By Lee Duracz
The final stop of the Polar Bear Opens by FishStyx custom Rods for 2020 was Sunday at Dukes Bridge and it produced a record number of teams (25) that came out to try their luck on this big fish factory.
The sun shined most of the day with the temperatures reaching around 50 degrees, winds under 10 mph and fish biting.
Oddly enough, Dukes had the coldest water temperatures ranging as low as 40 to 44 degrees. Yet again, teams reported their catches on 3 main baits, the ever trusty blade bait, the Ned rig and even some single swimbaits came into play.
Floyd Wolkins and Bassin’ Bill Mathews - 1st Place
The winning team of Floyd Wolkins and Bassin’ Bill Mathews utilized those same techniques and they were able to consistently catch fish all day and weigh in a 17.80-pound limit which blew the entire field away by nearly 3 pounds.
They put on a show as I personally watched them demoralize the anglers around them, myself included. They also landed Big Bass of the tournament a beautiful 4.64-pound Largemouth. Their total take home was $565.
Tom Stark and his partner Mr. Kiefer - 2nd Place
Second place went to Tom Stark and his partner Mr. Kiefer. They brought in a mixed bag of brown and green bass for a total weight of 13.90 pounds anchored by a 4.56-pound largemouth that netted them $215. They reported catching their fifth keeper on their final cast.
Dan Powell and Mike Pierson - 3rd Place
Jeremy Bunnell and Lee Duracz - 4th Place
Third place went to Dan Powell and Mike Pierson with a 13.70-pound limit that earned them $125 while Jeremy Bunnell and Lee Duracz were fourth with 13.68 pounds that included a a 4.50-pound largemouth. They didn’t fill their limit until catching their final two fish in the last 30 minutes along with an 8.60-pound giant dogfish that they were sure was a record-breaking largemouth as Jeremy fought it in.
Now, here’s the fun part of the story. This was the final tournament of the season meaning that the rolling trifecta pot was up for grabs for the highest finisher to weigh a critter. The first and third place teams both caught carp critters but forgot about the rule and released their critters. This opened the door for Lee and Jeremy to earn the extra Trifecta money earning them $430 for the day. Thanks guys, I bet that won’t happen next year!
It seems that carp were the big story of the critter pot again this year. During a previous tournament Eben Lambert and Joe Sears weighed in a 13.70-pound carp that got them $125 dollars.
The FishStyx custom rod, a $200 value was won in the drawing by Josh Weidner and Bob Hyatt.
This was another amazing season and I can’t thank everyone enough for fishing with us in our fourth season. We truly love all you Polar Bears that come out and fish with us year in and year out, and look forward to seeing you all again next year. Thanks again to our sponsor FishStyx Custom Rods for donating five rods that were given away. Make sure to give them a shot to earn your business at fishstyx.com; I don’t think you can find a better crafted rod for the money. Another special thanks to Michianaoutdoorsnews.com for posting our results articles.