2010 - 2011 Anglers in Action LLC
Alternate* 1st Big Bass* 2nd Big Bass**
TEAM MEMBERS
FISH
BIG BASS
POINTS
AWARD
TOTAL WEIGHT
PLACE
1
Jim Davidson - Rick Scarberry
5/5
5.99**
22.18
247 $1,979.00
2
Glenn Harrison - Mark Moody
5/5
6.29*
18.09
242 $1,361.00
3
Eric Coleman - Les Coleman
5/5
5.39
17.02
240 $830.00
4
Jason Baxter - Matt Eisenbacher
5/5
5.43
15.47
237 $600.00
5
Perry Ayers - Brent Watson
5/5
4.29
15.27
236 $500.00
6
Tom Amersheck - Padon Shaffer
5/5
4.67
14.47
234 $350.00
7
Brent Algeo - Jim Copeland
5/5
3.75
13.35
232 $250.00
8
Greg Wilmoth - Kathleen Garrison
5/5
3.93
13.32
231 $200.00
9
Robert Shackleford - Shawn Debow
5/5
4.22
13.18
230 $175.00
10
Alex Haines - Chris Peterson
5/5
12.72
229 $150.00
11
Ronald Parker - Russell Hughes
5/5
3.63
12.67
228
12
Bud Brown - Rick Irvine
5/5
12.52
227
13
Marty Bohlke Jr - Donovan Hensley
5/5
12.34
225
14
Rodney Edwards - Scott Hill
5/5
11.22
223
15
Roger Mhoon
5/5
11.21
222
16
Bob Meek - Phil Wixson
5/5
11.16
221
17
Joe Brantley -
5/5
11.11
220
18
Mark Louderbaugh - Steve Cox
5/5
11.02
219
19
Scott Clift - Ashley Medley
5/5
11.00
218
20
Larry Tasker Jr - Wes Gamble
4/4
5.58
11.00
217
21
Dave Goestenkor - Chad Baker
5/5
10.94
216
22
Cole Baker - Chris Baker
5/5
10.82
215
23
Terry Bradley - Matt Emerson
5/5
10.74
214
24
Roy Butler - Anthony Scoma
5/5
10.68
213
25
Jay Carter - Troy Ayers
5/5
10.67
212
26
Brandon Rummel - Jared Clift
5/5
10.60
211
27
Justin Faucett - Eric Stephenson
5/5
10.38
209
28
Chad MCManis - Justin McManis
5/5
2.78
10.23
208
29
Rich Cooper - Ron Rummel
5/5
10.22
207
30
Leon Banks - Mike Shinstine
5/5
10.12
206
31
Jeremy Lawyer -
5/5
10.10
205
32
Todd Knaack - Nick Hahlbeck
5/5
9.86
204
33
Larry Leavitt - Andy Jarman
5/5
9.77
203
34
Frank Bradenburg - Les Brandenburg
5/5
9.74
202
35
Brad Gaik - Ryan Gaik
5/5
9.71
201
36
Crawford Brantley - Scott Kessler
5/5
9.48
199
37
Chad Allison - Ronnie Allison
5/5
9.43
198
38
Greg Poindexter - Nate Poindexter
5/5
9.30
197
39
Gary Shartzer - Rick LaPoint
4/4
8.65
196
40
Brian Austin - Tim Williams
4/4
8.20
194
41
JR Williams - Lee Jordan
4/4
8.02
193
42
Scott Tassi - Jason Hay
4/4
7.54
192
43
Pete Wenners - *Alan Powell
4/4
7.37
190
44
Shane Boyd - Daniel Pueppke
4/4
7.35
189
45
Richard Woodard - Adam Marlay
4/4
7.21
188
46
Jeff Combs - John Combs
4/4
6.91
187
47
Tony Peterson - Tom Sears
3/3
6.89
186
48
Randy Conlon - Bobby Albert
3/3
6.80
185
49
Herb Nagy - Mike Nagy
3/3
2.95
6.64
184
50
Brad Samuelson - *Jerad Chvatal
3/3
6.44
182
51
Frank Adamson - Tim Mckenney
3/3
5.75
181
52
William Hamblin - Rodney Trites
2/2
4.63
179
53
Kenny Conlon - Joe Conlon
0/0
.00
25
Davidson & Scarberry Blast Stockton Kickoff Tournament!
