May 20th, 2006
Lake Rathbun, Centerville, IA
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Land and Luckritz are Lake Rathbun Champions
Bass Pro Crappie Masters held a national qualifying tournament at Lake Rathbun May 20, 2006 at Honey Creek State Park outside Centerville, Iowa.
122 anglers from 10 states competed on Lake Rathbun. Cool tempatures, cloudy skies and a little rain was the condition anglers had to contend with on tournament morning. Afternoon sunshine moved in and warmed tempatures to 80 degrees before the end of the tournament.
Garry Land and Al Luckritz of Clinton, IA brought in 8.94 lbs on seven fish to become Lake Rathbun Champions. 1st place brought them 2 4x4 Arctic Cat four-wheelers worth over $12,000.00. Land and Luckritz also brought in the big fish of the day with a 1.92 lb crappie. The team said they "fished South Fork with blue/pink jigs tipped with minnows on brushes in 8-10 feet of water."
Joe Meyer teamed up with Biosonixs’ Richard Lindsey to take the 2nd place prize of $3,000.00. They weighed in a total of 8.18 lbs. One of those fish was the 2nd big fish weighing 1.76 lbs. The team caught their fish on Rocky Top black and chartreuse in 2.5 to 4 foot of water on the outside edge verticle jigging.
A tie for third place was between the teams of Ron Giberson and John Simmons, and the team of Ron Boyland and Robert Briggs. Giberson and Simmons fished Bridgedview with homemade jigs that were green and chartreuse with minnows. The local team of Boyland and Briggs also brought in 7.76 lbs. They too caught them on their own rig called the "dinner gitter". The team described the "dinner gitter" by hooking the minnow sideways by going into the mouth, out the gill and into the side which makes the fish look wounded and jigging with them. Each team took home $1250.00 for their outstanding effort.
2005 defending champions Jake and Mark Mussman, a father and son team, made a strong showing placing fifth with a total of 7.58 lbs for $650.00. Most anglers including the defending champions said they couldn't get the big fish to bite like during pre-fishing.
Bass Pro Crappie Masters kid's rodeo had 60 young anglers catching many different species, with some of the catch weighing up to 15 lbs. Not only did the young anglers win prizes, they were also treated to hot dogs, chips and soda by local sponsors.
Pete Harkness Chevrolet brought excitement for both the anglers and public with a chance drawing for a Chevrolet 4 x 4 Crew Cab. The public that attended the weigh-in got free tickets for the drawing.
The next stop on Bass Pro Crappie Masters Tournament tour is Warsaw, MO., where June 9th is a national qualifier and the last leg of the Missouri State Championship which will be held on June 10th.
Local sponsors bringing this National Qualifier tournament to the area include: Motel 60; KELR 101.0; KOTM 97.9; KLEE AM 1480; Indian Hills Inn; R/J Performance; Waters Edge Marine Inc; Dogg's RV Park; Elliott's General Store bp; Centerville & Rathbun Lake Area; Don Elen Motel; Junction Family Restaurant; Wal-Mart, Centerville; Captain's Landing; Bowling Motors & RV Sales; 98.7 KMGO; KCOG 1400 AM; Rathbun RV Rentals; Ozzie's Ole Red Barn; Iowa Trust and Savings Bank; Treasure Chest Bait & Tackle; First Iowa State Bank; Barker Company; The Brick Street Pub & Eatery; Grey Goose Inn; Peoples State Bank; Tiki Auto & Marine; J&K Lite House; Market Place Deli; HyVee; Pete Harkness: Wapello County, IA & Ottumwa Convention & Visitors Bureau.
National Sponsors include: Bass Pro Shops; Tracker Boats; Nitro Boats; Arctic Cat; Mercury Motors, Minn Kota; Humminbird; KeelShield; Turboset, Grizzly Jig Company; Fishergirl; RoadRunner by Blakemore; Biosonix; Bugband; Perrotibilt; Mr. Crappie; Slider; American Angler; Hydroglow; SureLife; Bagley Baits; Spike-It; Knight Rifles; Porcupine Fish Attractor, Fish Hedz; Kodiak Scents; Bobby Garland; KeepAlive; Emmrod; Stanley Wedgetail; Kastaway Kulis; Budweiser; Crappie Unlimited; MonsterCrappie.com; Lokinets; The Woodshed; Kasswinns; Kastaway Kulis.
Bass Pro CrappieMasters is a national tournament trail covering 12 states . For more information contact www.crappiemasters.net or crappiemasters@aol.com
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