HISTORY MADE! LAKE FORK TX ONE POLE CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO NUGENT AND WOOD ON TIEBREAKR

HISTORY MADE! LAKE FORK TEXAS ONE POLE CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO NUGENT AND WOOD ON TIEBREAKER!


Crappie Masters, sponsored by The Renewable Fuels Association "Ethanol Fueled With Pride", American Ethanol, and Bass Pro Shops, Ozark Rods One Pole Ultimate Challenge on Lake Fork, Texas, Saturday, April 8 lived up to the hype and reputation as a consistent big crappie lake with 87 teams from numerous states participating in the tournament based in Emory, Texas. Teams faced high winds on tournament day which made fishing difficult in many areas on the lake! Being a one pole, artificial bait only tournament, did benefit most teams as trolling motor and boat control were also a challenge. When the dust settled, Crappie Masters history was made as when the weigh in was complete, there was a tie at the top of the leaderboard between the eventual winners, Chad Nugent and John Wood and Mr. Crappie, Wally Marshall and Jeff Heuman, both topping the scales with a 7 fish weight of 14.37 pounds. Crappie Masters rules state that in case of a tie for 1st place, the team that weighs the biggest fish will be ruled the tournament winner. In this case the biggest fish weighed between both teams, and the biggest fish of the tournament, a huge 3.30 pound Lake Fork giant, was brought to the scale by Nugent and Wood giving them the title!


Nugent and Wood stayed consistent with their strategy going into tournament day catching their weigh fish in 7 to 8 feet of water just off the bottom using a Top Secret Junebug colored jig fishing with 11 foot rear seat Jenko Hypersense Rods which they credited for the ability to swing fish in the boat, helping to allow them to maintain boat control. Nugent and Wood also credited their Humminbird electronics and Minn Kota trolling motor as a key to victory. The only fish the team did net was the huge 3.30 pound crappie they hooked at about 1:30 in the afternoon again using the Junebug colored jig which ran straight away from the boat. Nugent stated that partner Wood had the Jenko net under the fish within seconds thankfully as the hook came out of the fish’s mouth in the net. Side note: Nugent released the trophy to be caught another day following the weigh in!


Nugent and Wood collected $5000.00 for the win, $1218.00 for big fish, and also took home an additional $250.00 for using E-10 fuel in their boat from the Missouri Corn Growers Association and American Ethanol along with a $100.00 Jenko Fishing bonus for winning and using Jenko products! Nugent and Wood are sponsored by Jenko Fishing, Top Secret Baits, and Thomas Construction.


The hard luck, runner up position of second place was filled in by the legendary Wally Marshall "Mr. Crappie", and long time partner Jeff Heuman who although tied with Nugent and Wood weight wise, lost on the tiebreaker. Wally and Jeff caught their fish in 10 to 24 feet of water anywhere from 4 to 15 feet deep, and credited patience as a key to catching the bigger fish, and adaptability to move with the fish as the wind increased and the day progressed thanks to use of their Humminbird Helix 12 depth finder. Their Mercury powered boat, and Minn Kota Trolling Motor were also key in the team’s success! Marshall and Heuman took home a check for $2500.00 for the runner up position! Wally "Mr. Crappie" Marshall and Jeff Heuman are sponsored by Ranger boats, Ford, Lews, Strike King Lure Company, Bullet Weights, Betts, Tempress, Buck Knives, TH Marine, Humminbird, Minn Kota, and Mr. Crappie.


Third place and second big fish of the tournament honors went to the Ozark Rods team of David Cox and Steve Hockett. Cox and Hockett used 10 foot Ozark Rods fishing with a 3 inch Bobby Garland Cajun Cricket jig in 14 to 15 feet of water catching their weigh fish a foot off the bottom using Humminbird electronics and Minn Kota trolling motor along with the team’s Mercury powered Ranger boat. Cox and Hockett also stated they had to be patient for the bite to come. The team took home a check for $1500.00 for their finish and also collected an additional $522.00 for catching the second place big fish of the tournament, an impressive 2.68 pound Lake Fork dandy. Cox and Hockett are sponsored by Ozark Rods, Everharts Outdoor Store, Do-It Molds, and Rod Sox.


Top Male/Female Team honors went to the Green Machine Team of Jackie and Holly Linton who finished in fourth place overall in the tournament and took home $1250.00 for their finish along with a $100.00 Grizzly Jig Certificate for the top Male/Female honors.


Fifth place and winners of $1050.00 was the team of Marty Snider and Jackie Albin.


Top Adult/Youth team honors went to the father-son team of Riley and Reese Rawls who took home a $100.00 Everharts Outdoor Store gift card.

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Congratulations to all of the participants in the tournaments and especially to the winners!

My :twocents below in no way is meant to be a negative statement towards Crappie Masters or any of it's participants, just the contrary I would like nothing more than to see Crappie Master and other similar organizations rise up to reach their full potential in the world of tournament crappie sport fishing .

I do wonder though why the payouts remain to be so low??? Crappie Master is getting to be a big name in sport of crappie fishing and they are getting a lot of recognition, and the participants all seem to be just as professional and funded as the big bass tournament anglers that compete for the Big Bucks but still the payouts are very small in comparison. I don't know the tournament breakdown as for how deep the payout goes or even how much the entry fees are but it just seems to me if Crappie Master is going to be the supplement to B.A.S.S. in the crappie world it should be comparable to their payouts, with 77 teams and if entry fees were only $650 per team that would be over $50,000.00 in prize money going out which is where I believe they should be. Instead the pay outs with top prizes of only $5,000 may be better than most local clubs around the country but in the big picture not by much.

Good feedback. I'm seeing entry fees of $225 for one day events, and $325 for 2 day events. Here's their Schedule FYI: http://www.crappiemasters.net/home/i...tryReduced.pdf

And their payouts do go pretty deep as I understand it. They are a great outfit and they do a real good job. They keep it fun, and that's a good thing. Sure would be nice if they got even close to what the Bass tourneys turn out. But small is not necessarily bad, especially since the payouts do go deep, it is nice to receive a little something back for placing well.