Arresting performance
Policeman Stan Burgay wins 2001 TTT Championship Pro Division; Tullis captures co-angler crown
MANY, La. – These days, it seems only appropriate that a cop came out on top at the 2001 Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship. Stan Burgay, an active-duty police officer from the town of Timpson, Texas, took charge on day two at Toledo Bend and won the Pro Division with a stellar two-day weight of 36 pounds, 7 ounces.
“It feels great,” Burgay said. “It hasn’t settled in yet, but it will.”
He finished Saturday’s competition with an opening-day weight of 16 pounds and placed third. Today Burgay literally cranked it up a notch, catching five bass for the day’s only stringer over 20 pounds – 20 pounds, 7 ounces, to be exact. His two-day total pushed him past Randy Qualls of Winkler, Texas, (2nd place, 10 bass for 34-0) and yesterday’s leader Jerrel Pringle of China Springs, Texas (3rd, 10 bass for 32-8).
Pringle, while understandably a bit disappointed that he relinquished his day-one lead, was, overall, happy with the outcome.
“All three of us were fishing right around each other,” he said. “A nicer guy couldn’t have won the tournament and I couldn’t have been happier.”
While he caught the bulk his respectable stringer Saturday on a Carolina rig, Burgay switched to a crankbait Sunday to pull in an even heftier five-fish limit.
Extremely low, muddy water and heavy fishing pressure baffled a number of competitors this weekend, but Burgay, a former guide on Toledo Bend Reservoir, used his intimate knowledge of the lake to get out of the mud and traffic. He fished a river near Wright’s Landing toward the northern end of the lake where the wind and other anglers had little impact.
“My water didn’t mud up like a lot of other guys’,” he said. “I had four areas there with 4-pound fish or better. The wind was fantastic. It was calm compared to what I pre-fished in.”
Burgay didn’t do it alone. In an unusually generous show of sportsmanship, his co-angler partner Sunday, Don Callahan of Crockett, Texas, didn’t make a cast until Burgay had caught his limit by 11 o’clock. With the water so low this week, the bass are huddled in extremely tight clusters. Knowing Burgay was in contention for the title, Callahan chose not to cast for and catch any fish that could potentially give his pro partner the win.
“I’ve fished for a long time,” said a grateful Burgay, “but I’ve never had a draw partner just pull up like that.”
Having fished competitively for 10 years, neither has he won anything like the TTT Championship. Burgay collected $15,000 and a Ranger 518DVX for his victory.
“This is more money than I could have ever envisioned winning without having to run all over the country to compete,” he said. “I’ve won several boats before, but this is by far the best that I’ve ever done.”
With contingency bonuses, Qualls collected $11,000 for second place and Pringle collected $4,500.
Rounding out the top five in the Pro Division were Jim Behnken (4th place, $6,500) of Garden Ridge, Texas, with 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 7 ounces and Charles Simmons (5th, $4,750) of Waco, Texas, with 10 bass weighing 24-11.
Aching arms pull Tullis to co-angler victory
Mark Tullis only caught two bass weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces Sunday, but he jumped out to a lead Saturday that was just extensive enough to push him to victory in the Co-angler Division Sunday. He caught 16 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday and rang up a two-day total of 20 pounds, 9 ounces for the win. With contingencies he collected $10,000 and a Ranger R91.
“This is the one to win,” said the 39-year-old contractor from Conroe, Texas. “I told my wife after yesterday that I was going to win this thing.”
But he had to work for it. Fishing mainly on points and focusing on the clustered bass, Tullis worked a successful crankbait pattern during the tournament. His big first-day stringer came fishing from the back of second-place pro Randy Qualls’ boat.
“The fish were really stacked,” Tullis said. “I’d catch one, throw it back and catch another one right on top of it. I caught three fish off the same stump. I was chinking and cranking all weekend long. My arms are aching I’ve cranked so hard.”
Following Tullis was Gary Carr (2nd place, $4,500) of San Angelo, Texas, with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces and regular-season points leader Justin Hale (3rd place, $1,500) with three bass weighing an astounding 18-12.
Day-two related links: