Nineteen sacks with each holding over twenty pounds of bass were weighed in, but it was the husband and wife team of Ashley and Mike Gibbs of Hemphill, TX who took home the crown weighing in over 31 pounds at the Texas Shootout at Sam Raybrun.
From the very beginning the bite on Big Sam was exceptional. Troy Reed and Jeremy Stone brought in the first sack over 20 pounds, also establishing the mark to beat for Big Bass, weighing in a total of 23.67 pounds with an 8.03 lb kicker.
The Gibbs locked in a 31.64 pounds, guaranteeing 1st place purse of $50,000 and another $200 from Sure Life for using the product in their livewell.
“We started out in deep water, 25 feet coming up to about 17 feet, just hoping they would be there,” said Mike. The couple were fishing this particular spot during the McDonalds tournament.
The area had deep flooded stumps, coming up to gravel and rock.
“We caught our biggest fish on the first cast,” continue Mike. The bite slowed so they tried another spot about a quarter of a mile away. “We caught two more nice fish there (a ridge).
At that point the smallest fish in their limit weighed about 2 ½ pounds. “We finally caught one about 4 ½ pounds that allowed us to cull the 2 ½ pound fish. That pretty much made our day.”
Spike Stoker of Stephenville, TX and Randy Sullivan of Breckenridge took second place honors at 29.57 lbs., but won Big Bass as well with their 10.52 lb kicker.
“We fished deep water all day, explained the anlers. Using big spoons, jigs and crank baits, they concentrated their efforts at deep points and brush piles.
Stoker and Sullivan estimate having around 15 spots they checked several times throughout the day.
“We put one in the boat around 8 ½ - 9 pounds, then lost one about the same size not too long after that. They added several other quality fish for their limit. Their smallest fish was three pounds, with the best fish being the 10 pounder.
In third place were Nick Diberardino of Onalaska, TX and Larry Cotton of Huffman with a total of 26.75 lbs, including a big bass of nine pounds.
“We started out fishing frogs, and caught our first fish in about 30 minutes,” said Diberardino. “We kept fishing frogs for a while, and when that bite quit we just went flippin the rest of the day.”
4 BRENT BROUSSARD
ROSENBERG , TX JASON BONDS
LUFKIN , TX 5 0 26.50 $5000.00
5 RUSSELL CECIL
WILLIS , TX TODD CASTLEDINE
NACOGDOCHES , TX 5 0 26.14 $3000.00
6 DAVID CURTIS
TRINITY , TX MARK MUECK
LIVINGSTON , TX 5 0 25.58 $2500.00
7 MICHAEL LAFLEUR
ORANGEFIELD , TX CLAYTON BOULWARE
ZAVALLA , TX 5 0 25.54 $1800.00
7 RYAN REYNOLDS
LUFKIN , TX JASON LAWSON
CORRIGAN , TX 5 0 25.54 $1800.00
9 MARK EVERETT
ARP , TX SCOTT PICKETT
CHANDLER , TX 5 0 25.53 $1300.00
10 JAMES LITTLEFORD
LITTLE ELM , TX MIKE GARRETT
HUMBLE , TX 5 0 25.49 $1200.00
