April Plaza

As the sun rose Saturday morning, the weather looked to be spectacular. The April Plaza Marina & Hotel Thursday night Classic had been turned into a two day fishing tournament hosted this past Saturday and Sunday, the 22^nd and 23^rd of September. Twenty-two Angling Teams took to Lake Conroe early Saturday. With an assortment of baits ranging from different colored trick worms to any old jig, the Anglers looked to be hopeful for the day, all wanting to reel in that “big bass,” and bring home the $5,000 first prize finish. The weigh in for day one came around 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon, which gave the Fishermen about eight hours to reel in as many fish as they could catch. Out of the twenty-two teams that had taken to the lake that morning, nineteen returned. Each Angler grabbed up their five largest and headed to the weigh in station. Wesley Iallace and David Percifull managed to reel in three fish totaling a whopping 14.85 lbs, which secured first after day one. Russel Cecil and his teammate managed to hook a second place spot with five fish totaling 13.05 lbs, followed by Bo Harrison and Clint Blair with another five fish totaling 12.65 lbs. Of the forty-one fish caught on day one, Rob Singleton hooked the “big bass” of Saturday weighing in at an enormous 6.83 lbs. With the lead going into day two, David Percifull and Wesley Iallace had high hopes, but having another eight hours of fishing left it was still anyone’s tournament. At 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon the weigh in began. Jason Harrell the tournaments “big bass” winner managed to bring home $220 for his 7.87 lb monster, followed by a close 7.42 lbs caught by David Bozart, whom also managed to place 5^th overall and grab $1,000. Of the nearly 80 fish caught, three were over 7 lbs, and another three were over 6 lbs. When asked about what type of bait he used Harrell responded, “Just a plastic worm on a Carolina rig, probably about ten feet of water.” Wesley Iallace and David Percifull, the tournaments leaders heading into Sunday, had a disappointing day. Unfortunately they could not bring anything back Sunday and settled for $500 and an 8^th place finish. Russel Cecil managed to bring home another five fish on Sunday totaling 11.67 lbs, giving him a grand total of 24.72 lbs, securing him $3,500 and a 2^nd place finish. The tournament winners, Terry Zorn and Eddie Moore, who only managed to bring in two fish weighing 8.49 lbs on day one, wound up day two with five fish totaling 17.54 lbs. Both hometown boys, Eddie Moore from Magnolia, and Terry Zorn from Montgomery, were very pleased with how their days went. “We just used a Carolina rig, with a plastic worm in natural colors, watermelon primarily. We fished the brush piles, near the docks,” stated Zorn when asked. Congratulations to Mr. Moore and Mr. Zorn on their finish. At the end of the day the April Plaza Marina & Hotel gave away nearly $20,000 in cash, along with an assortment of rods donated by Castaway Rods. Congratulations to all Anglers who managed to rake in a cash prize, and good luck to all of whom participate in the up and coming tournaments.