- Details
Arjay’s Report
Gary Butcher and Scott Smith won big on Portage Lake last week in the Arjay’s Weeknight Tournament Trail.
Butcher and Smith had five bass weighing 13.56 for first place and also took home the Jaywalker’s Junk Fish prize with a dog fish weighing 6.90 pounds.
The winners used Butcher Baits’ Custom Stick Baits.
- Details
R&B Report
John Gipson and Kris Iodice sacked 13.31 pounds to win the R&B Circuit tournament on Diamond Lake last weekend.
Ethan and Trent Rutherford were second with 11.44 pounds that included a 3.80-pound largemouth that earned them big bass honors.
Ken Holder was third with 8.70 pounds.
All three top finishers caught their fish with drop-shot rigs on the drop-offs.
R&B will host a Super Saturday make-up event July 3 at Lake Palestine from 7-3. Entry fee is $130. The field will be limited to 20 boats. For more information or to reserve a spot, text John Gipson 765-637-6919 or email him at gipsonj@purdue.edu.
- Details
MFL Report
A 4.02-pound largemouth caught by Ken Holder and John Gipson helped carry the duo to the Michiana Fishing League win at Juno Lake last weekend.
The winners, who said they caught their fish on Lunker Lures and Whopper Ploppers, had 10.98 pounds, just enough to eke out Jerry Bunnell and Jim Wheeler who had 10.73 pounds. Bunnell and Wheeler caught their fish on the inside and outside of weed edges on worms and hula grubs.
Nick Hughes and Jacob Meeker were third with 9.43 pounds.
- Details
SMAC Report
Jason and Oliver Horvath caught a 5-fish limit weighing 10.02 pounds to win the Southwest Michigan Anglers Club (SMAC) weeknight tourney on Eagle Lake last week.
They also had the big bass of the tournament, a 3.60 pounder. They caught their fish on drop shot rigs.
Ritch Fletcher and Mark Coney were second with a 9.39-pound limit caught on worms while Eban Lambert and Joe Sears say they caught their 9.09 pounds on Whopper Ploppers to finish third.
The tournament attracted 14 teams.
- Details
B.A.S.S. Report
Hank Cherry, of Lincolnton, N.C., has won the 2021 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces. - Photo by Chris Brown/B.A.S.S.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Hank Cherry now occupies some rare air in the sport of professional bass fishing, and he has the bank statements to prove it.
The Lincolnton, N.C., pro, caught five bass Sunday that weighed 13 pounds, 1 ounce and won the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces.
He is only the fourth angler in the 51-year history of the Super Bowl of Professional Bass Fishing to win the event in back-to-back years. He earned another of the iconic Classic trophies and his second $300,000 check in 18 months.
Another North Carolina pro, Matt Arey, finished second with 49-1 and lost at least one big bass on Championship Sunday that might have put him over the top.
“I feel bad for Matt, and I told him I’ve been where he was,” Cherry said. “I had the same thing happen to me and mine happened a lot closer to the boat.
“I’m not giving it back — not apologizing for it. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
Cherry, a nine-year veteran of the Bassmaster Elite Series, finished third in his first Classic back in 2013 on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. Like Arey, he lost a crucial fish in that event that would have given him the trophy.