Dyer pulls the plug, sweeps to first place in tournament
Mt. Pleasant’s Steve Dyer resorted to “sinking his bass boat” and to negotiate his way to victory at the April 6 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series N.C. Division tournament at High Rock Lake.
Dyer wanted to fish in Flat Swamp Creek, but with High Rock experiencing high water, the railroad bridge across the mouth of the creek is normally too close to the water to allow the passage of any boats.
“I had to fill my boat with water to weigh it down and lean low to sneak under the Flat Swamp Bridge,” said Dyer, who pulled the drain plug to allow enough water into the hull to lower the boat’s profile enough to get it under the bridge.
The strategy paid off with a 5-fish catch of 19.57 pounds taken by fishing rocky structure in 10 feet of water with Zoom Super Hog creature baits and True South jigs in the Dyer-special green pumpkin color. His biggest bass weighed 6.14 pounds.
“I had six bites all day; one of them didn’t keep,” said Dyer, who won $1,859.
Mike Miller of Trinity placed second with the only other 5-fish limit taken in the 35-man field. Miller’s weight of 18.95 paid $930.
Robert “Stump” Morrison Jr. of Winston-Salem finished third with 17.02 and collected $620, plus an additional $175 for the big fish of the day, a 7.02-pound bass that struck a slow-rolled spinnerbait.
Other boaters in the money were: James Blankenship of Lexington, fourth with 10.71 for $434; Tommy Jones of Salisbury, fifth with 9.17 for $372; Jeff Jennings of Charlotte, sixth with 8.85 for $341; and Tim Grein of Winston-Salem, seventh with 7.42 for $310.
Fishing remains tough at High Rock. Nineteen boaters failed to land a keeper bass, and co-anglers struggled as well. If a co-angler caught a keeper fish, he received a check. The payout was through seven places, and only seven co-anglers had fish.
Charles Wood of Thomasville topped the co-anglers with 13.70 pounds and won $929. He also took the co-angler big-fish award of $88 with a 5.30-pound bass. Runner-up Alberto “Nick” Nickles of Swansboro had 7.15 for $465; Jordan Venable of Welcome, 4.01 for fourth place and $217; and Chris King of Dallas, 2.63 for fifth and $186.
OTHER BASS TOURNAMENTS
Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open,Douglas Lake, Dandridge, Tenn., April 4-6
1. Patrick Bone (Cleveland, Ga.), 65-4, $47,930; 17. Shane Lineberger (Lincolnton), 28-2, $3,000; 26. Ron Wolfarth (Oakboro), 24-14, $2,640.
Carolina Anglers Team Trail, Yadkin Division,High Rock Lake, April 6
1. Alan Griffin (Polkton)-Terry James (Wadesboro), 22.05, $1,155; 2. Chad Poteat (Mt. Airy)-Joel Ketcham, 19.05, $360; 3. Kevin-Bradley Chandler (New London), 16.05, $250; 4. Bobby Lovings (Salisbury)-Dwight Morgan (Gold Hill), 15.95, $130; 5. Jimmy-Dwight Hughes (Lexington), 14.80, $110; 6. Eric Moser (Salisbury)-Tracy Smith (Lexington), 11.91, $100. Big fish: Tony Waterhouse (Lexington)-Justin Goodyear (Thomasville), 7.35, $210.
CATT Southeast Division, Sutton Lake, April 6
1. Todd Thornlow (Hawg Wild Bassmasters)-Greg Johnson, 33.55, and big fish 8.05 pounds, $768; 2. Jeremy Sullivan-Jamie Pierce, 23.03, $200.
CATT Lake Wylie Spring Qualifier, Lake Wylie, April 6
1. Danny Mason-Lionel Mason, 14.84, $525; 2. Christian Shoda-Cameron Shoda (Tega Cay, S.C.), 14.79, $620; 3. Sunny Beam-Eric Weir (Gastonia), 14.63, $269; 4. Hunter Hicks-Matt Hayes, 14.16, $120; 5. David Winters-Brian Huskins (Mt. Holly), 13.76, and big fish, 5.49 pounds, $161.
Anglers Choice Tournament Trail, N.C. Division,Smith Mountain Lake, Va., April 7
1. Bobby Clarke (Virginia Beach, Va.)-Charles Goff (Suffolk, Va.), 18.48, 300 points; 2. Tim Roberts-Russ Shelton, 18.22, 299 points; 3. Garth- Brandon Joyce, 17.95, 298 points; 4. Donald Sheffey Jr.-Donald Sheffey Sr. (Concord, Va.), 17.88, 297 points; 5. Thomas Wooten (Huddleston, Va.)-Joshua Wagy (Dewitt, Va.), 15.53, 296 points; 6. Chris-Ben Eads, 15.40, 295 points; 7. Brian Morgan (Newton)-Anthony Lutz (Denver), 14.20, 294 points.
Fishers of Men Central Division,Shearon Harris Lake, April 6
1. David-Larry Jacobs, 20.56, $2,025; 2. Aaron Stewart-Timothy George, 19.88, $720; 3. Todd Durham-Todd Rich, 16.60, $655; 4. David Farman (Semora)-William Killian (Alton, Va.) tied Jason Dew-Randall Soles, 15.44, $440 for Farman-Killian and $350 for Dew-Soles; 6. Joel Lloyd-Hunter Campbell (Henderson), 14.83, $270; 7. Phil Thalheimer-Allen Farman, 14.29, $208. Tim Goad (Chapel Hill)-Mark Williams, 13.50, $200; 9. Jimmy-Jonathan Jones, 13.35, and big fish, 7.87 pounds, $420; 10. Jay Nyce-Mark Sherrer, 11.28, $150.
Boats Unlimited NC Team Trail,Falls of the Neuse Lake, April 6
1. Scott Dunn-Stewart Adams (Four Oaks), 28.15, $2,320; 2. Josh Wise (Raleigh)-Jesse Wise (Erwin), 25.38, $780; 3. Bubba Haywood (Roxboro)-Steve Goodwin (Durham), 25.19, $600; 4. Curtis Vaughn (Rougemont)-Charles Vaughn (Timberlake), 23.84, $540; 5. Ricky Petty Gibsonville)-Jason Michael (Reidsville), 23.45, $480; 6. Bobby Houser (Durham)-Randy Leonard (Zebulon), 22.46, $420; 7. Russell-Paul Rigsbee (Timberlake), 21.36, $360; 8. Todd-Jeff Sumner (Southern Pines), 21.01, $300; 9. Corey Linton-Mark Peck (Pikeville), 20.79, $240; 10. Jim Nichols-Jeremy Martin (Chapel Hill), 20.75, $240; 11. Ted Boyette- John Parrish (Kenly), 20.44, $180; 12. Chase-Gary Johnson (Four Oaks), 19.76, $180; 13. Scott Smith (Apex)-Tony Woodard (Four Oaks), 19.64, $120; 14. Mike Stephenson (Bahama)-Chad Jones (Durham), 19.07, $120; 15. Tim Goss (Franklinton)-Jeff Vincent (Durham), 19.06, $120. Big fish: Goss-Vincent, 9.26 pounds, $1,022.
Carolina Coach & Marine Monday Night Trail, Lake Norman, April 8
1. Aaron Miles (Marshville)-Buck Morgan (Newton), 13.80, $500; 2. Hank Cherry (Maiden)-Craig Chambers (Charlotte), 12.15, $320; Dave Snyder (Concord)-Bobby Derrick, 11.45, $240; 4. Jonathan Foster-Jason Dehart, 11.55, $140; 5. Scott-Dwight Beattie (Lincolnton), 11.20, $100.
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