Bassmaster Central Open heads to Louisiana's Red River
At stake is a $56,000 top prize, which includes a Triton/Mercury boat package, valuable points toward the 2008 Bassmaster Classic and qualification for the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series. And with only a September visit to Texas' Lake Amistad remaining, this tournament promises to be pivotal for those anglers with higher goals.
One of those is Homer Humphreys, a former Classic qualifier, winner of a past BASS tournament on these waters and a longtime guide in the river.
"The way it's looking, the fishing's going to be pretty tough," the Minden, La., pro said. "The river is going to have a lot of boat pressure on it and these fish tend to shut down with boat pressure.
"Also, the fish are in transition. They've just finished spawning. Usually, this time of year I won't be on the river guiding for bass because they're not in the holes yet. They're still in transition mode. You catch them here today and they're gone in the morning. They're just moving a lot in this high water."
Humphreys noted that the river experienced a 4-foot rise in recent days.
When asked to predict the winning weight, Humphreys said. "I personally think 12 pounds a day would be great. Somebody is going to catch 15 pounds one day, but they won't do it consistent."
That's a far cry from some previous winning weights on the river, including Davy Hite's winning weight of 41 pounds, 8 ounces at a Bassmaster Tour event and Brent Chapman's catch of 50-13 at an Open tournament in 2000.
But it would be similar to Sean Hoernke's winning weight of 36-2 the last time BASS visited the river with an Open-level circuit in November 2005.
This time, Humphreys looks for topwater plugs to be especially effective during the June tournament.
"The hydrilla off the river really looks good and it's the only way to get away from the muddy water," he said. "That's where the last three or four tournaments have been won with this high water.
"Where I won this tournament at, all that's muddy. So I won't go back there."
The full field will compete in the first two rounds. On the final day (Saturday), the field will be reduced to the top 30 pros and co-anglers. The winner of the co-angler division will win a Triton/Mercury package valued at $32,000, plus $2,000 in cash.
Daily launches and weigh-ins will be held at the Stoner Avenue Boat Ramp. The launches will begin at 6 a.m. ET. and weigh-ins will begin at 2 p.m. ET.
Sponsors of the Bassmaster Southern and Central Opens include Toyota, Purolator, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Berkley, Lowrance Electronics and MotorGuide.
For more information, contact BASS Communications at (407) 566-2208 or visit www.bassmaster.com. Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN's latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.
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BASS sanctions and stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry's widest array of services and support to its nearly 530,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.
Bassmaster Central Open Points Standings
------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Brian Clark Texas 305 2 Trevor Rogge Minn. 300 3 Dave Wolak N.C. 290 4 Pete Cherkas Iowa 285 5 Bradley Hallman Okla. 280 6 Jay Fuller Okla. 276 7 Charlie King La. 272 8 CLARK Reehm Ark. 268 9 Chip Hawkins Ark. 264 10 Scott Dean Texas 260 11 Matt Hupp Texas 259 12 Pat Golden N.C. 257 13 Anton Silvester Ill. 251 14 Alan Kelly Okla. 248 15 Craig Schuff Texas 245 16 James Morgan Okla. 243 17 Jason Christie Okla. 241 18 MIKE PICKETT Ky. 239 19 Ken Adamson Ark. 237 20 Bobby Myers Okla. 235 21 Teddy Bogard Ark. 233 22 Steve Sennikoff Texas 231 23 Dee Cagle Texas 229 24 Paul Ferguson Texas 227 25 Randy Allen La. 225 26 Doug Stump Okla. 223 27 Gary Graffagnino La. 221 28 STAN GERZSENYI Texas 