BUCHANAN, Tenn. – When the waves settled Sunday evening at the 2nd Annual Big Bass Splash presented by Sealy Outdoors and B.A.S.S., Philip Cannady, of Waverly, Tenn., was handed the keys to a brand new 2013 Triton 18XS powered by Mercury. Cannady’s catch weighed in at an impressive 9.08 pounds and topped the second place finisher by almost a full pound. See photos from Kentucky Lake.
Cannady was quoted as saying, “a blind hog can find an acorn every now and then” but this “acorn” paid off very well. Fishing in the Big Richland Creek area, he caught the winning bass on a 10XD being cast up into 8 feet of water and cranked off a ledge into 20 feet.
Cannady made the long, 23-mile run to Paris Landing State Park to weigh his fish in during the 9 to 10 o’clock hour on Saturday to take the win for the hour and pocket $500. The waiting game then began as he watched the minutes tick away until the final hour on Saturday was over.
As the day continued on Saturday, the dry weather turned into rain resulting in bigger bass being brought to the scales. In the 12 to 1 o’clock hour it took at 6.02 to be in the money!
Sunday turned out to be a great day of fishing as well. Although no fish placing in the overall top 5 were caught Sunday, on average it took a bigger fish to place in the hourly payout. Several big fish came to the scales, but Cannady’s 9.08 lunker from Saturday held on for the win sending him back to Waverly, Tenn., with $40,000 in cash and prizes.
Finishing out the Overall Top 5 were:
2nd Place- (8.13) Kevin Hilliard; Hollow Rock, TN- $2,500
3rd Place- (7.46) Archie Wilson; Corryton, TN- $2,000
4th Place- (7.02) Michael Prince; Camden, TN- $1,500
5th Place- (7.00) Randy Flowers; Terre Haute, IN- $1,000
Full Results | Day 1 hour winners | Day 2 hour winners | Little Angler winners
Each day $1,000 is awarded for the first 4.00-pound, exact weight bass weighed in. Neither one was weighed, so it became an open drawing amongst the contestants. Kirk Adams of Wartburg, Tenn., was the first name drawn to claim his $1,000; then Landon Grider (9 years old) of Scottsboro, Ala., was drawn for the second $1,000. Landon had weighed a fish in on Sunday, but did not win any money. He was an ecstatic 9 year old.
Jeffery Archie of Paris, Tenn., won a Polaris Sportsman 400 HD (Sponsored by Polaris of Benton) in the famous “Elimination Drawing” after he offered the last guy standing with him $1,000 to step down and take the Polaris.
Anglers from all over came to win their share of $85,000 in guaranteed cash & prizes. There were 528 entries in this year’s Kentucky Lake event, which was a 40% increase from last year. There were 16 states represented with anglers coming from as far away as Maryland, Michigan and Virginia. Bob Sealy, president of Sealy Outdoors, presented McWorth Management a check for $2,640 for the Ronald McDonald House at Sunday’s awards ceremony.
Next year’s dates were announced on Sunday during the awards ceremony for August 16 & 17, 2014. A special thank you for the local support from Paris Landing State Park, Paris Landing Tourism League, Stewart County, Fish Tale Lodge and a big thank you to Shelli Perry and McWorth Management for all of their hard work and dedication to help make this event successful. We would also like to thank Two Rivers Bass Club for providing the Live Release Boat and fish care along with the Junior Bass Club for running fish. A special thanks to Gary and the staff at WLZK 94.1.
The next stop for the Big Bass Splash will be on Lake Fork in Alba, Texas, September 20-22 at Lake Fork Marina. Click to www.sealyoutdoors.com or call 888-698-2591 for more information on any Big Bass Splash event. Follow us on facebook.com/BigBassSplash and Twitter @SealyOutdoors.
Sealy Outdoors will be celebrating 30 years at the 2014 Sam Rayburn Big Bass Splash. We have a lot of big things planned already, great surprises and big entertainment. It just keeps getting bigger and better at Sealy Outdoors, and as Bob always says, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
The Big Bass Splash is the richest amateur big bass fishing tournament as featured on National Geographic. Sponsors includes: Triton Boats, Legend Boats, Mercury Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Minn Kota, Lowrance, Okuma, Tournament Saver Pro, Power Pole, Navionics, Healthy Battery, River2Sea, Texas Fish & Game, HydroWave, TH Marine, K2 Coolers, Vicious Fishing, Amphibia Sports, The Original Rod Sox, Tour Star Products, and FishingWorld.com