The fall transition had finally come in full swing at Stockton Lake for the kickoff tournament of the 2012 Anglers in Action buddy tournament. Although fish were caught in all depths and locations, a spinnerbait was the key bait to be throwing if you wanted to place at the top of the standings. Fifty-three boats headed out onto Stockton’s fertile waters to make the first step to qualifying for the Division’s final tournament and a $10,000 first place guaranteed payday.
Lake Level: 861.89’, steady’, 867’ normal
Air Temp: 51-62 degrees
Cloudy, South 15-25 mph
Water Temp: 53-58 degrees
Water Color: Clear Main Lake, Stained in Creek Arms
Lake Level: 861.89’, steady’, 867’ normal
Air Temp: 51-62 degrees
Cloudy, South 15-25 mph
Water Temp: 53-58 degrees
Water Color: Clear Main Lake, Stained in Creek Arms
Jim Davidson and Rick Scarberry crushed the field with a monster sack of fish weighing in at 22.18 lbs. They bagged the 2nd Big Bass of the tournament, a 5.99 lb largemouth. They also had another fish in their bag nearly the same weight but to reach that weight, all their fish were big.
The team focused on the mid-lake area of the Big Sac arm. Their two best fish came early in the day, one on the first stop and the other at 10 am. Jim and Rick targeted rocky main lake points and gravel/mud transitions in calmer pockets to load the boat. They culled through 12 or 14 keepers on a 3/8 oz purple shad War Eagle spinnerbait. The blade combination was changed depending on the sky conditions. The team used willow blades in nickel, gold/nickel and gold/copper to trick their fish.
The key to their bite was to throw the bait as shallow as possible, as quietly as possible since all their fish were holding in less than three feet of water. “If you could put it on the bank, that was even better,” stated Jim. They pocketed $1,979 for the win and 2nd Big Bass.
Jim is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Battery Outfitters, Pro Guide Batteries, War Eagle Custom Baits, Lews and Purcell Tire. Rick is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Luck E Strike USA, Pro Guide Batteries, Decatur Electronics and Angler’s Port Marine.
The team focused on the mid-lake area of the Big Sac arm. Their two best fish came early in the day, one on the first stop and the other at 10 am. Jim and Rick targeted rocky main lake points and gravel/mud transitions in calmer pockets to load the boat. They culled through 12 or 14 keepers on a 3/8 oz purple shad War Eagle spinnerbait. The blade combination was changed depending on the sky conditions. The team used willow blades in nickel, gold/nickel and gold/copper to trick their fish.
The key to their bite was to throw the bait as shallow as possible, as quietly as possible since all their fish were holding in less than three feet of water. “If you could put it on the bank, that was even better,” stated Jim. They pocketed $1,979 for the win and 2nd Big Bass.
Jim is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Battery Outfitters, Pro Guide Batteries, War Eagle Custom Baits, Lews and Purcell Tire. Rick is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Luck E Strike USA, Pro Guide Batteries, Decatur Electronics and Angler’s Port Marine.
2nd Place
Putting together a very respectable limit coming in at 18.09 lbs was Glenn Harrison and Mark Moody. Their bag contained the tournament’s Big Bass also, weighing a solid 6.29 lbs to make a final payday of $1,361.
The team focused on flat pockets with wood in the Big Sac arm. Glenn and Mark used two brands of white/chartreuse spinnerbaits with colorado blades, Booyah and Knuckle Down Lures, in ½ and ¾ oz weights. The fish were very shallow and they boxed their final fish by noon. Albers Marine and Brewers Prop Service of Grove, Oklahoma sponsor the team.
3rd Place
Eric and Les Coleman finished in 3rd Place with 17.02 lbs. The team declined an interview and picture.
4th Place
Locking up 4th Place was Jason Baxter and Matt Eisenbacher with 15.47 lbs, cashing a $600 check. The team fished jigs and sweet beavers on rocky secondary points in the Big Sac arm. Early in morning, the fish were shallow but the bite moved deeper during the day. Jason fished a ½ oz brown/purple Snowden Jig made by Pig Sticker Bait Co. Jason is sponsored by Pig Sticker Bait Company and Matt is sponsored by Eiron Breaker Lure Co., Mustad, Vicious and Purcell Tire.
