Crappie USA Tournament Results for the Mississinewa & Salamonie Lakes in Wabash County, Indiana
OutdoorHub 06.10.12
This past Saturday June 9th, Crappie USA held a qualifying event at the Mississinewa & Salamonie Lakes in Wabash County, Indiana. These anglers were competing for not only cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic. This year’s classic will be held October 24th-27th, 2012 on the Barkley/Kentucky Lakes at Cadiz, Kentucky.
Semi-Pro Division Results
Taking first place was the team of Charlie Hildreth of Gaston, Indiana and Paul Hildreth of Muncie, Indiana with a weight of 7.97 pounds and earning $1,000.00. Charlie and Paul were spider rigging on Salamonie using purple/chartreuse and orange/chartreuse Southern Pro Tubes tipped with shiners on ledges at 4 feet deep to catch 75-100 fish for the day.
Second place went to Don Licht of Indianapolis, Indiana and Doug Sikoora of Noblesville, Indiana weighing in 7.9 pounds and earning $600.00. Don and Doug were also fishing Salamonie on the upper end in 2-4 feet of water on wood using bladed Crappie Pro jigs on bottom and plain hook on top tipped with shiners, slow trolling to catch 75 fish for the day.
In third place was the Anderson, Indiana Team of Don Mandrell and Ron Bilbrey weighing in 7.28 pounds and earning $400.00. Don and Ron were fishing near the middle of Salamonie spider rigging in 4-20 feet deep with most of their fish caught 2 feet deep in 4 feet of water using orange/chartreuse Jiffy Jigs tipped with shiners using their Driftmaster Rod Holders to catch 75-80 fish for the day.
Semi-Pro Division Ranger Cup Award
Winning the Ranger Cup Award and $500.00 in the Semi-Pro Division was the team of Charlie Hildreth of Gaston, Indiana and Paul Hildreth of Muncie, Indiana.
Amateur Division Results
First place in the amateur division was the St. Louis, Missouri team of Daniel and Steve Gentz weighing in 7.38 pounds and earning $600.00. Daniel and Steve were slow trolling jigs and minnows in 10 feet of water with their fish suspended 1 1/2 feet deep. The team used Stubby Steve’s bait on each of their jigs which they attributed their success in winning and managing to catch over 100 fish for the day.
Second place went to the 3-person team of Stephen Moss of Warren, Indiana and Melvin Shuler of Elwood, Indiana and Jayden Brewer of Alexandria, Indiana with a weight of 6.82 pounds and earning $400.00. The team like all others were fishing Salamonie 10-12 feet deep using a double rig with clip on floats fishing at 3-4 feet deep in standing timber to catch over 100 fish for the day.
(Teams may have a third partner if third partner is under 16. Pole limits for three partner teams will be the same as two partner teams.(Example: Eight poles per team unless state limit is lower in which case lower limit for two persons will apply).
Taking third place was Michael Bledsoe of Noblesville, Indiana and Bret Cunningham of Seymour, Indiana with a weight of 6.76 pounds and earning $200.00. Michael and Bret were spider rigging double minnow rigs and jigs in 10 feet of water with their fish suspended in 3-4 feet of water and holding tight to wood to catch 75-100 fish for the day.
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.
Big Fish Award
Taking big fish of the event was the team of Don Licht of Indianapolis, Indiana and Doug Sikoora of Noblesville, Indiana with a 1.55 pound crappie and earning $245.00. Second place in the big fish contest was the 3-person team of Stephen Moss of Warren, Indiana and Melvin Shuler of Elwood, Indiana and Jayden Brewer of Alexandria, Indiana with a 1.40 pound crappie earning them $105.00.
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 $310,000.00 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 the Wabash County CVB, Ryan and Fletcher at Bozarth Country Store for all their help with the tournament and for hosting the Friday night seminar”, said Tournament Director Larry Stephens. For more information on the area call: (800) 563-1169 or visit their website at: www.wabashcountycvb.com.
Stats for the Tournament:
Weather-Morning started out 68 degrees, sunny and light winds. Afternoon brought 90 degrees, sunny and light winds.
Water-Salamonie was 13 feet low and stained water while Mississinewa was 7 feet low with stained water and temperatures 74 to 78 degrees.
