Thread: GA State Champions and Clarks Hill April 21, 2012 Tournament

Great weather greeted the anglers for the final leg of the 2012 GA State Championship at Clarks Hill. Light winds and mild temps gave them every opportunity to search the entire lake for the biggest crappie they could find. Water temps averaged 70 with a light stain to clear water over most of the lake. Teams worked both the GA and SC sides of the lake for several days prior to and during the tournament. Long line trolling was the winning method, but every technique was used by the teams and many used several techniques during the tournament day. 101 crappie for 130.39 lbs were weighed with an average weight of 1.29 lbs per fish. Most of the fish were post spawn with a few still holding eggs. Big Fish weights averaged 1.63 of the 15 individual weighed.

Thank You to all those who participated in this series. 8 teams also earned qualifications to compete in the 2012 Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters National Championship Classic being held in October at the Tenn-Tom Water Way in Columbus, MS! Bump-downs from previously qualified points leaders allowed points winners down to 11th place to receive one of the eight qualifications. That's a lot of GA teams that can now compete in the Classic for a whole lot of cash and prizes at the National Championship. Looking forward to seeing these teams represent GA and Slab Masters at the Classic. Congrats!

Thank You to Lincoln County and Lincolnton, GA for having us there for the tournament. Awesome town and community with some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. Special thank you to Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, City of Lincolnton, Cullars Inn, The Corner Cafe, El Portal Mexican Restaurant, Lincolnton Dry Cleaners, Jet Food Stores, Rowland & Ware Auto Parts, DairyLane, White's Marine Service Center, Pair of Jacks The Lake Store, Casey Bargeron, and Laura Sanders. Don't forget the Georgia Grill & Chill being held in Lincolnton, GA on May 5, 2012. There will be a lot of good food, some competition cooking, wine tasting, live bands and more.

Thank you to Paul Alpers and the staff at Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters for taking a chance on Slab Masters tournaments. The club affiliate tournaments are a great way to get local participation and to give those club members a chance to advance to the National Championship. It has been an awesome experience to work with Crappie Masters to make this series a success. We are looking forward to next year.

Congrats to the 2012 Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters - Slab Masters GA State Champions! Craig Chapman and Jason Little not only won the Clarks Hill tournament but earned enough points to clinch the GA State Championship too. They came from second place with a winning weight that gave them the maximum points available to overcome their 7 point deficit going into the tournament. They averaged 197 points per tournament with two wins. Those LightWire Hooks are really paying off! They won $2,320.00 from the tournament and Champions fund! Congrats also to Lamar Young and Justin Churchwell for their second place finish in the Championship. They placed 4th in the tournament to get the points needed to bring them up from 3rd place in points going into the Clarks Hill tournament. These guys have not been fishing tournaments very long at all and have shown they know how to get it done. Their EZT Pole Perch "Honeymooner" double seat and rod holders helped them catch the big fish to get the points and helped them work together as a team in the front of the boat. Third place in the Championship was the Dairylane & Moss Back Fish Rack team of Ron Wallace and Tim Werkin. They came from 5th in points with a 10 point deficit and earned 3rd place points in the tournament to clinch the 3rd place position in the Championship. Fourth place was held on to buy the points leaders before Clarks Hill, Tommy & Christy Sellers. They had a tough time finding the big fish and couldn't get enough points to hold onto the points lead in the Championship. Finishing out the top five was Charles Wood and Alan McGinnis who also placed 5th in the Clarks Hill tournament. They were in sixth place in the Championship and earned enough points to advance one more position.

Here are the top 5 from the Tournament and the Championship. (The complete results will be posted on our web site along with pictures and other info in the next few days.)

Tournament Results Top 5 & Big Fish:

1. 11.23 lbs - C. Chapman & J. Little = $1,400.00
2. 9.60 lbs - R. Temples & E. Kitchens = $700.00
3. 9.53 lbs - R. Wallace & T. Werkin = $300.00
4. 9.49 lbs - L. Young & J. Churchwell
5. 9.46 lbs - A. McGinnis & C. Wood

Big Fish: 1.98 lbs - R. Wall & B. Wall (also Top A/Y team) = $150.00

2012 GA State Championship:

1. C. Chapman & J. Little = $920.00
2. L. Young & J. Churchwell
3. R. Wallace & T. Werkin
4. T. Sellers & C. Sellers
5. C. Wood & A. McGinnis
6. S. Williams & B. Williams
7. R. Temples & E. Kitchens
8. T. Thiel & R. Willis
9. S. Sprayberry & A. Sprayberry
10. R. Huff & R. Huff
11. R. Sellers & T. Ryals
12. D. Cannon & G. Manning
13. S. Harrison & T. Outlaw
14. J. Leverett & C. Tracy
15. R. Sellers & B. Taylor
16. F. Jackson & M. Eller
17. R. Wall & B. Wall
18. B. Davis Sr. & B. Davis Jr.
19. F. Jackson & T. Globig
20. D. Williamson & B. Williamson
21. T. Johnson & S. Alligood
22. B. J. Heard & J. Salter
23. T. Seabrooks & K. Hollingshed
24. R. Mayo & B. Peacock
25. D. Turner & M. Dewberry
    ***** This series of three tournaments paid the winners and top finishers $8,280.00 plus three big fish won $460.00 and that is not counting any prizes won that were valued from $100 - $25 each to many other places in the field. That is a whole lot of money for just fishing! Anyone can do it, but you can't do it if you don't enter. Several of the teams are new to tournaments and did very well. They are not pro's, and most have full time jobs. They do fish often, and do fish well. Most all of them were weekend warriors just like most who read Crappie.com. If you would like to have some friendly completion and learn a ton of new ways to catch crappie, Slab Masters & Crappie Masters tournaments are the way to go. Just ask some of our members, and you will see.*****
    

Sorry it took so long, but here is a slide show of pics and a link to the updated web site: 2012 Slab Masters GA State Championship Series


Click on the photo to start the slide show. Congrats again to the Champions!