West Tennessee Teams Wins Triton Owners Tournament
OutdoorHub 06.05.14
West Tennessee angler’s Justin Butler and Bryan Bullington targeted ledges on Kentucky Lake to bag 53.19-pounds of bass and win the 15th annual Triton Owners Tournament, held May 30-31 out of Paris Landing State Park in Buchanan, Tenn. The top three teams each caught over 50-pounds of bass, a testament to the high level of competition in this popular event.
Butler and Bullington fished Yamamoto Senko stick worms on shaky head jigs to score more than 30 keepers each day of the tournament. Their best five bass on Day One weighed 29.08 pounds, while their five biggest bass on Day Two weighed 24.11 pounds. “We caught all our fish on offshore ledges in the New Johnsonville area of the reservoir,” Butler, from nearby Bruceton, Tenn., said. “They were on 8-foot ledges with shell beds and scattered grass.” For their efforts, the winning duo pocketed an $8,000 paycheck.
Butler owns a Triton Tr21, “I started out fishing from a Triton aluminum boat and then moved up to the 21-footer,” he said. “It’s perfect for tournament competition on big bodies of water like Kentucky Lake — it handles any situation I encounter, slices through rough water, and has plenty of storage.”
The second place team of Jeff Peach and Darrin Melton dredged ledges around New Johnsonville with Strike King crankbaits to catch 51.10-pounds of bass, netting them $3500. Third place team Danny Davis and Todd Ruth bagged 50.62 pounds and $3000 by dragging Strike King jigs across main lake flats. The $3000, big bass award went to the team of Joe Meachum and Mike Carter for their 9.20-pound lunker that bit a Lake Fork jig in seven feet of water.
In a drawing held at the close of the event, Gary Vaughn of Lanett, Alabama won a top-of-the-line Triton 21 TrX bass boat equipped with a 250 hp Mercury Pro XS outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor, Lowrance electronics, Power-Pole Blade shallow water anchor and Marine Master custom trailer, a state-of-the-art tournament package valued at over $66,000.
“The Triton Owners Tournament is more than a bass tournament; it’s a family reunion,” Triton founder Earl Bentz commented. “This year’s event was our best ever, drawing well over 300 Triton owners and their families from across the nation for two days of fun, fellowship and great bass fishing.”
