The Mississippi State Championship was held in Tunica, MS. September 21 and 22. The two day event was sponsored by the Grand Casino Resort and Budweiser. 140 anglers from 12 states competed for the top prizes and title. Anglers had a great experience as the banquet and registration was held at the Grand Casino Resort Event Center with entertainment by Briana Lawler Dean and the event mc�d by Legends of the Outdoors Gary Mason. The event was filmed by Revive the Outdoors with Cody and Cody and will be shown on the Sportsman Channel and internet. The Grand Casino Resort held a drawing for a Chevy Truck and Tracker Boat in conjunction with the event on Saturday night.

The media fish off was won by Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters editor Tim Huffman fishing with American Angler and Grizzly Jig Angler Wade Mansfield. Tim pulled in a 1.88 lb crappie to take the honors. Tina Lawler took second with a 1.64 crappie while Briana Lawler Dean came in third with a 1.63 lbs crappie.

Day one was held on Tunica Lake as anglers were having a difficult pre fishing time with warm waters causing the gar to be very active. At the end of the day anglers showed fishing abilities weighing in weights that were unexpected with the pre fishing reports. Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman of Tennessee ended the day in the lead with a total 8.51 lbs on seven fish. Roy Logan and Wade Hendren were second with 8.18 lbs while David Thornton and Shelton Culpepper were third with 7.68 lbs. Most of the field was within 3 lbs from the top going into day two.

Day two was held on Arkabutla Lake. Pre fishing reports were saying there would be big crappie and that held true. The final 21 teams from day one had a drive through weigh in at the Grand Casino Resort Event Center that was sponsored by Huey White Chevrolet.

Beginning in the hot seat on stage was the team of John Shannon and Dan Stamper who finished day one with 6.31 lbs and weighed in 13.07 lbs for a total of 19.38 lbs. They set the mark high and stayed on the hot seat for a long time until the husband wife team of Gary Kendrick and Barbara Kendrick took the hot seat. They too stayed a long time finishing third overall with a total weight of 20.25 lbs. Day ones second place team of Roy Logan and Wade Hendren were one of the last to weigh in and took over the hot seat with a total weight of 20.79.

With only one team remaining to weigh everyone was waiting to see if Capps and Coleman had enough to keep their first place. Capps and Coleman needed 12.29 lbs to keep first place and they came to the stage with a weight of 13.06 lbs giving them a total weight of 21.57 lbs and the Mississippi State Championship.

Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman said they marked each spot on the gps that they caught fish and noticed a line and fished it with minnows. The used BnM poles, Minn Kota motor and Spike it to help them. First place earned them $7,000.00.

Roy Logan and Wade Hendren were using Road Runner Lures tipped with minnows while trolling. The team stated they had some slow fishing only catching 2 at a time then nothing for a couple hours before catching a couple more. Second place earned them a check for $4,000.00.

Gary Kendrick and Barbara Kendrick were tipping Bobby Garland jigs with minnows on BnM poles with trolling in 7-8 foot waters early moving to 12 foot waters later in the afternoon. Kendrick said they only had 4 fish early and struggled from 8 am to 1 pm and lucked out catching 4 more big ones in the afternoon by not giving up. Third place earned them $2000.00

Big Fish was won by BnM husband and wife team of Jim Reedy and Barbara Reedy with a crappie weighing 2.48 lbs. Second big fish was won by Dallas Thomas and Greg Caldwell with a 2.47 lb. crappie.

Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters paid cash down 15 places with the tenth place team earning $1,000.00 cash. This is the first time tenth place was awarded cash at this level. Prizes and certificates were paid down to the 21st place. Anglers enjoyed the Championship so much they were asking to have the event again. As Ronnie Capps stated, he has been to a lot of crappie tournaments but this event was way up there. Preparations for 2008 are under way to have the event again. The only change at this time will be that the State Championship two day event will be an open tournament without qualifying tournaments. More information will be posted at www.crappiemasters.net as the event is scheduled.

Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters would like to thank local sponsors that include: Grand Casino Resort, Budweiser, Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tunica Chamber of Commerce, Tunica County, Desoto County, Tate County, Huey White Chevrolet, Kipper, Southhaven Supply, PawPaw�s Restaurant, First Security Bank, Hernando Main Street, The Dam Store, MF Bank, JR�s Quick Stop & Bait, Desoto Bank, Kinston Landing, Marsh Madness, Bullfrog Corner Package Store, Tommy Heafner Motors, Citizens Bank, Outfitters, Quality Drugs, Coleman�s Bar-B-Que, Super 8 Motel, Dleton Plantation Inn, Covenant Bank and Trustmark National Bank.

Special thanks to our National Sponsors that include: Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats, Nitro Boats, Mercury Motors, Minn Kota, Humminbird, American Angler, RoadRunner by Blakemore, Mr. Crappie Hooks, Hydro Glow Fish Lights, Grizzly Jig Company, Biosonix, Bugband, Perotti Bilt, Mr. Crappie -Wally Marshall Signature Series Crappie Rods, Slider, SureLife, Spike-It, Kodiak Scents, Bobby Garland, KeepAlive, Budweiser, Monster Crappie, Kasswinns, Kastaway Kulis, Rocky Top Bait & Tackle, Osage Tackle, Pro Lure Tackle, Proplite, The Re-Action System, Cocoon Sunwear, Fish-Flo2, Fisherman�s Pro, Culprit, Net-n-Buddy, Tech Tackle, Tempress, Grip N Check, Foodsource, Lip-Ripperz and Coldstream Fisheries.

For more information, contact Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters at www.crappiemasters.net or call:

Bryan Wessler, President 573-280-4899
Paul Alpers, Vice President 573-280-8020
Bobby Brown, Systems Administrator 417-532-0244 crappiemasters@gmail.com

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