Bill Braswell Sportsman
of the Year
October 8, 2009
Yamamoto pro staff fisherman Bill Braswell had good news and bad as he fished the Crappie Masters 2009 Classic tournament held September 24-26 at Grenada Lake, MS. There were 245 teams from 21 states competing. Competition was tough and the lake was not producing numbers of keeper fish.
Angler of the Year
At the pre-tournament banquet Bill Braswell was announced as the Crappie Masters Sportsman of the Year for 2009. "It was really a surprise," says Braswell. "I just can't put into words how pleased I am and how honored. This award originated from its first recipient, John Shantz, Sr., who passed away shortly after receiving it. He was a friend of mine and I'm proud to be chosen from the many deserving fishermen here."
Crappie Masters President, Paul Alpers, says, "We base our selection on several things. The first is being a good person because he needs to be a good representative of what a crappie fisherman should be. Other factors include how much the person helps other people and that he promotes the sport of crappie fishing. I don't know anyone out there who has worked harder to promote crappie fishing. His whole life has been dedicated to the outdoors with his service as a wildlife officer before retiring and going into fishing full time. He's a good person and well-deserving of this award."
The Classic
"It got off to a bad start," says Braswell, "because my partner, Susan Gregory, fell and busted her shoulder and couldn't attend the event. Mississippi has a three pole per person limit so I was fishing with half the poles as everyone else. Since this was a lake where fast and slow trolling dominated, I was at a disadvantage. However, I still felt good going into the tournament."
"The first day I made a mistake by psyching myself out when early in morning I lost four keeper fish. If that wasn't bad enough, I finally caught a 2-plus pound fish and it was hooked in the belly so I had to release it. I let that ruin the rest of my day instead of just fishing."
"I knew I had no shot at finishing in the top of the field so on day two I went for big fish. My strategy wasn't bad as I kept fishing and searching for just the right spot. I finally found it late in the day and worked it hoping for a big bite. I caught a 2.38 pounder that I was proud of but it wasn't enough to win big fish."
What about the big fish? It was at 15 feet, almost on bottom, and it took a Yamamoto Tiny Ika that was black with blue flakes.
Matt Morgan and Kent Watson from Indiana won the two-day classic with 14 crappie weighing 28.23 pounds to win two fully rigged Tracker V-18 boats with 150 Mercury motors for a win valued at $45,000.
Second place was Ronnie Capps and Steve Coleman who came from 53rd place up to second with 25.67 pounds for $10,000 cash. Third were Kenny and Kerry Browning with 25.52 pounds. For full results, go to www.crappiemasters.net.
Tip of the Month
There are times when a jig performs best on a simple round jig head. Other times, like during the classic, a Road Runner gives the bait more flash to attract the fish to your bait.