Fishing News - 12/27/03
2003 NSBA/Shakespeare Striper Tour National Championship Winners
Click here for list of winners and prizes
Gainesville, GA- Team Gerald Bates Guide Service, captained by Gerald Bates of Russell Springs, Kentucky, ended up on top of the 93-teams and 312
anglers that traveled from all across the United States to compete for the
2003 NSBA/Shakespeare Striper Tour National Championship held last week on
Lake Lanier in the city of Gainesville, Georgia.
By tournament rules, the anglers were permitted to pre-fish on December
3rd and 4th prior to the December 5th and 6th event as this was the only time
Bates and his team had ever been on the lake.
After getting a strong lead on Day-1 with a 29.80-pound striped bass caught
by team member Anthony Martin, the teams female angler, Karen Martin, caught
a 12.33-pound striper to give the team the 42.12-pounds necessary to pull
out the win. Martin had a similar size fish earlier in the morning of Day-2
but
lost it after an intense fight.
Eighty of the 91 teams were successful in catching fish and bringing them to the
scales.
Weather conditions were very similar to the 2002 tournament with rain and clouds
on Day-1 followed by clear but windy conditions on Day-2. But much like 2002
Championship, the 2003 NSBA Shakespeare Striper Tour anglers made the necessary
adjustments.
After Day-1, the locals had not faired as well as the visiting anglers as team
"Ram Rod", captained by Marion Hall of Hendersonville, North Carolina,
was in second with a 19.36-pound striped bass. Angler Denny Roth from
Raystown, Pennsylvania of team "Blue Magnum" was in 3rd with an
18.30-pounder. None of these three teams had ever fished on Lake Lanier before.
A local favorite, team "Striper Nailer", captained by Johnny
Walker
from Gainesville, GA, was shut-out on Day-1 with no fish, but bounced back on
Day-2 to catch a 22.30-pounder, the largest striper of the final day of the
competition that won him and his team the 2003 Family Fishing team of
the year title. The prize included a 22-foot Sundance boat, 150HP Johnson motor
and a Loadmaster trailer package valued at over $15,000, as well as $1,580 cash
for catching the largest fish on Day-2. Gerald Bates also won $1,580 for his
Day-1 big fish.
A crowd of several hundred filled the NSBA's 40 by 100 foot event tent that
housed the National Championship weigh-in and ceremonies. With close to 100% of
the fish weighed in alive, the fish were briefly placed in a salt dip, then sent
to a 6000 gallon holding tank where the fish swam for over 36-hours prior to
being returned to the lake. This live weigh-in of striped bass is possible
thanks to a device developed and promoted by the NSBA called the Striper Tube(tm).
This device holds the fish nose down in
an enclosed tube, circulating approximately 11-gallons of water over the gills
of the fish. It is believed that this nose-down, dark tube system provides for a
tranquilizing effect on the stripers allowing for the angling stress to be
removed prior to releasing the fish. The Striper Tube(tm) has been successful in
keeping fish as big as 34-pounds alive for release. The South Carolina
Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and Clemson University are currently
conducting studies to confirm the effects of the device on the fish. What is
known for sure is the fish are alive at NSBA tournament weigh-in's and in very
healthy conditions with very low mortality rate during the colder months.
Preliminary results of the SCDNR telemetry study shows a better than 90%
survival of released stripers held in the tubes.
To find out more about the NSBA visit their website @ www.fishnsba.com
or see "Striper Fishing USA" airing on the Outdoor Channel Mondays at
6:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. and Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. You may also read
more about the trail as well as striped bass fishing in general in the
"Striped Bass" magazine available on newsstands or by subscription by
visiting the NSBA website.
