Get you some Crazy Crappie Cash Saturday!

The story behind the upcoming Crazy Crappie Cash tournament on D’Arbonne is quite interesting. But first let’s hit the details.

The tournament is a one-day, big crappie tournament March 4 on D’Arbonne with hourly payouts and a grand prize. It’s designed where everybody has an equal chance to win and you don’t need a sack full of slabs — just one good bite. And the best bite of all – from the biggest crappie of the day – will win some lucky angler a check for $5,000. Plus, there are hourly prizes and a lot more.

You can register online at crazycrappiecash.com to beat the rush. And, the tournament organizers will have an informational meeting at K&M in Farmerville on Friday, March 3rd at 6pm. You can also get registered, pick up your weigh token and we will go over all the rules and answer questions! They will also be at K&M on Saturday morning from 5:00-5:45am so the last minute anglers can register and pick up weigh tokens!

Cash and prizes will be given for the biggest crappie at each of eight hourly weigh-ins, starting with the first at 8 a.m. and ending with the last at 4 p.m. The number of places paid will depend on the number of entrants. And it’s shaping up to be possibly the biggest tournament on the lake all season.

It’s literally a tournament for everybody, whether you fish with a cane pole and red bobber out of an aluminum boat or with a dozen $200 graphite crappie poles out of a $100,000 fishing rig.

And that’s the premise of the whole tournament, plus it’s a great chance for crappie fishermen to have a good time, win prizes and promote Lake D’Arbonne.

It’s the brainchild of Farmerville resident Bradley Isaac, shown here, and fishing friends Steve Adams and Shane Hodge, who have put this thing together.

“We were literally on the road to the duck camp when Shane and I started talking about having a tournament that could include professionals and the local, common crappie fishermen where everybody would be on a level playing field. There’s no way regular working guys can compete with the guys who shoot for 14 pound bags every time they go out, but anybody can catch a two or two and a half pound crappie at any minute.”

Entry fee is $125, which is affordable and allows for some really good cash paybacks. Last year it was $500, $240 and $120 for the top three places. It could be more this year, again depending on the number of entrants. For the hourly weigh ins, they will pay out the following spots 1-49 registered=3 spots paid; 50-99 registered=4 spots paid; 100+ registered =5 spots paid. Plus, the top prize!

“It’s not just about catching a big crappie and rushing in the weigh, either,” Shane said. “There’s a game within the game trying to figure out which hour would be best to weigh your big one.”

Finding a good name to go with the idea ended up being one of the easy parts.

“Shane and I were talking about the format for the tournament and how it would be great for one fish to win some big cash prize and I said, ‘Man, that would be some crazy crappie cash’ and that stuck. That was it,” Isaac said. As with all good ideas, making it come about takes a lot of work and Shane just laughs when he was asked if he realized how much time and effort it would take.

But he said it has been worth it, to see something good happening for everybody who loves to fish. And it has kept him, Adams and Hodge busy for months. There’s another plus, too.

“It’s amazing the amount of support the sponsors and town have given us,” he said. “It makes you proud to see something good like this happening and knowing that you are taking care of the fishermen first. At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun and giving the little guys and the big guys a chance to compete together on a level playing field and make it the best possible for the fishermen and the community.”

Sponsors of the event are K&M Coffee, Corks and Camo, City of Farmerville, Enviro Rentals, CarZone USA, Rhett’s, Patric’s Plumbing, Origin Bank, Karl Malone Toyota, BG, Ludwig, Simpson’s, Benoit Ford, MML&H, Mechanical Cooling Services, Marion State Bank, Big Star, Cooters, Wood Marine, Yates and Booth, HH Rods, Monster Marine Lithium, K9 Fishing, B&M Fishing, ACC, Jenko, Ozark, Beatdown Outdoors, Black Speck Fishing, Mudhole Crazy Jigs, Born to Tie and L&B Custom Jigs.