5th Place
Sacking up 15.27 lbs was the team of Perry Ayers and Brent Watson for 5th Place and $500. They focused on main lake points in the Big Sac arm, fishing deeper than the rest of the field. Perry and Brent drug Poor Boy jigs in Ugly color tipped with a green pumpkin Rage Craw on the bluff ends, finding fish in 15 to 25 feet of water. The team is sponsored by Poor Boy Jigs.
Putting together a very respectable limit coming in at 18.09 lbs was Glenn Harrison and Mark Moody. Their bag contained the tournament’s Big Bass also, weighing a solid 6.29 lbs to make a final payday of $1,361.
The team focused on flat pockets with wood in the Big Sac arm. Glenn and Mark used two brands of white/chartreuse spinnerbaits with colorado blades, Booyah and Knuckle Down Lures, in ½ and ¾ oz weights. The fish were very shallow and they boxed their final fish by noon. Albers Marine and Brewers Prop Service of Grove, Oklahoma sponsor the team.
3rd Place
Eric and Les Coleman finished in 3rd Place with 17.02 lbs. The team declined an interview and picture.
4th Place
Locking up 4th Place was Jason Baxter and Matt Eisenbacher with 15.47 lbs, cashing a $600 check. The team fished jigs and sweet beavers on rocky secondary points in the Big Sac arm. Early in morning, the fish were shallow but the bite moved deeper during the day. Jason fished a ½ oz brown/purple Snowden Jig made by Pig Sticker Bait Co. Jason is sponsored by Pig Sticker Bait Company and Matt is sponsored by Eiron Breaker Lure Co., Mustad, Vicious and Purcell Tire.
5th Place
Sacking up 15.27 lbs was the team of Perry Ayers and Brent Watson for 5th Place and $500. They focused on main lake points in the Big Sac arm, fishing deeper than the rest of the field. Perry and Brent drug Poor Boy jigs in Ugly color tipped with a green pumpkin Rage Craw on the bluff ends, finding fish in 15 to 25 feet of water. The team is sponsored by Poor Boy Jigs.
Stockton Lake Anglers in Action Team Tournament
November 6, 2011
I’ve been looking forward to this tournament for some time.
The fall bite is one of my favorite times of the year, the fish feed
heavily and I can usually catch them well on a jig. The bite just
seems to get better as the water gets colder, all the way until the
end of December. Once the water temperature bottoms out, I
seem to loose the fish and might as well pack up my rods through
January and February.
I was also excited to fish with Jason Baxter again. We hadn’t been able to get in the boat during a tournament since I came back home from Afghanistan earlier this summer. Jason is a hoot to fish with and one heck of a fisherman. We’ve fished Heartland tournaments together in the past and always fished well together. It isn’t always easy to find a tournament partner who you mesh with.
Stockton Lake has been tough since the end of September when the water temperature first started to drop. Not that good bags haven’t been brought to the scales but it hasn’t been consistent for anyone. What’s more, I think all the fish on the Little Sac side of the lake died. Or more likely, there isn’t a strong year class of fish. You can catch keepers but the quality fish just don’t seem to be there like years past. This has been the general consensus with some of the other local anglers I’ve talked to up there. So as much as I hated to leave the area of the lake I’m most comfortable with, I decided I’d better find some fish in the Big Sac arm or plan on donating my money.
I practiced a couple weeks prior to the event in the back of a creek just to get a feel for what was going on. I found plenty of shad and the bass were there as well but not the size I was looking for. I also figured out they wanted to eat a sweet beaver over any other type of plastic bait. The day told me what the fish would eat but I knew I had to find some bigger fish in another area.
After talking to Jason, we decided to split up our practice areas and cover more water the weekend before the tournament. He focused on the river portion of the Big Sac and I looked more at the mid-lake area. The day of practice was windy and sunny. I caught a limit on a beaver and rattle trap that would have weighed about 13 lbs and Jason caught fish on a shallow crankbait. He went back again a couple days before the event and found better fish on a Pig Sticker Bait Co. Snowden jig in brown/purple color. We decided to fish my area hoping to hook up an early limit and try to upgrade later in the day up the river. Good plan but only half of it worked out.
