Carolina Bassers
Lake Gaston Tournament April 23, 2005

Tourney Rundown
The first of three 2-day tournaments was held at Lake Gaston.  The weather once again played a role in this event.  35 anglers endured a strong front and winds arriving Saturday and cold/windy post front conditions on Sunday.  What should have been a "fish catching bonanza", with the full moon and the first major wave of fish to move to the beds, turned into an extremely tough bite for most competitors.  As with any tourney a few battled the tough conditions and managed some nice sacks.

Hal Abshire bested the field on the first day of competition with a 5 fish limit weighing 10.85 lbs, and reportedly was culling by 9:00am!

David "Buzzbait" Blanton ran away from the competition with an astonishing 4 fish weighing 14.72 lbs, quite a feat, considering the brutal conditions the field faced on Sunday.

Dave Haraway Reporting

Weather Conditions
Overcast/Mild with light rain at times - Temperature range: 45 to 72 degrees
Winds - 5 mph at blast off to 15-18 mph at weigh-in.
Water temp - 54 to 65 degrees

Tournament Data
Participants: 35
Youth Participants:  13
Participants catching fish: 30
Fished weighed:  90
Limits:  4
Fish weighing over 5 pounds:  1

Tournament Results                                                 Youth Results

Place Angler Bass Weight Place Angler Bass Weight
1st Hal Abshire 5 10.85 1st Tyler Teer 4 8.04
2nd Stephan Badarak 5 10.22 2nd Nick Bell 3 6.68
3rd Jim Crews 5 10.02 3rd Breanna Everly 3 5.36
4th David Blanton 3 9.30 4th Timmy Baker 3 4.37
5th Bob Cunningham 5 8.08 5th Joey Gwyn 3 3.14
Honorable Mention Honorable Mention
Gerald Rhodes 3 7.07 All Youth    
Big Fish Weight Big Fish Weight
Ed Wesley 5.02     Nick Bell 4.00  
   

 

Top 4 of 5 Right to Left  
Youth  
 
Tyler Teer 1st Place Youth Ed Wesley Big Fish 5.02 lbs.
 
Nick Bell Big Fish Youth