Middleton’s magic moment

Oklahoma co-angler bags final-round limit to win Stren Texas event on Lake Texoma

DENISON, Texas – He had to play the waiting game, but when the wait was over, Elgin, Okla., co-angler Bo Middleton had bagged a 9-pound, 12-ounce limit that capped his dominant performance at the Stren Series Lake Texoma event with a four-day weight of 36 pounds.

Having led the co-angler field since day one, Middleton collected $5,000 for his efforts. The prize, however, probably seemed a distant vapor through much of the final round.

“I was pleased to have (my limit) – I didn’t have a fish until noon,” Middleton said. “I was just being patient because it’s been really slow all week until the afternoon. I knew it was going to be like that today, so I just stuck with it and got my five.”

During the qualifying days, Middleton caught most of his fish in 8 to 10 feet of water on a Gambler Giggy Head with a Zoom finesse worm in green-pumpkin. Crankbaits and plastic crawdads fished shallow produced well for him in the final round.

Carpenter builds enough weight for second

In second place, Richard Carpenter of Sam Rayburn, Texas, caught three bass weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces for a four-day total of 31-12. He caught all of his fish on a blue and chartreuse Bill Norman crankbait fished over shallow rocks from the water’s edge out to about 2 feet.

Carpenter was pleased to see the week’s windy conditions: “The wind is actually good on this lake, (although) we probably had more than we had to have. When it gets real flat calm, it’s really tough for fishing.”

Rest of the best

Third place went to Dan Wilson of Pilot Point, Texas, with 28-13. David Underwood of Waco, Texas, placed fourth with 24-14, while Bart Blakelock of Lake Charles, La., took fifth place with 22-7.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series Texas event on Lake Texoma:

6th: Gilbert Herald of Pittsburg, Texas, 19-11

7th: Steve Sommer of Norman, Okla., 19-0

8th: Ray Peace of Arlington, Texas, 18-4

9th: Kenny Moser of Alba, Texas, 17-6

10th: Naohiro Maruo of Takamatsu Kagawa, Japan, 16-14