Paa From The Back Seat

[Doug Weston]

I rode as an observer on the PAA tournament last Thurs,Fri, and Sat. I wanted to Congratulate one of our local pros on his win, Shane Long of Sarcoxie. Kelly Power was not far behind. Good job boys.

I rode with the day one leader, Chris Brasher from Texas. He qualified for the FLW tour this year, but didn't have the finances to get it done, so he fished he PAA events to test his mettle against tht "big time" pros. He caught 19.52 lbs with a 7.3 largie toad anchoring the sack. He caught these fish in the Kimberling City area, on a long flat point, with a little wood scattered around on it. Most of the fish were took on a 1/2oz football jig, but the big one, 7.3lbs, was took on a Drop shot and Roboworm. Attached is the picture of his toad. PAA did not have any photographers when he took his fish in. That biggest fish was caught real deep and he did fizz it, but he was worried about it and wanted to release it alive so we went in early.

I fished with John Crews the next day. He was on a Drop shot pattern, same type of points with wood on them. He dropped to the standing timber that he seen on his graph and picked up fish that day. He had 13 lbs the first day, but only 1 2.5lb keeper when I was with him. He caught fish all day that just wouldn't bump the line.

I learned that I fish the same way as these guys do on table rock. It gave me confidence. I will go out, spend more time on the water, and know I am doing the same things these guys are. I don't know what I was thinking, but I guess I didnt expect them to be doing what I would do. One of our own won the event, so I feel like if you guys pay attention on the water, learn from this forum, and spend time on the water, you can figure out these fish too. I'm off to do that myself.

Final day Results. Total weight over 3 days of fishing. There were 74 boats but only 24 fished on cut day.

1. Shane Long – 43.34

2. Aaron Martens -- 36.41

3. Tommy Biffle -- 36.27

4. Kelly Power -- 36.16

5. Brian Snowden -- 35.65

6. Gary Klein -- 33.97

7. Stacey King -- 33.31

8. Mark Rose -- 33.27

9. Dave Lefebre -- 32.83

10. Takahiro Omori -- 31.20

11. James Watson -- 29.94

12. JT Palmore -- 29.36

13. Ronnie Wagner -- 29.35

14. Chris Brasher -- 29.10

15. Rick Clunn -- 28.11

16. Matt Reed -- 27.08

17. Terry Butcher -- 26.10

18. Charles Bebber -- 25.28

19. Edwin Evers -- 24.51

20. Bradley Hallman -- 23.04

21. Tommy Martin -- 21.77

22. Shinichi Fukae -- 21.60

23. Brian Travis -- 20.51

24. Harold Allen -- 18.53

[Bimmer]

Thanks Doug for taking the time to do the write-up. A big congratulations to Shane Long and the top performers.

[gitnby]

I rode as an observer on the PAA tournament last Thurs,Fri, and Sat. I wanted to Congratulate one of our local pros on his win, Shane Long of Sarcoxie. Kelly Power was not far behind. Good job boys.

I rode with the day one leader, Chris Brasher from Texas. He qualified for the FLW tour this year, but didn't have the finances to get it done, so he fished he PAA events to test his mettle against tht "big time" pros. He caught 19.52 lbs with a 7.3 largie toad anchoring the sack. He caught these fish in the Kimberling City area, on a long flat point, with a little wood scattered around on it. Most of the fish were took on a 1/2oz football jig, but the big one, 7.3lbs, was took on a Drop shot and Roboworm. Attached is the picture of his toad. PAA did not have any photographers when he took his fish in. That biggest fish was caught real deep and he did fizz it, but he was worried about it and wanted to release it alive so we went in early.

I fished with John Crews the next day. He was on a Drop shot pattern, same type of points with wood on them. He dropped to the standing timber that he seen on his graph and picked up fish that day. He had 13 lbs the first day, but only 1 2.5lb keeper when I was with him. He caught fish all day that just wouldn't bump the line.

I learned that I fish the same way as these guys do on table rock. It gave me confidence. I will go out, spend more time on the water, and know I am doing the same things these guys are. I don't know what I was thinking, but I guess I didnt expect them to be doing what I would do. One of our own won the event, so I feel like if you guys pay attention on the water, learn from this forum, and spend time on the water, you can figure out these fish too. I'm off to do that myself.

Final day Results. Total weight over 3 days of fishing. There were 74 boats but only 24 fished on cut day.

1. Shane Long – 43.34

2. Aaron Martens -- 36.41

3. Tommy Biffle -- 36.27

4. Kelly Power -- 36.16

5. Brian Snowden -- 35.65

6. Gary Klein -- 33.97

7. Stacey King -- 33.31

8. Mark Rose -- 33.27

9. Dave Lefebre -- 32.83

10. Takahiro Omori -- 31.20

11. James Watson -- 29.94

12. JT Palmore -- 29.36

13. Ronnie Wagner -- 29.35

14. Chris Brasher -- 29.10

15. Rick Clunn -- 28.11

16. Matt Reed -- 27.08

17. Terry Butcher -- 26.10

18. Charles Bebber -- 25.28

19. Edwin Evers -- 24.51

20. Bradley Hallman -- 23.04

21. Tommy Martin -- 21.77

22. Shinichi Fukae -- 21.60

23. Brian Travis -- 20.51

24. Harold Allen -- 18.53

Pretty impressive list!

Gary Klein, Rick Clunn, Tommy Martin.

Was this a Senior Event?

Seriously, those guys are icons!

Tommy Martin has always been one of my favorites.

Gary Klein was also one of the big names in Pro Bassing when it took off in the 70's and 80's.

And Rick 'the old hippie' Clunn might have been the first Bassmaster to wear sandals?