Lake Fork Anglers Bass Club member Rick Wright strikes gold at the Sealy Tournament on Sept 16th fishing out of Lake Fork Marina.
Bob Sealy has been putting on this tournament at various lakes around the country for over 30 years. It is billed as the biggest payout for the non-professional angler.
First prize usually is a top-notch bass boat combo with a pickup truck to pull it plus cash to pay the taxes. This year it was offering a Phoenix with a Dodge truck.
Entrants can bring in bass not in the slot (16”-24”) and be seated in up to ten places each hour for 7 hours a day for three days. That is a whole lot of money being paid back to those lucky to catch a winning fish. And catch they did. The “about” 2400 entries brought in a whole bunch of fish. Which were then carried to the Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association live release boat for recovery and release.
While there was 20+ bass brought to the scales over the slot of 24”, there were also a bunch of fish brought in inside the slot. And each of them garnered a $250 fine plus being DQ’d for the rest of that day. Some anglers catching a big bass just think because this bass is “so” big it must be over the slot or they don’t read the rules or even know about the slot. Other bring in fish just over 16” hoping it will shorten up to fall under the 16” max.
Rick managed to catch two keepers that won him the money. A second place for an 8.09 LB 24” fish and another for a 6th place payout. Plenty enough to cover the entry fees and boat gas for he and his partner.