Sports

London angler wins $100,000 as second-day catch holds up

Monday, June 27, 2005 10:38 AM CDT

Special to the Commercial

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Eric Andrews didn't get any sleep the night before he caught the biggest fish of his life, and he didn't get a whole lot of rest the night after, either.

But, after his 6.59-pound catch held on to give him the grand prize in the sixth annual Arkansas Ford Dealers Big Bass Bonanza on Sunday, the London, Ark.,native can finally catch up on his sleep.That is, as soon as the smile wears off his face.

A jubilant Andrews earned the biggest one-day paycheck in his life Sunday as the winner of the $100,000 top prize for the overall largest bass in the three-day event, featuring 2,550 anglers and spanning nearly the entire length of the Arkansas River within the state's borders. Andrews caught the winning fish in Pool 2, the fourth time in the last five years that the top bass has come from the Lake Dardanelle area.

"I was jigging when the fish hit it," said Andrews, who got off work at 4 a.m. Saturday morning from his shift at Tyson and headed straight for the tournament. "I knew when it hit that it was a big one, because it started taking drag off my reel. When it jumped out of the water, then I knew it was really big. Mark (White) and I started whooping and hollering. It was a lot of fun."

The duo took off for the weigh-in pavilion immediately.

"We didn't want to risk him dying," he said. "We didn't bother to weigh him, we just put him in the livewell and headed for the weigh-in. I thought the fish was big enough to win an hourly prize, but I didn't think it would win the whole thing."

Andrews, 32, is splitting the $100,000 grand prize with his fishing partner, White. Andrews and White are friends and work together at Tyson on Tyler Road in Russellville.

This was the first year Andrews has fished in the tournament, but he says he will be back next year. A large group of family and friends gathered at the Lake Dardanelle pavilion to wait for the final weigh-in period to conclude. Loud cheers and clapping were heard when the weighmaster officially closed the tournament. Andrews' wife, Wendy, cried tears of joy as the weighmaster announced that Andrews was officially the $100,000 winner.

Andrews used a Culprit fire-and-ice worm on 12-pound test line to hook the leading bass, fishing at about 10-foot depth.

The tournament's seven largest fish came from Super Pool B, which is comprised of Pool 2 at Lake Dardanelle State Park and Pool 5 at Dumas. Super Pool A consisted of Pool 1 near Fort Smith, Pool 3 in North Little Rock and Pool 4 in Pine Bluff.

Jeremy Smith of McCrory, Ark., wound up second in Super Pool B with a 6.39-pound catch on Sunday in Pool 5, just edging out Duke Gunnell of Scott, Ark., who briefly held the lead on Saturday with a 6.36-pounder also caught in Pool 5.

Donnie Tedford of West Fork, Ark., finished atop the leaderboard in Super Pool A with a 5.92-pound bass caught in Pool 1 at Fort Smith on Saturday. Cliff Payne of Senatobia, Miss., has the second and third largest fish in Super Pool B with a 5.44-pounder caught Saturday and a 5.43-pounder on Sunday in Pool 4 at Pine Bluff. Stephen Burry of North Little Rock ended up third. Each angler can only count one fish in the overall standings in Super Pool B with a 5.42-pounder caught Sunday in Pool 3.

Rounding out the top 10 for prize distribution purposes in Super Pool A were Arkansans Frank Hoyle Jr. of Mulberry (5.35 lbs., Pool 1) in fourth, Jeramy Jones of Morrilton, Ark., (5.22, Pool 3) in fifth, James Snell, Jr. of Van Buren (5.10, Pool 1) in sixth, Mitchell Hope of Little Rock (5.00, Pool 3) in seventh, Don Sanders of Austin (4.98, Pool 3) in eighth, Paul James of Clarksville (4.95, Pool 1) in ninth and Donald Burton of Casper (4.92, Pool 3) in 10th.

Behind the three leaders in Super Pool B were Arkansans Aubrey Walker of Ola (6.22 lbs., Pool 2) in fourth, first-day leader Kris McCrea of Clarendon (6.21, Pool 5) in fifth, Michael Lambert of Pine Bluff (6.11, Pool 5) in sixth, Barrett Moss of Bryant (6.04, Pool 5) in seventh, Paul Lambert of Jonesboro (5.88, Pool 5) in eighth, Michael Holt of Batesville (5.85, Pool 2) in ninth and Bill Redditt of Boyle, Miss. (5.85, Pool 5) in 10th.

As in previous years, the tournament will donate up to $10,000 in proceeds to benefit programs at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Print this story   |   Email this story