MOUNT IDA, Ark. – When the waves settled Sunday evening at the Big Bass Splash presented by Sealy Outdoors and B.A.S.S., Kou Yang, of Glenwood, Ark., was handed the keys to a brand new 2013 Legend 186 powered by Mercury. Kou Yang weighed his fish in the 10-11 hour on Saturday and tipped the scales at 5.66 lbs to take the overall lead. See photos from Ouachita.
Saturday morning started off with rain and thunderstorms resulting in anglers bringing a steady amount of bass to the scales. A total of 93 fish were caught on Day 1 with a total of 244.58 lbs and a 2.68 average weight. In the 12 to 1 o’clock hour, the average weight was 3.18 lbs. Sunday turned out to be a beautiful warm day with more fish weighed in. The weights were smaller on Sunday than they were on Saturday and only one fish was weighed in big enough to finish in the Top 5 Overall, Evan Barnes with a 4.92. Kou Yang held on for the win sending him home with $38,000 in cash and prizes.
Kou Yang has been fishing Lake Ouachita for about 7 years and has never fished a Big Bass Tournament. He caught his fish on a White Heddon Super Spook in about 2 foot of water just North of Mountain Harbor. “I was so excited to enter the event, and at the end of two days, take home the Legend. I’m sure to be back next year,” Yang says.
Finishing out the Overall Top 5 were:
2nd Place- (5.59) Trent Owens; Amity, AR- $2,500 CASH
3rd Place- (4.98) Eric Wilson; Mount Ida, AR- $2,000 CASH
4th Place- (4.92) Larry Ford; Lonsdale, AR- $1,500 CASH
5th Place- (4.92) Evan Barnes; Hot Springs, AR- $1,000 CASH
See the full results here, and the LIttle Angler results here.
Each day $1,000 CASH is awarded for the first 4.00 exact weight bass weighed in. Neither one was weighed, so they became an open drawing amongst the contestants. Tim Nesterenko of Little Rock, Ark., was the first name drawn to claim his $1,000 and then Alecia House of Mena, Ark., was drawn for the second $1,000. Alecia House is the wife of Brandon House whom won the Elimination Boat at Lake Fork just a few weeks ago.
Patrick Izell of Greenwood, Ark., won a Polaris Sportsman 400 HD (Sponsored by Greeson Polaris) in the famous “Elimination Drawing”.
Anglers from all over came to win their share of $85,000 Guaranteed in Cash & Prizes. There were 348 entries in this year’s Lake Ouachita, AR event. There were 10 states represented with anglers coming from as far away as Connecticut and Florida.
Next year’s dates were announced on Sunday during the Awards Ceremony for October 11 & 12, 2014. A Special Thank you for the local support from Mountain Harbor Resort & Spa along with US 97 for being the Official Radio Station. A Special Thank You to Caleb, Bryce, Dylan and Kyle with the Lake Hamilton Bass-N-Wolves Fishing Team for running fish.
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! Visit www.sealyoutdoors.com or call 888.698.2591 for more information on any Big Bass Splash events. Follow us on facebook.com/BigBassSplash and Twitter @SealyOutdoors for more updates.
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
