlight at the end of a day when they led the way among a field of 21 anglers in 13 boats. A total of 50 bass were brought to the scales, for a combined weight of 110.57 lbs. Those numbers translate into an average weight per fish of 2.21 lbs. and an average weight per boat, among those 11 that weighed fish, of 10.05 lbs.

Besides Diana walking away with today's big-fish pot, as well as the lead in the 2021 lunker-of-the-year honors, she and Andy also claimed 1st place with a bag that tipped the scales at 18.10 lbs. It would be a gross understatement to say they brought their A-game.

Finishing in 2nd place was Chris Napier, also with a five-fish limit, weighing in at 15.24 lbs. His big fish was a 4.48-pounder.

Rounding out the money-winners today was Eddie Sapp, who took 3rd place with 13.54 lbs. He didn't have a big fish.

Here is how the rest of the field stacked up:

     * The team of Raymond Allen and Tim Clark, five fish, 13.29 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, 10.64 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five fish, 9.49 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Fred Crawford and Gabe Himmelwright, five fish, 9.12 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Bobby Moore and Skip Schaible, five fish, 7.70 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Mark Ingram, five fish, 7.20 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of "Doc" Murdock and Ken Testorff, four fish, 4.37 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Wayne Hayes, one fish, 1.78 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Jim Calhoun and the team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean didn't weigh any fish.

Congratulations to all of today's winners. And many thanks to everyone who participated in today's event. Sincerely hope you will try to join us again on Saturday, May 22, when we assemble once again at West Neck Marina for another tournament. Until then, Tight Lines! one and all.

One Last Cast

Most times, if an angler makes a cast with a topwater bait and immediately sees a giant swirl under it, followed by a strike that makes the rod bend pretty good, you usually can take it for granted that you've just hooked up with a decent-sized keeper fish. As I learned today, however, that isn't always the case.

My partner and I were in Albright's chunkin' and windin'  this morning, when such a set of circumstances materialized. In my mind, I was certain that I was going to boat a 2- or 3-pound bass. Not so, however.

As my partner netted the fish and lifted it aboard, it was abundantly evident the fish might not even measure 12 inches. I suppose a larger fish could have been in the same vicinity as the dink, but it sure seemed like a giant twist of fate that will make me think twice if the same thing ever happens again.