I'd Like to Say It Was Wet, Wild and Wonderful...

However, that description really doesn't tell the truth about today's 2023 Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Classic field, consisting of all 21 participants who earned their spots by virtue of fishing five of the 10 regular-season qualifier contests. Oh, it was plenty wet...from about 10 a.m. through the remainder of the day, but I would be hard pressed to describe the action as "wild," and as far as "wonderful" goes, I reckon you could say that aptly described the 1st-place winner today, Mark Ingram (below).

This man weighed a limit of five bass that checked in at 13.02 pounds, anchored by a 6.36-pound largemouth that not only took today's big-fish pot but grabbed the seasonal-lunker prize, as well. And get this: Mark caught his lunker on his first cast at 7:05 this morning. How's that for starting your day on a positive note? That's not all, either. Mark also laid claim to the bigger of two side pots, giving himself a seldom-achieved four-figure payday in the Dewey series.

Taking the 2nd-place honors and the smaller side pot was the team of (from left) Eric Killian and Jim Crist, who brought a five-fish limit to the scales, weighing in at 11.80 pounds, and buoyed by a 4.96-pound big fish.

Finishing in 3rd place was the husband-wife team (left) of Andy and Diana Morath. They, too, weighed a five-fish limit, totaling 10.07 pounds, with no big fish.

Here is the order of finish for the remainder of the field:

     * Gary Coderre, five fish, total weight 9.77 pounds, 3.04-pound big fish.
     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, total weight 8.88 pounds, no big fish.
     * The team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean, five fish, total weight 8.39 pounds, no big fish.
     * The team of Rob Chatham and Craig Jones, five fish, total weight 8.22 pounds, 2.12-pound big fish.
     * The team of Ken Matthias and Jim Leavis, five fish, total weight 7.49 pounds, no big fish.
     * The team of Dave Anderson and Skip Schiable, three fish, total weight 6.44 pounds, no big fish.
     * Ryan Land, three fish, total weight 4.36 pounds, no big fish. I overheard this competitor explain that he spun the prop off his trolling motor about 9:30 this morning, which had to have created some challenging conditions for him the rest of the day.
     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff didn't weigh their three fish.
     * The team of Bobby Moore and J. P. Twohig left the tournament area early.

Tournament director Wayne Hayes began today's awards presentations by recognizing Dave Anderson as a repeat Angler of the Year winner. He then held a free raffle of several different prizes to various competitors. Rounding out the presentations was a first-of-its-kind plaque to the first-place winner, Mark Ingram (see earlier photo).

In conclusion, please allow me to apologize for the undeniable lack of quality in today's photos. I was too trusting of the low-light conditions today, especially since we had to hold the presentations on the porch of the marina store. The first two photos were barely passable, but the one I took of Andy and his bride was so bad I had to use a substitute from an earlier tournament.

I started the tournament today a bit unnerved by a medical matter I experienced yesterday. Thankfully, I was able to begin immediate treatment at home and appear to have overcome the situation...at least, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

That said, I also want to congratulate all of today's tournament winners on their performance under less-than-stellar weather conditions. Will be hoping that we see all of you back in March 2024, when we begin the new season. Until then, have a nice winter and enjoy all the holidays heading your way soon.

In the meantime, here's wishing all of you Tight Lines!