February 14, 2004
Lake Claiborne, LA
Atkins And Butler Take North Central Louisiana Opener
 |
| 1st Place |
|
|
Cloudy, dreary, cold, rain,
just plain miserable. Water temperature 41 degrees,
air temperature 38 degrees, wind 5 to 10 out of the
North, forecast calling for snow, and we are trying
to have the first North Central Louisiana Angler's Choice
Tournament for the 2004 season. When safe light came,
and it was time for the tournament to start, there were
31 boats in the water, with the most dedicated anglers
ready to rocket off across the frigid waters of Lake
Claiborne in search of a bass that wasn't to cold to
open his mouth.
One hour after the tournament
started it began to rain, and it rained all day except
for when it was sleeting. Man this was a perfect day…..
to be deer hunting …. In a box stand ….with
a good butane heater.
To make a long story short,
it was a very tough day on Lake Claiborne. Of the 31
teams entered in the event only 16 were able to boat
at least one fish. There were no 5 fish limits caught,
and the winning weight was the lowest on record for
the North Central Louisiana Teams circuit. Ronnie Atkins
and Allen Butler claimed the first place check of $1420
with 3 fish that weighed in at 7.40 pounds. Ronnie and
Allen caught their winning stringer in Horse Creek on
a Jig around boat docks. Allen said that if you moved
the bait at all you were fishing it to fast.
Second place went to Craig
Kolb and Mickey Fontana with 4 fish weighing 6.68 pounds.
Craig and Mickey collected $710 for their efforts. Last
year's Anglers of the Year Team of Glynn Blankinship
and Kenny Covington took the third place check of $555
with three fish that weighed 6.50 pounds. Forth place
went to the rookie team of Chris Patton and Jerrod Gray
with 2 fish that weighed in at 5.13 pounds. The young
men from Downsville collected $330 for their first Angler's
Choice Tournament. Stan and Scott Smith collected a
check for $180 for their 5.07 pound Fifth place finish,
and Todd Miley and Brent Bigelow's 4.07 pound bass collected
the big bass check of $310.
We will be at Lake D'Arbonne
on March 6th for our next tournament. This should be
one of the best tournaments of the year if the water
begins to warm so come out and join us. Angler's Choice
Directors: Dale and Gayle Taylor
|
