R&B Report

Tom Stark (Angola) and Matt Kiefer (Fort Wayne) First Place

With just 10 minutes remaining, Tom Stark (Angola) and Matt Kiefer (Fort Wayne) boated a 4.73-pound largemouth to claim victory over 45 teams in the R&B Bass Circuit Open on Sylvan Lake recently.

The big fish was the second heaviest of the event and won them $130 in addition to the $645 they won for first place with a 13.33-pound limit.

Early in the morning they caught two largemouth with lipless crankbaits ripped through the grass. When this bite fizzled, they targeted docks and seawalls with bitsy jigs they crawled along the bottom. Repetitive casts to targets was key. The bites were subtle, but they managed four more keepers, including the big one in the waning minutes.

The father-son duo of LaVon (Wolcottville) and Mike Raber (Lagrange) finished second with 9.93 pounds to win $350.

Third place went to Evan Timmons (Valparaiso) and Danny Mohan (St. John, Ind.). They caught a keeper early in the tournament among some lily pad stems on a finesse jig, but struggled mightily after that. With just 40 minutes remaining and just 1 fish in their livewell, they returned to the same lily pad and plucked 4 more keepers with a Texas rigged creature bait and a Texas rigged Senko with a 1/16-ounce sinker. Their best five weighed 9.36 pounds, which won them $210.

The big bass was a 5.13 pounder caught by Bob Bruick (Fort Wayne) and Aaron Krider (Fort Wayne) with a lipless crankbait. The big fish won them $305.