It was only a slim 2 ounces difference that separated winner Wesley Strader and his closest challenger, Cody Detweiler, in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain.
Strader finished with a winning weight of 50 pounds, 5 ounces to punch his ticket to the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, if he competes in the next two Southern Opens. Detweiler weighed in a three-day total of 50-3 to finish as the Open runner-up in the pro division.
Despite a tough practice, Strader bounced back with solid limits each day, including a 13-1 bag in the final round.
“I hadn’t caught a fish over 2 1/2 pounds in all of practice,” said Strader, who won the pro division grand prize of a Nitro Z20 bass boat with a Mercury Pro XS 225-horsepower outboard engine valued at $45,000.
The Spring City Tenn., angler credited the copper rose lenses of his sunglasses for helping him locate spawning fish in practice. When he didn’t have a bite by 11:15 the first morning, Strader ran to the spot where he saw the spawning fish the day before.
“I don’t know what happened overnight, but those fish showed up … and I caught them,” he said.
Throughout the week, Strader caught most of his fish on a Zoom Fluke or Speed Craw and an Old School Twin Spin topwater bait.
“Yesterday, I got on a little deal in some hydrilla and caught some on a (homemade bladed jig), so this morning I decided to start there,” he said. “So when I pulled up on that hydrilla bed, they were biting like crazy.”
Despite fishing in 58-degree water, Strader was able to coax bass into slamming the topwater bait. “Those fish came up and smoked it, so I caught every fish on that Twin Spin in about 20 minutes.”
Detweiler relied on a variety of lures to catch his bass throughout the week. He threw a Chatterbait in the rain the whole first day of competition, and when the weather turned sunny the next day, he threw a Humdinger swim jig and flipped a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1 1/2-ounce weight to isolated mats. He also relied on the swim jig and flipped the Sweet Beaver to mats the final day to catch a 15-8 limit.
Other Top 5 finishers in the pro division were Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., third place, 50-1; Eric Panzironi, Longwood, Fla., fourth, 48-2; and Chad Morgenthaler, Reeds Spring, Mo., fifth, 45-4.
Virginia Beach, Va., angler Chaz Carrington flipped a Big Bite Baits Yo Daddy to catch a three-fish 9-10 limit in the final round and win the non-boater division. His three-day total of 25-9 earned him the top prize of a Nitro z18/Mercury 150 Pro XS outboard rig valued at $30,000.
Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., and James Bailey, Warrenton, Va., tied for the $750 Big Bass Award on the pro side as both anglers caught 9-6 largemouths. Nathan Bloom, Winter Springs, Fla., weighed in an 8-14-pound largemouth to earn the $250 Big Bass Award on the co-angler side.
Strader received the Livingston Lures Leader Award of $250 for finishing as the top pro on Day 2. Finishing as the Day 2 leader on the co-angler side, Rob Walker of Deland, Fla., received a Livingston Lures gift pack worth $250.
Stader also earner the A.R.E. Top Angler Award of $500 for being the highest-finishing angler using A.R.E. products.
Elite Series pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., earned the Power-Pole Captain’s Cash award of $500.
The local hosts for the events are Visit Kissimmee and the Central Florida Sports Commission.
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano
2016 2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open Kissimmee Chain of Lakes 1/28-1/30
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Kissimmee FL.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Wesley Strader Spring City, TN 15 50-05 200 $54,283.00
Day 1: 5 21-09 Day 2: 5 15-11 Day 3: 5 13-01
2. Cody Detweiler Orlando, FL 15 50-03 199 $20,267.00
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 20-04 Day 3: 5 15-08
3. Mark Rose West Memphis, AR 15 50-01 198 $15,200.00
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 5 17-15
4. Eric Panzironi Longwood, FL 15 48-02 197 $13,600.00
Day 1: 5 17-15 Day 2: 5 16-13 Day 3: 5 13-06
5. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 15 45-04 196 $11,867.00
Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 11-00
6. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 15 43-01 195 $10,133.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 15-15 Day 3: 5 10-02
7. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 15 42-12 194 $9,033.00
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 17-15 Day 3: 5 13-13
8. Kazuki Kitajima Orlando, FL 14 40-09 193 $6,800.00
Day 1: 4 12-03 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 08-03
9. Ish Monroe Hughson, CA 15 39-00 192 $5,067.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 07-09
10. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 12 36-00 191 $4,667.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 14-13 Day 3: 2 02-11
11. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 13 35-15 190 $4,267.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 17-12 Day 3: 3 04-06
12. Brad Knight Lancing, TN 12 34-00 189 $4,375.00
Day 1: 5 22-11 Day 2: 5 07-10 Day 3: 2 03-11
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BIG
Day
1 Brad Knight Lancing, TN 09-06 $0.00
2 James Bailey Warrenton, VA 09-06 $0.00
3 Eric Panzironi Longwood, FL 07-08 $0.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 116 780 1720-01
2 108 737 1592-12
3 9 52 121-05
———————————-
233 1569 3434-02
2016 2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open Kissimmee Chain of Lakes 1/28-1/30
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Kissimmee FL.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Chaz Carrington Virginia Beach, VA 9 25-09 200 $30,000.00
Day 1: 3 10-08 Day 2: 3 05-07 Day 3: 3 09-10
2. Clint Harrison II Georgetown, TN 9 25-02 199 $6,533.00
Day 1: 3 06-14 Day 2: 3 08-06 Day 3: 3 09-14
3. Carlton Tipp Jr Grand Bay, AL 8 21-15 198 $4,933.00
Day 1: 2 05-06 Day 2: 3 11-00 Day 3: 3 05-09
4. Eric Davis Athens, AL 9 21-07 197 $3,333.00
Day 1: 3 09-12 Day 2: 3 06-12 Day 3: 3 04-15
5. Nathan Bloom Winter Springs, FL 8 20-07 196 $3,317.00
Day 1: 3 11-10 Day 2: 3 05-13 Day 3: 2 03-00
6. Shane Byrom Newnan, GA 9 20-03 195 $2,933.00
Day 1: 3 06-08 Day 2: 3 10-09 Day 3: 3 03-02
7. Jeffrey Worth Longwood, FL 9 19-09 194 $2,800.00
Day 1: 3 07-14 Day 2: 3 07-10 Day 3: 3 04-01
8. Tomas Gomez Kissimmee, FL 8 19-06 193 $2,667.00
Day 1: 3 05-13 Day 2: 3 11-06 Day 3: 2 02-03
9. Rob Walker Deland, FL 6 17-14 192 $2,533.00
Day 1: 3 08-15 Day 2: 3 08-15 Day 3: 0 00-00
10. Douglas Lubs Indianapolis, IN 7 17-05 191 $2,267.00
Day 1: 3 10-04 Day 2: 3 04-00 Day 3: 1 03-01
11. Matt Justice Fair Play, SC 7 16-14 190 $2,000.00
Day 1: 3 09-03 Day 2: 3 06-01 Day 3: 1 01-10
12. Gregory O’Neal Winchester, TN 7 16-10 189 $1,867.00
Day 1: 3 06-08 Day 2: 3 08-07 Day 3: 1 01-11
———————————————————————–
BIG
Day
1 Nathan Bloom Winter Springs, FL 08-14 $0.00
2 Brian Leitch Knoxville, TN 04-12 $0.00
3 Douglas Lubs Indianapolis, IN 03-01 $0.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 93 397 776-10
2 68 311 584-12
3 6 25 48-12
———————————-
167 733 1410-02