Kerry on!

Barnett wins Stren Texas co-angler title by more than 9 pounds

JASPER, Texas – Despite a little slip on day three, co-angler Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark., picked things back up Saturday, bringing in a limit weighing 13 pounds, 9 ounces to take home his first Stren Series victory in decisive fashion with a four-day total weight of 52 pounds, 8 ounces. That total bested his nearest competition by 9 pounds, 7 ounces and earned him $5,000 cash.

Barnett’s day-four limit was the heaviest co-angler catch of the day and sealed his victory in front of his family, who had driven six and a half hours yesterday to watch him weigh in today. Barnett went out in boat No. 1 this morning with pro winner Stephen Johnston, who obviously put them both on fish.

“The partners I’ve had are the reason I’ve had a great week,” Barnett said. “I struggled the third day – I scratched out 6 pounds but kept the lead, and that determined who I fished with today. Stephen Johnston, what an awesome young man. I said, `The good Lord’s going to bless me,’ and bang, bang, bang. God is the reason I fished so well.”

Barnett caught his bass on a Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue, a bait he says he’s fished for years and that conveniently matched the ever-popular Sam Rayburn go-to bait, the Rat-L-Trap. It was just different enough to entice the fish into biting.

“It eats them alive,” he said of the bait. “We were trying to fish the inside of the grass line (in practice), and I knew the cold front would pull the fish out. My brother and I found this jerkbait that matched the color of that Rat-L-Trap. It suspends 5 or 6 feet deep and sits there in front of the fish. When you twitch it, they attack it.”

Also helping Barnett out is experience. While he’s not from the Sam Rayburn area – he’s not even from Texas – he has fished here enough to recognize where the fish are.

“I caught all my fish the first three days in 6 to 8 feet of water in the backs of pockets and creek channels,” he said. “Some areas I knew well enough to know that fish were in there. But if the pros aren’t on fish, you don’t catch fish, and I had super pros every day.”

And just like pro winner Johnston, Barnett seemed to have a little intuition of how things were going to turn out for him this week.

“I knew before I came down here that I was going to do well,” he said. “When the good Lord’s going to bless you, you have a special feeling.”

Rogers struggles, still takes second

Notable co-angler Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas, had his toughest day yet today with a four-bass catch weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces, but it was still plenty for him to hang on to his second-place position and post a four-day total catch of 43 pounds, 1 ounce.

“I did basically the same thing I did all week, but we did it on rigs and Senkos today in about 8 feet of water,” Rogers said.

Like many competitors, Rogers suffered today with the cold weather and ever-changing conditions.

“It was very bad,” he said of today’s on-the-water experience. “It was really slow on us. I didn’t have but four (fish), and I caught a couple of shorts.”

Rogers’ second-place performance marked his 18th career top-10 finish in FLW Outdoors events.

Peace goes from pro to co, finishes third

Ray Peace of Arlington, Texas, has fished the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail as a professional since 2001, but decided to give the Stren Series a try this year from the back of the boat, and so far, the results are pretty good. Peace ended this week’s tournament in third place with a combined four-day weight of 40 pounds, 11 ounces, including the 10-pound, 6-ounce limit he caught today.

“I caught them on a Senko, watermelon-red and green-pumpkin,” Peace said. “I caught some on a red Rat-L-Trap in the grass in 8 feet of water.”

Indeed, Peace said he caught all his fish on the inside grass line, “in front of the bushes, behind the bushes, on top of the bushes.” The Senko came in handy when the weather made his Rat-L-Trap obsolete.

“The cold weather moved these fish out into deeper water, and I couldn’t catch them on a Rat-L-Trap,” he said. “I was able to catch them on a Senko.”

Peace ended the tournament in the top five despite catching only 1 pound, 10 ounces on day one, a catch he followed up with a strong 17 pounds, 8 ounces on day two.

Moore, Guillory round out top five

Ending the tournament in the fourth position is Alan Moore of Lufkin, Texas, with a four-day total of 40 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $2,500. He caught one of four co-angler limits today, a catch that clocked in at 9 pounds, 14 ounces.

Behind him in fifth place is Bill Guillory of Jasper, Texas, with a four-day total of 39 pounds, 8 ounces that earned him $2,000. Guillory caught four today that weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at Sam Rayburn:

6th: Gilbert Herald, Pittsburg, Texas, 17 bass, 38-12, $1,900

7th: Danny Cherry, Kountze, Texas, 10 bass, 37-1, $1,800

8th: Kenny Mozer, Alba, Texas, 14 bass, 35-6, $1,700

9th: Michael Savage, Clever, Mo., 15 bass, 35-3, $1,600

10th: Joey Teer, Texarkana, Ark., 10 bass, 34-0, $1,500