Dream Weaver
Chris Weaver's 38-7 two-day stringer earns co-angler honors at Amistad
DEL RIO, Texas – After ending day three in the third position, co-angler Chris Weaver showed up at takeoff Saturday morning and climbed in the boat of Jim Criswell, a local pro who was then third in the Pro Division. By the end of the day, both would be champions, with Weaver taking home $5,000 cash plus a new Ranger boat for his co-angler victory.
This week’s Stren Series event on Lake Amistad has been a history-making, bass-catching bonanza, and Weaver topped the list of co-anglers with a final-round two-day tally of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 7 ounces.
At the end of day one, the Lawton, Okla., co-angler was just barely in contention with a 20th-place standing. He improved on day two to end the opening round in 16th and earn the right to fish another day.
On day three, he brought in 22 pounds, 11 ounces of bass, his heaviest limit of the tournament, and advanced to Saturday’s final round, where he caught another 15 pounds, 12 ounces to take the title.
“Patience is the whole thing,” said Weaver, who is celebrating his first win. “All my pros said, `You’re more patient than I am.'”
Fishing alongside Criswell in a Mexican fishing hole chock full of bass, Weaver fished a watermelon-red Senko, working the bushes with a 1/16-ounce weight.
“It wasn’t hard, but it was definitely time-consuming and nerve-racking,” he said of his experience on Lake Amistad this week. “I really have to thank my partners. They got me where I am – them, and my family.”
It was fishing a little differently than his partners that wrote Weaver a ticket to the top, he says.
“They were flipping the bushes, while I was throwing a Senko the whole time,” he said. “I’m giddy as a schoolgirl. This was awesome. You can’t ask for a better tournament.”
Snyder second
Royse City, Texas, angler Jeff Snyder brought in 10 pounds, 2 ounces today to bring his two-day total to 37 pounds, 13 ounces, good for second place and $4,000.
“Most of the pros were throwing jerkbaits and what have you, so I just tried to fish slower with Texas-rigged worms and also jighead worms,” Snyder said.
Snyder fished with runner-up pro David Mauldin on day four and said the wind was what killed their bite. Snyder himself fell to 10-2 after catching 27 pounds, 11 ounces on day three.
“We fished very close – we didn’t go farther than two miles,” he said. “I caught the fish best in 15 to 18 feet of water, but we did spend half the day in 25 feet.”
Gold ends tournament in third
A contender all week, Broken Arrow, Okla., co-angler Ed Gold eventually settled into the No. 3 spot, earning $3,500 for his two-day catch of 36 pounds, 8 ounces. All week, Gold has worked a productive pattern, but today’s weather conditions resulted in a 9-pound, 11-ounce limit, a far cry from his day-three, 26-pound, 13-ounce haul.
“What got me here was an A&M Bait Company Trick Stick,” Gold said. “What took the tournament away from me was the sun and wind.”
Gold said he was Texas rigging the Trick Stick on lightweight line before the wind blew him out of contention.
“I couldn’t finesse it anymore,” he said. “The guy I drew today (Craig Dowling) took me where there were fish, but the wind was a killer.”
Behnken, Medlock land in top five
Finishing fourth is Floresville, Texas, angler Jim Behnken, who hauled in the day’s heaviest co-angler stringer at 18 pounds, 14 ounces. Combined with his day-three weight of 16 pounds, 8 ounces, Behnken brought in 35 pounds, 6 ounces of bass during the final round and earned $2,500.
Behind him in fifth is Tom Medlock of Licking, Mo., with a two-day total catch of 32 pounds, 12 ounces that earned him $2,000.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers on Lake Amistad:
6th: Bill Gift of Alix, Ark., nine bass, 28-0, $1,900
7th: Dusty Schultz of Conroe, Texas, 10 bass, 26-13, $1,800
8th: Mike Savage of Clever, Mo., six bass, 23-9, $1,700
9th: Michael Herron of Paris, Texas, nine bass, 22-4, $1,600
10th: Eddy O’Mary of Schertz, Texas, six bass, 19-15, $1,500
Coming up
The next Central Division event takes place March 22-25 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas.
The next Stren Series event is a Western Division tournament on Clear Lake in Lakeport, Calif., March 1-4.