New Page 0

On the familiar waters of Lake Sidney Lanier the Duluth Bass Club put the wraps on another fine year, with the nine qualifying teams battling it out to see who would become Fall Classic Champions. There was definitely a breeze blowing out there, as contenders faced the brunt of 15-20 mph winds from the northwest throughout entire day. With three foot swells, good to see all safely returned.

David McGrew and Bryan Phillips who were on a roll after last week’s tourney win, continued their winning streak and are now the reigning 2005 Fall Classic Champions. Favored to take the title, they brought in an impressive five fish limit of spotted bass, pushing the scales to 15.07. Their largest was a good 3.56 pounder. Bryan and David’ previous pattern was an early morning spinnerbait bite. David noted, “the spinnerbait only produced one single keeper, unlike last week when we had 15 lbs by 9-AM.” We scrambled with one keeper at 1-PM and went to our strength of fishing the jig and eked out enough to scratch out a limit never thinking we had a chance for the win.” The Fall Season got off to a rocky start for them, and the thoughts of not making the big show, pressed them to into high gear at Logan Martin and they have been unstoppable ever since.

Congratulations Bryan and David on great classic win, and a fine fall season!!!

The second place slot went to Joe Yurina - Mike Haddad with a five fish limit of 14.77. Joe solidified their place with a 3.30 spot. The guys had 4 fish at 3-lb, just couldn’t get the big bite. Mike & Joe noted; “we caught near 11 keepers during the day all on CP Creepy crawlers in depths of 14-18 ft, we just could not improve on the loads of 2-1/4 lb’ers we were catching”. Sunday was fitting end to the season for them as they finished second in the standings. At one time, they held the lead in standings, only to let it slip from them in the last two tournaments to David - Bryan. Nevertheless, they should be proud of their accomplishments this fall, where they claimed one tournament victory, one 2^nd, and one third place finish.

The third place finish went to Mark Riehle – Steve Garland, with a solid limit of 13.23. Steve noted, “a fish-head spin early then GP finesse worms was our late day pattern” These guys joined the club this fall and have been a rock solid consistent team, and they finished 5^th this fall in the standings.

Gary – Matt Henry claimed the fourth classic payout with their tournament limit weight of 12.68. Joining this fall also, Gary and Matt have fished consistently and been a team to recon with by bringing a strong level of competition to the club.

5^th Place, Bill – Bill Sr. Booth with a good limit of spoon fish weighing 11.78. Bill noted “we caught all of their fish on spoons in the 40ft range. This technique is new for us so it was a lot of fun, however our TM batteries were shot at noon, thus a real challenge”. Another very consistent team who had a very impressive win on Clark Hill this fall, and 3^rd in the fall points standings.

Gene Hacker claimed the Classic Big Bass with a 4.40 lb spot working a S/B along the super wind-blown shorelines.

The remaining Fall Classic finishes were as follows: 6^th Place, Steve Hicks – Josh Petty, 5 @ 10.82; 7^th Place, Steve Nalder – Jerry Adams, 2 @ 6.77; 8^th Place, Ken Sponsler – Jack Smith, 2 @ 3.73, and finally Roger Landress – Rick Morris with 2 babies @ 3.17.

Lake Lanier Ramp = Balus Hrs: 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Qualified by:
A= WON 1 TOURNAMENT & FISHED ALL DURING THE FALL SEASON
B= TOP 5 FOR THE FALL SEASON
C = 25% TOP QUALIFIERS IN THE FALL SEASON
TEAM		How Qualified	No. of Fish/Alive	Big Fish	PNLTY Oz.	Weight Lb/Oz.
1	David McGrew - Brian Phillips	A,B	5/5	3.56		15.07
2	Joe Yurina - Mike Haddad	A,B	5/5	3.30		14.77
3	Mark Riehle - Steve Garland	B	5/5	3.74		13.23
4	Gary - Matt Henry	B	5/5	3.36		12.68
5	Bill Booth - Bill Booth Sr.	A,B	5/5	2.76		11.78
6	Josh Petty - Steve Hicks	A	5/5	2.83		10.82
7	Steve Nalder - Jerry Adams	A,C	2/2	3.51		6.77
8	Ken Sponsler - Jack Smith	C	2/2	1.97		3.73
9	Roger Landress - Rick Morris	C	2/2	small		3.17