Recap: 2018 Ray Scott Championship held on the Red River

Altho the challenges that both Boater an Co-Anglers had to face with water levels being at its highest, clearity of water, cold and rain these anglers showed their best competative strengths on this event.

 Co-Angler Champion of this event was Shane Cashman of Henryetta, OK whom took the honors with a 9 fish for the week limit and a total amount of 19.89 lbs including a 3.03 lb larger bass. Cashman takes home a brand new  Triton 19 TrX boat, outfitted with a Mercury 200 ProXS motor, MotorGuide trolling motor, and Garmin electronics. He also walked away with a check for $25,000!

Cashman explains to American Bass Angler (ABA) what made him take over the win for this event.

“The win is starting to sink in,” Cashman stated after the event. “I was able to talk to my wife and daughter and they are so excited. I knew I was close but didn’t think I would take the lead because I was 4 pounds back. Especially with the way things were this week, and there was a big gap to close. Today was just a fun day of fishing. My boater put me on some good fish. The first bite this morning hit me pretty hard on a spinner bait, which is what I was hoping for, and it gave me the confidence to keep throwing it all day. Catching six keepers, I culled a couple of times. It’s hard to express my feelings right now, but my wife and daughter are ready to see the point and I’m excited to get home.”

In a strong second and just 1.12 lbs away the second place was taken by Eric Andrews of Davenport, FL Andrews who just came from wining the Florida South Divison Open Tournament out of Okeechobee, FL this past March and holding the Co-Angler of the Year with 746 points is no stranger to hard fishing conditions. Andrews leaves the Ray Scott Championship with a pay day of $5,000 with an overall 10 fish limit for the week and a total weight amount of 18.77 lbs.

Andrews explains to the ABA he strong second place finish.  “I was here for practice and only caught one keeper,” explained Andrews. “I decided to try something different, fishing soft plastics all week long. Caught them on the same bait for the first day, but it didn’t work on day 2 so I changed it up and caught again. I went back and forth between the two the rest of the event.”

Just .28 ounces away is Herbert Hall of Harrison, TN with a third place finish. Hall who wad 10 fish for the week and a total weight of 18.49 lbs takes home $4,000 pay day for his finish.

Hall explains to ABA.

“I had good boaters all week that put me on the fish, and I wish I could fish with them again,” stated Hall. “I just enjoyed it. It was a good event.”

On the boater side angler Luke Palmer of Coalgate, OK was the Champion of the event. Palmer who was in 8th place after day 3  brought to the stage a total amount of 16 Bass for a total weight of 38.57 lbs to take the Championship. He took home a brand new  Triton 21 TrX boat, outfitted with a Mercury 250 ProXS motor, MotorGuide trolling motor, and Garmin electronics. He also walked away with a check for $50,000! not bad for a 4 day of fishing.

Palmer told American Bass Anglers (ABA) the following.  “The Lord blessed me and that’s all that matters,” Palmer explained. “I missed good fish all week, but I executed well today. I lost a good one early this morning on a stump, so I let it rest for a while then came back. This time I was able to put her in the boat. She was my biggest fish, and that put my limit to where it was today because I was also able to keep them on the hook to get them in the boat.”

In a strong second place just 1.57 lbs away was Robert Branagh of Malabar, FL maintaining a quality of fish each day. Branagh took home a payday of $10,000

Branagh tells the ABA

“I had a good week,” Branagh said. “After day 1, I had to put my head down. I knew it was going to take a limit every day. I’ve got to thank Aquamarine, Bass Cat, and Halo Rods, as well as the ABA. Without them this would not be possible.”

For the third place finisher Billy Graves of Montgomery, LA with a total amount of 18 fish for the week and a overall weight of 36.79 he was able to take home a payday of $8,000 check for the event.

Gaves explains to the ABA his side of this event.

“It was a hard tournament, but I wish some of the other guys could have been here when the river was good,” stated Graves. “I was making long runs every day to get away from the field. I had some fish down in pool 4 in the jungle that I was going to. The first three days I bounced around from 2 different spots to catch what I brought to the scales. Even though the weather was terrible, day 2 turned out to be the best for me. I was shocked on day 3 when I took the lead with only a 5-pound bag. Today just didn’t pan out because it was so cold.”

The top 10 boaters was rounded off by the following anglers with just some lbs seperating them from the competition. These anglers are:

4^th –    Josh Cameron of Meridian, MS              – 36.71 lbs
5^th –    John Anderson of McKinney, TX            – 35.44 lbs
6^th –    Terry Peacock of Royse City, TX           – 34.11 lbs
7^th –    Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, IN               – 33.97 lbs
8^th –    Dustin Seaborn of Guin, AL                   – 32.43 lbs
9^th –    Scott Dean of Terrell, TX                       – 31.87 lbs
10^th – Tyler Rivet or Raceland, LA                   – 31.84 lbs

The largest fish of the event for the Co-Anlger was caught on day 2 by Brian Murphy with a  kicker and on the Boater side with a 5.72 lb on day 1 was caught by Joseph Hethcoat.

Congratulations to all that participated in this Champonship event and not till next year where the Ray Scott Championship will be held on Lake Ufala as the American Bass Opens still continues with its final events to qualify for next year.

if you would like more information on the American Bass Anglers Open tournament trail and or any other event please check them out at www.americanbassanglers.com  or call (256) 232-040

till next time tight lines and fish on!