Crappie USA Tournament Results for Alabama’s Weiss Lake
OutdoorHub 03.10.13
This past Saturday March 9th Crappie USA held a qualifying event on Weiss Lake at Leesburg, Alabama. These anglers from 8 different states were competing for not only cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic. This year’s classic will be held October 23-26, 2013 on Kentucky Lake at Paris, Tennessee.
Semi-Pro Division Results
Taking first place was the team of Donny Burris of Gradyville, Kentucky and Darren Adams of Columbia, Kentucky with a total weight of 8.13 pounds and earning $1,200.00. Donny and Darren were fishing in Little River pulling jigs at .5 MPH in 20 feet of water. The team was concentrating on pre-spawn females which were located under schools of shad. Most of the 20 fish they caught were on black/chartreuse jigs.
Second place went to the Gilbert, South Carolina team of Janette and Joe Carter weighing in 7.88 pounds and earned $700.00. Janette and Joe also earned an additional $250.00 for taking the Ranger Cup award in the semi-pro division. The team was long line trolling under power lines catching suspended fish in 7-15 feet of water using bright orange and acid rain Southern Pro jigs tipped with Stubby Steve’s bait in very stained waters to catch 35 fish for the day.
In third place was the Rainsville, Alabama team of Tony Thomas and Michael Hardeman weighing in 7.76 pounds and earning $500.00. Tony and Michael were fishing Cowan Creek pulling clear jigs with metal flake in 11 feet of water to catch 50-60 fish for the day.
Amateur Division Results
First place in the amateur division was the Cave Springs, Georgia team of Stanley and Leonard Steed weighing in 8.9 pounds and earning $900.00. Stanley and Leonard also earned $150.00 for second biggest crappie of the event with a xxx pound crappie. The team was fishing up the river near the Georgia State line in 2-6 feet of water on blue/brown homemade jigs and caught over 50 keeper fish long line trolling, targeting spawning females in shallow water.
Second place went to the Piedmont, Alabama team of Donny Butler and MO Spears who weighed in 8.44 pounds and earned $500.00. Donny and MO were long line trolling a 3 mile area of the lake in 6 feet of water using chartreuse jigs to catch over 60 fish for the day.
Taking third place was the Centre, Alabama team of Kelly and Justin Matthews weighing in 8.29 pounds and earned $300.00. The team was fishing a 3 mile area long line trolling in 2-4 feet of water using blue/chartreuse and black/chartreuse jigs to catch 30 fish for the day.
In fourth was the team of Neal Alvis of Rogersville, Tennessee and Scott Bunch of Morristown, Tennessee with a weight of 7.85 pounds and earning $200.00. Neal and Scott also earned an additional $125.00 for taking the Ranger Cup Award in the Amateur Division. Neal and Scott were shooting docks in the mid section of the lake catching their best in 12 feet of water using blue/chartreuse Crappie Magnets to catch nearly 50 fish for the day.
Fifth place went to the Centre, Alabama team of Knox and Max Wilson weighing in 7.01 pounds and earning $150.00. The team also earned an additional $400.00 for catching big fish of the event with a 1.87 pound crappie. The team fished above the 3 mile area flipping brush in 11 feet of water using black/chartreuse jigs to catch 25-30 fish for the day.
Congratulations to all the teams fishing this event. For a complete list of tournament standings and downloadable photos for this event visit www.crappieusa.com then go to Tournament Results.
Crappie USA Free Kids Fishing Rodeo
In conjunction with the tournament Crappie USA held their Kids Rodeo on Saturday morning with several local children attending the event. All the participants signed up for a chance to win one of 6-$1,000.00 scholarships to be drawn for at the Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic.
Crappie USA and our anglers have contributed nearly $316,000.00 to the “Crappie Kids” Scholarships since 1997. We are very proud to be a part of the education process for the youngsters who participate in our tournaments as adult/youth teams and those who fish in the Crappie USA “Kids Fishing Rodeos”.
“A special thanks goes out to Mayor Ed Mackey and all the folks in the city of Leesburg for their hospitality during the week”, said Crappie USA CEO Darrell VanVactor. “All our anglers had a great time while at Leesburg and we always look forward to returning to Weiss Lake”, said VanVactor.
Stats for the Tournament:
Weather-Winds 5-10 MPH with high temperatures in the 50’s and cloudy most of the day.