The tournament day turned out cloudy and windy. I didn’t have much faith in a rattle trap bite without the sun so the bottom baits would have to produce. We found our answer on our first stop of the day. We caught a number of fish and put a solid keeper in the box in the first 15 minutes. We worked through a series of secondary points with rock in a creek arm. The third stop kicked out two more keepers and on the fourth, I just told Jason “last cast” and we’ll move on. The bites seemed to be more in the center of the drop, not out were it flattened out. I fired a cast out there and my bait was just crushed. I swung into the fish and knew immediately it was a quality fish. Jason saw it wallow on the surface and he jumped on the dip net. She was quickly in the boat and safely in the box. Our 5.43 lb kicker came about 8.45 am. We soon finished off our limit after two more moves but we really needed to cull out three of those fish. Even though they were keepers, they were pretty thin and weighed less than two pounds.
So the first part of our plan came together perfectly. We got our early limit with a bonus kicker fish and planned to move up the river to cull up. Fishing rarely goes exactly as planned.
By noon we had culled a few times with a jig but something was off. The better sized fish Jason had caught in practice were nowhere to be found. We only upgraded our bag by a few ounces and that wouldn’t cut it. We pulled the plug and went back down lake.
In short order we were able to cull but the bite was slower than in the morning. We kept our noses down and fished. We pulled out to a deeper bank without much luck. We worked through it and I asked Jason “What do you want to do?” Right on queue, Jason replied, “Land this fish!” as he set the hook. I jumped for the net as he guided a 4 lb fish to the boat. Whew, that helped a bunch! Jason fixed his bait, lined the boat back up on the edge of a brushpile and fired right back out there. Another quality fish bit but the line parted as a limb sawed him off. Jason said a few choice words but that’s how it goes sometimes around brush.
We turned around to fish out a little deeper on the point and I hooked up with another solid fish to cull with. We moved to another point and I lost a 3 lb fish when it jumped immediately after setting the hook. We hit two more spots and went back to where Jason caught his good fish. He worked into the brushpile and set the hook on another quality fish. He couldn’t move the fish but after about three pulls, the fish came off. Our luck went south in the last half hour of the day. We went to another couple of spots without success and then another team flagged us down. They couldn’t get the big motor to start and jumping it from our boat didn’t do the trick either. We grabbed their fish and one of the team members to make the ride back to the ramp so he could weigh their fish. We lost about 20 minutes of fishing time but if we were in the same position, we’d really appreciate the same help. You never know when it is your turn to break down.
Our limit came in at 15.47 lbs which put us in 4th place. We fished reasonably well and made the proper adjustments. I don’t know why the river fish wouldn’t bite but I don’t have gills either. We might have moved up in the standings a little if we could have landed all of our fish but everyone loses some fish. I’m sure we couldn’t have come close to the 22 lbs it took to win. Hats off to Jim and Rick for their giant bag of fish. Hopefully a big bag of fish will be in our future. We’ll try to save it for the last tournament when $10,000 is on the line.
Thanks for reading,
Matt Eisenbacher
November 6, 2011
I’ve been looking forward to this tournament for some time.
The fall bite is one of my favorite times of the year, the fish feed
heavily and I can usually catch them well on a jig. The bite just
seems to get better as the water gets colder, all the way until the
end of December. Once the water temperature bottoms out, I
seem to loose the fish and might as well pack up my rods through
January and February.
I was also excited to fish with Jason Baxter again. We hadn’t been able to get in the boat during a tournament since I came back home from Afghanistan earlier this summer. Jason is a hoot to fish with and one heck of a fisherman. We’ve fished Heartland tournaments together in the past and always fished well together. It isn’t always easy to find a tournament partner who you mesh with.
Stockton Lake has been tough since the end of September when the water temperature first started to drop. Not that good bags haven’t been brought to the scales but it hasn’t been consistent for anyone. What’s more, I think all the fish on the Little Sac side of the lake died. Or more likely, there isn’t a strong year class of fish. You can catch keepers but the quality fish just don’t seem to be there like years past. This has been the general consensus with some of the other local anglers I’ve talked to up there. So as much as I hated to leave the area of the lake I’m most comfortable with, I decided I’d better find some fish in the Big Sac arm or plan on donating my money.
