Spinks lands knockout blow
Springfield, Mo., co-angler catches unthinkable 20-8
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – After catching zero bass on day three, co-angler Tony Spinks was a little down on himself. After all, Spinks had led the first two days of Stren Series Central Division competition on Lake of the Ozarks. On day four, Spinks rebounded in a big way, catching the third heaviest limit of the entire tournament, regardless of division.
Spinks’ five bass weighed an astonishing 20 pounds, 8 ounces. Coming into Saturday, the heaviest single-day catch by a co-angler was 13 pounds, 7 ounces – also by Spinks.
Even more impressive is that this was Spinks’ first Stren Series event. The Springfield, Mo., bricklayer actually practiced with his two sons from the back of the boat for two months to prepare for this tournament. Typically when he’s fishing with his sons, he’s running the trolling motor.
“Today was remarkable,” said Spinks, a Wal-Mart BFL veteran. “My heart is pumping so fast we may have to call 911.
“I almost like to think of this as divine intervention. I had a feeling when I was driving up here that something good was about to happen. Yesterday we fished literally as hard as two guys can fish, and we only caught shorts. I told myself that if I could just get back on some jig fish, I would be back in this. Today my partner was fishing the same shallow pattern I wanted to fish. It was amazing.”
Not only was Spinks’ catch remarkable, the manner in which he caught his fish was equally notable. In an era where the co-angler competition is dominated by finesse worms and Senkos, Spinks chose to swim a 5/8-ounce football jig.
Generally speaking, football jigs are used for fishing deep water, but the co-angler winner threw his as shallow as 2 feet. That jig was tipped with a green-pumpkin Pacacraw trailer and occasionally a Zoom twin-tail grub. After casting, he would let the bait sink to the bottom and then slowly clip it along the rocks.
“I didn’t give him an inch, but he earned a mile,” said Jeremy Lawyer, his day-four pro partner.
For his four-day winning catch of 42 pounds, 3 ounces, he took home $5,000.
High five co-anglers
By any measure, Tony Lain had a successful final day on Lake of the Ozarks. He caught four bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces to push his combined total to 35 pounds, 3 ounces. Under normal circumstances, that would likely have been good enough to take home the title. But with Spinks’ ridiculous catch, it wasn’t even close.
“It’s beyond my wildest imagination to be up here right now,” Lain said. “I got lucky, and I got all of them in the boat today.”
For second place, he earned $3,322. He also earned $125 for catching the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division. That fish, caught on day three, weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
Joe Waggoner of Carthage, Mo., finished third with a four-day weight of 31 pounds, 8 ounces and received a check for $2,700.
Ironically, Spinks caught the fish that Waggoner helped find. Waggoner and sixth-place pro Jeremy Lawyer practiced together, and today Spinks was paired with Lawyer. Still, Waggoner achieved his goal of qualifying for the 2007 Stren Series Championship.
“I’m really looking forward to going; I’ve been thinking about it all year long,” said Waggoner.
Tommy Lowery of O’Fallon, Mo., finished fourth with a total weight of 31-8, taking home $2,077, and Eugene Robinett of Springfield, Mo., finished fifth with a four-day combined weight of 28 pounds for $1,662.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at the Stren Series Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks:
6th: Chuck Loerzel of Yorkville, Ill., four-day total of 27-13, $1,578
7th: Ron Abbott of Lafayette, Ind., 27-7, $1,494
8th: Matt Scheipeter of St. Louis, 25-10, $1,413
9th: Brian Branum of Longview, Texas, 24-3, $1,328
10th: Anthony Lowrance of Dora, Ala., 20-9, $1,247
The next Stren Series event will take place Oct. 3-6 on Lake Gaston, the fourth and final qualifier in the Northern Division. The Stren Series Championship is slated for Nov. 8-11 on the Mobile Delta in Mobile, Ala.