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ANDREWS COMES FROM BEHIND, WINS THE BASS FEDERATION NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Black Wins Co-angler Title
His secret to winning the prestigious
tournament presented by the National Guard was skipping a 5-inch Gambler Ace
under docks to entice bass hiding from the bright
“When the sun came out, those fish moved way
back under the docks,” he said. “I used light line and skipped my lures back
under them where most other people probably didn’t reach.”
The Gambler Ace is a dense bait that skips well
according to Andrews. He rigged the green-pumpkin lure wacky style, fished
it weightless on 8-pound-test Gamma copolymer line and dipped both ends in
chartreuse dye.
“Skipping docks is my strength. It’s what I do
back home, and what I did on my first day of practice,” Andrews said. “I had
no preconceived notions of coming down here and winning this thing, and that
is probably why I did so well. I was very relaxed, and I never considered
using any other technique.”
Andrews has been a Federation member since he
was 14 and has qualified for regional teams 15 times in the Federation’s
Eastern Division. This was his fourth National Championship appearance.
“This thing is unlike most big tournaments
where you win it and then it is the end,” he said. “This isn’t the end. It
is just the beginning.”
For his victory he received a $100,000 prize
package that includes automatic entry into the $1 million All-American
presented by Chevy on the Ohio River in Louisville, Ky., May 30-June 2 and
automatic entry into the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol in
Andrews started the tournament off Thursday in
fourth place with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces. He then moved up
to third Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 13-14 that bumped his
two-day total to 28-12, just 2 pounds, 13 ounces behind the day-two leader,
Jamie Horton of Centerville, Ala., from the Southern Division and just 7
ounces behind second-place boater Greg Cooper of Monroe City, Mo., from the
Central Division. On Saturday Andrews leapfrogged both leaders with a
12-pound, 8-ounce limit.
Saturday was a rough day for Horton, as he
managed to catch just three bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces and slipped to
third with a total catch of 13 bass weighing 36-11, worth $2,500. Cooper
fared better with five bass weighing 10-3 Saturday to maintain his
second-place standing and pocket $5,000 with a total catch of 15 bass
weighing 39-6.
Rounding out the final-round field of boaters were
Aaron
Echternkamp of Moses Lake, Wash. (Western Division, 15 bass, 35-5, $2,500);
Derek Cummings of Eaton Rapids, Mich. (Northern Division, 13 bass, 32-7,
$2,500) and David Keisel of Virginia Beach, Va. (Mid-Atlantic Division, 14
bass, 30-5, $2,500).
Keisel also won a 519VX Ranger Comanche powered
by Yamaha as the highest finishing Ranger Cup participant.
While David Andrews rose from third to first in
the Boater Division on the final day of competition, another David Andrews
slipped from first to third in the Co-angler Division.
David Andrews of
Black overcame a 3-pound, 8-ounce deficit on
the final day thanks to a four-bass catch weighing 10-15 that boosted his
three-day total to 13 bass weighing 31-13, good for a $10,000 prize package
that includes co-angler entry into the All-American and the Forrest Wood
Cup. Ronald Herbert Jr. of East Livermore, Maine, also jumped up the
standings from sixth to second with a final-day catch of five bass weighing
8-14 and a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 27-13, good for $2,500.
Rounding out the final-round field of
co-anglers were Gerald Wright of
More than 99 percent of the fish weighed in
Saturday were released alive.
Anglers qualified for the no-entry-fee TBF
National Championship through a series of TBF club, state and divisional
tournaments.
The entire field of 36 TBF boaters and 36 co-anglers fished Thursday and
Friday for an accumulated two-day weight. The top boater and co-angler from
each of the TBF’s six divisions advanced to the final day of competition
Saturday, carrying their weight from the opening round into the final round.
The winners were determined by the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
All six finalists in both the boater and co-angler divisions will compete in
the All-American.
Coverage of the TBF National Championship presented by the National Guard
will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the
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The Bass Federation Inc. (TBF) is owned by
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For more information about The Bass Federation, visit bassfederation.com.
Wal-Mart and many of
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