I practiced a couple weeks prior to the event in the back of a creek just to get a feel for what was going on. I found plenty of shad and the bass were there as well but not the size I was looking for. I also figured out they wanted to eat a sweet beaver over any other type of plastic bait. The day told me what the fish would eat but I knew I had to find some bigger fish in another area.
After talking to Jason, we decided to split up our practice areas and cover more water the weekend before the tournament. He focused on the river portion of the Big Sac and I looked more at the mid-lake area. The day of practice was windy and sunny. I caught a limit on a beaver and rattle trap that would have weighed about 13 lbs and Jason caught fish on a shallow crankbait. He went back again a couple days before the event and found better fish on a Pig Sticker Bait Co. Snowden jig in brown/purple color. We decided to fish my area hoping to hook up an early limit and try to upgrade later in the day up the river. Good plan but only half of it worked out.
The tournament day turned out cloudy and windy. I didn’t have much faith in a rattle trap bite without the sun so the bottom baits would have to produce. We found our answer on our first stop of the day. We caught a number of fish and put a solid keeper in the box in the first 15 minutes. We worked through a series of secondary points with rock in a creek arm. The third stop kicked out two more keepers and on the fourth, I just told Jason “last cast” and we’ll move on. The bites seemed to be more in the center of the drop, not out were it flattened out. I fired a cast out there and my bait was just crushed. I swung into the fish and knew immediately it was a quality fish. Jason saw it wallow on the surface and he jumped on the dip net. She was quickly in the boat and safely in the box. Our 5.43 lb kicker came about 8.45 am. We soon finished off our limit after two more moves but we really needed to cull out three of those fish. Even though they were keepers, they were pretty thin and weighed less than two pounds.
So the first part of our plan came together perfectly. We got our early limit with a bonus kicker fish and planned to move up the river to cull up. Fishing rarely goes exactly as planned.
By noon we had culled a few times with a jig but something was off. The better sized fish Jason had caught in practice were nowhere to be found. We only upgraded our bag by a few ounces and that wouldn’t cut it. We pulled the plug and went back down lake.
In short order we were able to cull but the bite was slower than in the morning. We kept our noses down and fished. We pulled out to a deeper bank without much luck. We worked through it and I asked Jason “What do you want to do?” Right on queue, Jason replied, “Land this fish!” as he set the hook. I jumped for the net as he guided a 4 lb fish to the boat. Whew, that helped a bunch! Jason fixed his bait, lined the boat back up on the edge of a brushpile and fired right back out there. Another quality fish bit but the line parted as a limb sawed him off. Jason said a few choice words but that’s how it goes sometimes around brush.
We turned around to fish out a little deeper on the point and I hooked up with another solid fish to cull with. We moved to another point and I lost a 3 lb fish when it jumped immediately after setting the hook. We hit two more spots and went back to where Jason caught his good fish. He worked into the brushpile and set the hook on another quality fish. He couldn’t move the fish but after about three pulls, the fish came off. Our luck went south in the last half hour of the day. We went to another couple of spots without success and then another team flagged us down. They couldn’t get the big motor to start and jumping it from our boat didn’t do the trick either. We grabbed their fish and one of the team members to make the ride back to the ramp so he could weigh their fish. We lost about 20 minutes of fishing time but if we were in the same position, we’d really appreciate the same help. You never know when it is your turn to break down.
Our limit came in at 15.47 lbs which put us in 4th place. We fished reasonably well and made the proper adjustments. I don’t know why the river fish wouldn’t bite but I don’t have gills either. We might have moved up in the standings a little if we could have landed all of our fish but everyone loses some fish. I’m sure we couldn’t have come close to the 22 lbs it took to win. Hats off to Jim and Rick for their giant bag of fish. Hopefully a big bag of fish will be in our future. We’ll try to save it for the last tournament when $10,000 is on the line.
Thanks for reading,
Matt Eisenbacher
Matt Eisenbacher's
Tournament Journal
Tournament Journal