219 29 Thomas Loving Texas 217 30 Jeff Bruhl La. 215 31 Chad Griffin Texas 213 32 Danny Smith La. 211 33 Matt Mize Ark. 209 34 Rob Lee Ala. 207 35 Royce Dennington Okla. 205 36 Stacy Leonard La. 203 37 Wayne Brown Okla. 201 38 Trent Huckaby Texas 199 39 Ryan Lovelace Texas 197 40 Larry Byrd La. 194 40 Thomas Law Texas 194 42 Craig Gipe Ky. 191 43 Vincent Parello Texas 189 44 Jason Cyboron Neb. 187 45 Dwayne Mcpeek Texas 185 46 Ross Watkins Miss. 183 47 Billy McCaghren Jr. Ark. 181 48 Dave Parsons Texas 179 49 Mark Hicks Ohio 176 49 Monty Fralick S.D. 176 51 Gary Riffle Texas 170 51 Randy Dearman Texas 170 51 Scott Ashmore Okla. 170 51 Corey Waldrop Texas 170 55 Billy Brewer Texas 165 56 Jeff Vanderpool Ark. 163 57 Al Fisher Ark. 161 58 Randy Alexander Ky. 159 59 Dean Gilbert Texas 157 60 Benjamin Jackson Okla. 155 61 Matthew McCabe La. 153 62 Jeff Cloud Texas 151 63 Sean Hoernke Texas 148 63 Steve Pyle Ky. 148 65 Robert Byrd Texas 145 66 Casey Merriman Texas 142 66 James Harrison Texas 142 68 Darren Burkett Okla. 139 69 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 137 70 Michael Burns Texas 135 71 Teb Jones Miss. 133 72 Mark Smith La. 131 73 Marvin Ettredge La. 127 73 Yoshikazu Sato 127 73 Sherman Nofire Okla. 127 76 PATRICK PIERCE Fla. 122 76 Ronald Rogers Fla. 122 78 J TODD TUCKER Ga. 118 78 Timmy Reneau Texas 118 80 Cliff Crochet La. 115 81 Glenn Eastwood Ark. 113 82 Ray Brazier Tenn. 111 83 Richard Kennedy La. 109 84 Ray Hanselman Texas 106 84 Randy McCarty Ky. 106 86 David Sherrer La. 102 86 Darrell West Ark. 102 88 Trent Loukas Texas 97 88 David Stewart Texas 97 88 Logan Sherrer La. 97 91 Aaron Lee Jakub Neb. 93 92 E.P. Fletcher Ark. 91 93 Donnie Courtney La. 89 94 Joe Gilbert Texas 87 95 Shawn Rook Ark. 83 95 Wes Roberts Ark. 83 95 Max Wayne Grubb Ark. 83 98 Raul Morineau Mexico 78 98 Kip Bodkin Texas 78 100 Ryan Brown La. 76 101 Austin Banks Miss. 75 102 LEE COX Md. 74 103 Dale Jackson Texas 73 104 Rick Pierce Ark. 72 105 Steven Bunt N.Y. 71 106 Chad Kallina Texas 70 107 Keith Phillips Texas 68 107 Mike Lott Texas 68 109 Travis Loyd Ill. 67 110 Brandon Mosley Okla. 66 111 Doug Drummonds Ark. 65 112 Dean Perkins Texas 64 112 Sean Wieda Ohio 64 114 Jason Welch Texas 62 115 Bob Morin Tenn. 61 116 Guy Adams Texas 60 117 Frank Boothe N.M. 58 117 Kelly Owens La. 58 119 Darrell Newman Texas 57 120 Kevin Daigle Texas 56 121 Brad Outersky Mo. 55 122 Jeff Stevens Texas 54 122 JUSTIN TITUS Okla. 54 124 Randy Yarnall Pa. 52 124 Thomas Warren Ill. 52 126 Roger Boler La. 50 126 Dwight Dickerson Texas 50 128 GREG Terzia La. 48 129 James Buchanan Miss. 46 129 ROBERT Collett Texas 46 131 Tim Dungan Ohio 45 132 Preston Domingue La. 44 132 Marc Schilling Texas 44 134 Jason Pittman La. 42 135 Mark Morton Ark. 40 135 Deryl Janzen Texas 40 135 Anre' De Villiers South Africa 40 135 Jeremy Montoya Colo. 40 139 Shawn Johnson Fla. 36 139 JUSTIN Malone Texas 36 141 Ed Whaley Texas 35 142 Robert Bryant Ark. 34 142 Larry Ford Ark. 34 144 Ron Cherkas Iowa 32 145 Tommy Durham Texas 31 146 Chad Brauer Mo. 30 146 Kevin Stanley Texas 30 148 Hugh Rose Okla. 28 149 Jonathan Garrie Texas 26 149 Scott Smith Tenn. 26 151 Aaron Martin Mo. 25 152 Blane Dyess Texas 24 153 Gregory Jones Tenn. 23 154 Doug Luper Va. 22 155 Marvin Wells Okla. 21 156 Jeremy Vandenbosch Mich. 20 157 Scott Mcgehee Miss. 18 157 Lee Wheeler, III Texas 18 159 Brent Broderick Ohio 16 159 Tony Chachere La. 16 159 Terry Bloom Fla. 16 162 Bruce Brown La. 12 162 Rocky Cummings Ark. 12 162 Jamie Jones Ark. 12 162 Dean Gilbert Texas 12 166 Brandon Collins La. 10 167 Dennis Edmonds Colo. 8 167 Jack Sananikone Texas 8 169 Sammy Burks Mo. 7 170 Keith Stephenson Texas 6 171 Gary Giudice Okla. 0 171 Doug Spigler Texas 0 171 Joe Conway Colo. 0 171 Ken Peaker Mo. 0 171 H D (Howard) Dotson Ky. 0 171 Chuck Devereaux Okla. 0 171 roy Sanford Texas 0
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