George Jeane & David Fox come out of the fog to win Bass N Bucks on Toledo Bend
By Patty Lenderman

(February 3, 2008)

It was Super Bowl Sunday as over 400 anglers paired up in 202 boats headed to Cypress Bend on Toledo Bend for the second tournament in the East Texas Bass N Bucks 2008 Spring series. A blanket of thick, heavy fog loomed over the lake at take-off, making for a slow go to targeted fishing areas. Nearly $50,000 was up for grabs for the top teams, and when the weights were tallied barely eight pounds separated the 25 places paid. George Jeane, Jr and David Fox won 1st place to enjoy a $20,000 payday!

It was one of those fishy feeling kind of days. The conditions were right, despite the early morning fog. Low pressure, heavy cloud cover, a little chop on the water, and nice cool temperatures. As the teams brought their best catches of the day to the scales, there were plenty of limits to see. Nine of those limits were over 20 pounds!

The best limit of the day weighed 23.77 lbs, caught by George Jeane, Jr and David Fox. "The fog was really bad first thing in the morning" George recalled. "It took us an hour to get to our first spot that usually takes us 12-15 minutes to get to." They headed to deep main lake flats in 15-20' with grassy points and brush piles, rigging up black & blue PJ's football head jigs with Berkley green pumpkin Chigger Craw trailers. "We had all of the fish we weighed today except one by 9:00." At that point, they had a good limit that weighed about 21 pounds. "Fishing got real slow from 10:00-2:00 or so. We'd catch a few, but nothing that helped." Just before it was time to crank up the boat and come in, they were able to make a last minute cull that bumped their weight nearly three pounds to win the tournament! They were presented with a $15,000 check for their 1st place win, and another $5,000 check from Ranger Boats for being the top qualified Ranger Cup team for a $20,000 day! "We'd like to thank Ranger Boats, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Lowrance, Yamaha, Fenwick, and Cheeks Marine."

With no particular kickers in their bag, George Jeane & David Fox holds up four of their solid chunks that won 1st place

Less than ½ pound behind them, Gary Baker and Jason Dew seized 2nd place with 23.33 pounds. Their plan, their day was quite simple. Carefully navigate through the fog, down the boat lanes to the southern end of the lake to the one spot they had picked out. "It took us an hour and a half to get there" they said. "We caught everything on a grassy hump, about 10' deep with rattle traps." They only had one 30 minute window of fish catching action, boating all of their fish during that time including their 8.60 kicker that won Big Bass honors. Their 2nd place finish won a check for $4,000 plus another $1,000 for their Big Bass, plus an additional $1,000 from Ranger Boats to total $6,000 at the end of the day.

Above: It was close, but Gary Baker & Jason Dew ultimately took 2nd place overall, additionally winning Big Bass with their 8.60 lb kicker.

Artie Longron & Todd Soape won 3rd place with 21.86 lbs. "We should have won this one. We had the fish to do it. The day started out good for us, then the wind picked up a little and we had to switch tactics. The conditions were exceptional. You just don't get this kind of day on Toledo very often." They were fishing the top of the grass in water 12' deep with white spinnerbaits and watermelon red brush hogs, rigged with a 5/0 heavy Owner hook and a small BB shot weight. "The trick was to throw it out there, and be patient to let it sink all the way down until you could feel the grass. A lot of fishermen tend to pull their bait free of the grass when their bait gets down into it, but I use it to my advantage instead. Once it catches, I shake the bait, causing a cloud in the water loosening the silt from the grass. I also use a rattle in my bait, so between the noise and the cloud of silt it gets their attention. Then I just bump the bait just a little, causing a reaction strike." They say it took them an hour and a half to pattern the fish, but once they did they caught plenty of fish. "Our biggest cull fish weighed 4 ½ pounds, but we lost our biggest bass. I'd estimate it weighed around eight pounds. I had her coming in, and she kept jumping out of the water - I couldn't keep her down. Finally, she came up, shook her head and spit the bait." Their 3rd place finish earned them a $2,500 payday. Todd owns Texas Hog Wallow, another year-round outdoor fun spot.

Below: Todd Soape & Artie Longron had the 3rd heaviest sack weighing 21.86 lbs

Top Teams:

Above: Top 3 Teams: 1st George Jean & David Fox; 2nd Gary Baker & Jason Dew; 3rd Todd Soape & Artie Longron.

1st $15,000 23.77 lbs George Jeane, Jr & David Fox
2nd $ 4,000 23.33 lbs Gary Baker & Jason Dew
3rd $ 2,500 21.86 lbs Artie Longron & Todd Soape
4th $ 1,500 21.71 lbs Cary & James Talbot
5th $ 1,200 21.61 lbs Greg Crawford & Tommy Bankhead
6th $ 1,000 21.22 lbs Clayton Boulware & Chris McCall
7th $ 1,000 20.55 lbs Ricky Blankenship & Michael Hunt
8th $ 1,000 20.22 lbs Kelly Cotton & Gary Doolittle
9th $ 1,000 20.17 lbs Stan Burgay & Lance Hughes
10th $ 1,000 19.60 lbs Charles Bebber & Keith Caka
......and last in the money......
25th $ 600 15.61 lbs James & Philip Crelia

Thank you to E2 Bait Company for providing product to the first team out of the money, Shannon Carrol & Jerry Brittain.

Big Bass $1,000 8.60 lbs Gary Baker & Jason Dew

Below: Ranger Boats Representative Stephen Johnston along with Tournament Director Dave Concienne congratulates the Ranger Cup Bonus winners: 1st George Jeane; 2nd GaryBaker, 3rd Tommy Bankhead.

Ranger Cup Bonus Winners:
1st $5,000 George Jeane, Jr
2nd $1,000 Gary Baker
3rd $ 500 Tommy Bankhead

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming out and fishing with us" said Dave Concienne. "We really appreciate you and encourage you to fish with us in the Conroe Series as well. I'd also like to thank Texas Marine and Nichols Marine for bringing the Ranger display boats. If you haven't tried a Ranger, they'll be happy to show them to you. Ranger has some exceptional products."

The next East Texas Circuit event will be March 2 on Sam Rayburn. If you'd like to fish the Conroe series, join us February 23rd. For more information call Bass N Bucks at 409-727-8941 or click to www.bassnbucks.com.