Skeeter Bass Champs hosted the second annual Mega Bass Tournament on Rayburn last weekend giving away 12 trucks with the winner, Steve Rutledge of Kountze,TX, landing a 11.68 pound largemouth and winning a 2008 Dodge Mega Cab. Local angler, Roy Belknap of Leesville, was an hourly winner of a new pick-up.
Good friend, Lonnie Stanley, well known pro angler and owner of Stanley Jigs, Inc./Huntington, TX, also won a pick-up with a 9.26 pound largemouth. Stanley finished third overall and gave the following account of his 'big bite': "Randy (Hanna/fishing partner) and I started at daylight on one of our frog holes and lost one on a Ribbit Frog about 6 pounds" .
Without any more big bites Stanley changed to a Fluke (shad-shaped soft plastic) working it over grass and lost another fish estimated to be about 6 pounds. The sun got bright and Stanley/Hanna left the area and headed to a favorite area on Rayburn called The Canyon.
They were working a ledge that fell from 10 to 18 feet with a one-half ounce new Stanley Bugeye Jig in watermelon (#160) with a watermelon seed Stanley Wedge Hog for a trailer. Stanley added, "I threw the jig up on the ledge in about 10' and was working it back down the ridge toward deeper water when the bass hit.
The fish was in about 12 feet in a small patch of submerged grass." The fish surfaced two times before Hanna got the net under the big fish. Other familiar Rayburn tournament anglers who also won trucks included James Stricklin Jr., Mike Metcalf and Stan Burgay. For complete results go to www.basschamps.com.