Big Bass event Saturday; Ouachita winners

Bobby Milner and last year’s 10.32 big bass winner!

The third annual Fishers of Men Easter Big Bass Open will be held on Lake D’Arbonne Saturday, April 18, with family fun night and registration to be held Friday at 6 p.m. at the North Louisiana Exhibition Center in Ruston.

Hourly paybacks include $500 for first, $250 for second and $150 for third and overall Big Bass pays $3,000. It looks like the tournament will be a good indicator of spring bass fishing on the lake. Hopefully the rain and cold front will have had time to subside and the fish will be on their best biting behavior!

Weigh-ins start at 7 a.m. at the marine dealer in Farmerville and hourly results will be broadcast over Z-107.5 radio.

The Friday Night Family fun night featuring Chris Wells, the “Bass Chaplain (http://www.chriswells.org) will be Friday night at 6 p.m.

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Eugene and Nathan Morris took a hour-long boat ride on the Ouachita River, but it proved worth it as the duo flipped trees with Texas-rigged plastics to win first place in the North Central Louisiana division of the Fishers of Men tournament on the river Saturday. Fishing was tough with the river level coming up five feet in the week previous to the tournament.

The anglers’ investment paid big dividends as the strategy produced a five fish limit of 14.32 pounds and 1st place honors for the tournament. Included in that stringer was the overall big bass of the day caught by Eugene weighing 4.60 pounds. In total, the anglers earned a payout of nearly $2,600.

Todd Miley and Brett Hortman weighed in the second place stringer, five fish weighing 12.60 for a payout of $965. They used a combination of

Eugene and Nathan Morris with the winning Ouachita catch.

spinnerbaits, chatter baits and a buzzbait.

Rounding out the top three was the team of John Ross and Ronnie Sanderson with their five largest waiting in at 11.33 pounds. For this 3rd place finish, the team earned $709. Other money winners in the tournament included: 4th place—Lonnie Dean and James Harris (5 fish, 10.34 pounds), 5th place—Brian Leonard and Bert Perry (4 fish, 10.03 pounds), 6th place—Todd Wolff and Jason Tucker (5 fish, 8.93 pounds), 7th place—Mark Price and Martin Elshout (5 fish, 8.82 pounds), and “just out of the money” consolation prize—Scott Smith and Stacy Boggs (5 fish, 8.72 pounds).

On the evening prior to the event, Patrick Bernson, director of One (a human trafficking ministry in New Orleans), served as guest speaker at the pre-tournament meeting held at McClendon Baptist Church of West Monroe.

With three of the five tournaments of the season complete, the race for the points championship (the winner of which receives a cash payout as well as an automatic berth to the national championship) is beginning to take shape. Currently, Greg Terzia and Ron Aulds are leading the race, followed by reigning champions Kenny and Courtney Harris in 2nd and the team of Lonnie Dean and James Harris in 3rd. The North Central Louisiana Fishers of Men division will hold the next tournament on Saturday, May 10 on Lake D’Arbonne. For information, log on to the website at http://www.fomntt.com or contact Tournament Director Brent Crawford: (318) 548-4196 or brentwade@aol.com.