Grand Ol Catch : Siloam angler reels in $21,000
Posted on Sunday, July 20, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/hl/Sports/25104/
Siloam Springs resident James Humphrey doesn have to worry about his fishing expenses for the coming year.
On June 28-29, Humphrey collected $ 21, 000 for his first-place finish in the Big Bass Bash / Anglers in Action Tournament held at Grand Lake in Grove, Okla.
Along with his partner, David Powlowski, the dynamic duo split the earnings with each receiving $ 10, 500.
Now I can help pay for my wifes expenses to attend dental hygenie school, Humphrey said.
Plus, a lot of my fishing expenses will now be taken care of, which include my entry fees and boat pay ments.
Humphrey caught his prize-winning 6. 47-pound large mouth bass at approximately noon on June 28.
The Cobb lab specialist said he used a chartreuse and blue Bill Norman DD 22 crankbait to reel in his lunker
I was pretty surprised, Humphrey said. You never know what to expect.
Humphrey added that the weather was pretty over cast, rainy and even saw a cold-front pass through.
On Sunday, the coldness burned off and we had blue bird skies, he said. I was able to catch a lot of 3- and 4 pound fish but nothing that was weighable.
Humphreys 6. 47-pound bass was weighed in at 1 p. m. June 28 and held on for the first-place finish through final weigh-in on June 29.
I thought if we played our cards right, we would for sure get hourly but never thought it would hold up for the weekend, Humphrey said. The other day, an 8-pound bass won the Triton / Skeeter tournament at Grand Lake.
Grand Lake, which is higher than normal, according to Humphrey, is still producing good-size bass at all depths.
We (myself and David ) like to fish the shallows and stay off the banks, Humphrey said.
Humphrey continued that his passion for bass fishing started in 1994 following his senior year of high school.
I got involved with a friend of mine, who at the time was working for Webb Wheel and just fishing local tournaments, Humphrey said. He (Jason Vaughn ) wanted the bass boat, and I went on to college.
The local tournaments, in my opinion, are a lot more fun because you can keep your family alive and still keep the competitiveness going, too.
The winners of each weigh-in every two hours during the tournament won $ 1, 000, and an additional $ 20, 000 was awarded to the overall winner.