Crappie USA Tournament Results for the 2-Day $10,000.00 Super Event on Lake Egypt at Marion, Illinois
OutdoorHub 03.17.14
This past Friday & Saturday Crappie USA held their 2-day $10,000.00 super event on Lake Egypt at Marion, Illinois. Over 100 anglers from 10 different states were competing for not only the $10,920.00 in cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic. This year’s classic will be held October 16th-18th on Lake Cumberland at Summerset, Kentucky.
Semi-Pro Division Results
Taking first place was the Cartersville, Illinois 3 person team of Dan Lutchka Jr & Sr and Josh Jackson weighing in a 2 day total of 20.74 pounds and earning $3,000.00. The team also captured 2nd biggest crappie with a 2.23 pound crappie and earning an additional $100.00. The team was fishing down lake in front of Marketplace Bay casting corks and jigs tipped with minnows into shallow weed beds to catch over 50 fish in the 2-days using Bobby Garland Baby Shad and clear sparkle.
Second place went to the team of Steve Ralls of Buncombe, Illinois and Joey Sanders of Cartersville, Illinois with a weight of 20.05 pound and earning $2,000.00. The team also captured the Ranger Cup Award giving the team an additional $250.00. Steve and Joey were casting pink/chartreuse curl tail jigs on main lake points on the windy side of the lake to catch 120 fish in the 2 days. Team are only allowed to weigh in their top 7 fish each day of the event.
In third place was the team of James Todd of Crab Orchard, Kentucky and Morris Reed of Hazard, Kentucky with a weight of 17.98 pound and earning $700.00. James and Morris were spider rigged near the power plant in front of Elks Park in 40 feet of water finding fish suspended.
Sean Hawkins of Goreville, Illinois and Gary McGee of Marion, Illinois took fourth place in the Semi-Pro Division with a weight of 17.2 pound and earning $300.00. Sean and Gary fished halfway down the lake casting corks over jigs. Bobby Garland Bluegrass color worked best. The team targeted 7 feet of water and caught 45 fish in 2 days.
Fifth place went to the team of Kyle Schoenherr of Oakdale, Illinois and Rodney Neuhaus of Ashley, Illinois with a weight of 15.27 pound. The team fished one end of the lake to the other mostly in 25 to 37 feet of water using minnow rigs straight down to caught 40 fish in the 2 days.
Amateur Division Results
First place in the amateur division went to the team of Todd Hughes of Georgetown, Illinois and Brad Hughes of Goreville, Illinois weighing in 12.28 pound and earning $1,500.00. The team fished main lake points casting minnows under a cork in 10 feet of water setting their corks 3 feet deep since fish were suspended. The team caught a total of 15 fish for the 2 days.
Second place went to Damon Phillips of Pendleton, Indiana and Bret Cunningham of Seymour, Indiana with a weight of 10.99 pound and earning $800.00. The team also captured big fish of the event with a 2.42 pound crappie giving the team an additional $230.00.
Taking third place was the Belknap, Illinois team of Randy and Cindy Turner with a weight of 9.95 pound and earning $600.00. Randy and Cindy was fishing the north end of the lake in front of Elks Club Park. They were tightlineing minnows in 6 feet of water to caught 40 fish for the 2 days.
In fourth place was the Cambria, Illinois team of Steve Hess and Mary McCoy with a weight of 7.15 pound and earning $500.00.
Fifth place went to Richard Geboy of Ellettsville, Indiana and Joseph Kelley of Jonesboro, Illinois with a weight of 6.26 pound and earning $400.00. The team spider rigged on Friday and fishing minnows under bobbers 3 feet deep catching suspended fish on Saturday. The team only caught 8 fish in 2 days.
Congratulations to all the teams fishing this event. For a complete list of tournament standings and downloadable photos for this event visit www.crappieusa.com then go to Tournament Results.
Crappie USA Free Kids Fishing Rodeo
In conjunction with the tournament Crappie USA held their Kids Rodeo on Saturday morning with several local children attending the event.. All the participants signed up for a chance to win one of 6-$1,000.00 scholarships to be drawn for at the Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic.
Crappie USA and our anglers have contributed nearly $322,000.00 to the “Crappie Kids” Scholarships since 1997. We are very proud to be a part of the education process for the youngsters who participate in our tournaments as adult/youth teams and those who fish in the Crappie USA “Kids Fishing Rodeos”.
A special thanks goes out to Shannon Johnson Executive Director Of Visit Southern Illinois Tourism and her staff for their support and to Pyramid Acres and the Elks Club for hosting the weigh in and Crappie Kids Rodeo. 16 kids attended the rodeo and caught several fish, all had a great time and Elks had their Drug Awareness trailer on hand and cooked for the group. For more information on the area call: (800) 433-7399 or visit their website at: http://www.visitsi.com/outdoor_recreation visit
Stats for the Tournament:
Weather- The temperatures on Friday were in the low 60’s with 25/40 mph winds. Saturday it warmed to mid 60’s with light winds and sunny and a beautiful day to go fishing.
