FCA FISHING FILES: Area Anglers win BIG at Bill Dance Giant Bass Open on Douglas Lake

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BY DAVE LINK

Big money was at stake in the April 20-21 Bill Dance Giant Bass Open on Douglas Lake.

Bass anglers in youth and adult divisions cashed checks – big checks – in the third event of a series designed by Gov. Bill Lee’s Office, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Tennessee State Parks, The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and Bill Dance Outdoors to enhance fisheries management and public assess on 14 Bill Dance Signature Lakes.

In other words, the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open was for a good cause, and it was a chance for anglers to win cash.

And there was strategy involved.

Joe Vaulton and Walker LaRue of the Alcoa Fishing Team split their $6,075 combined prize money evenly, a decision they made before the two-day event started.

Chase McCarter of the Sevier County Fishing Team opted to fish solo, and he won $2,375. Jackie Hatfield of Alcoa Fishing Team fished one day (April 21) and won $1,150.

“It was cool seeing so much on the line,” said Vaulton, an Alcoa senior who’s signed to fish for Carson-Newman. “We have that a lot of times, not as much money, but bragging rights. A lot of money on the line was cool.”

Vaulton was the big-bass overall winner in the youth division. His 4.74-pound smallmouth was worth $1,500.

And the money comes in handy in a pricey sport.

Bass boats and up-to-date electronics are a must for the serious anglers.

Vaulton bought an upgraded 16-inch screen costing $4,000 for his forward-facing sonar system. LaRue, his regular partner on the high school bass-fishing circuit, is also spending his Giant Bass Open cash on electronics.

“If you don’t have the LiveScope at this point,” Vaulton said, “a lot of people say, ‘If you’re not Scoping, you’re hoping.’ I think if my LiveScope went out one day, I’d just go home.”

 

THE FORMAT, STRATEGIES

Each of the two days of the Giant Bass Open was divided into seven-hour periods with weigh-ins taking place at the top of each hour.

Each angler was allowed to keep three bass in his/her live well at a time and could weigh in one bass – not necessarily the biggest – each hour.

Prize money was awarded to the top-eight biggest bass each hour with first-place checks for juniors at $500, second-place $250, third-place $150, etc.

Prize money for adults was doubled.

If an angler fished every hour for both days, he/she would have a chance to cash 14 hourly checks (seven each day), plus the big-bass check.

“The biggest thing is we just wanted to make the most money as possible,” Vaulton said. “We figured out if one of us gets a good three (bass) in the live well, then the other one needs to get three, too, so you can double in the hours, almost. Instead of just one of us weighing each hour, both of us can weigh each hour, and we can make twice as much money.”

Vaulton and LaRue cashed 19 hourly checks for the two-days, plus Vaulton’s big-bass check.

McCarter, meanwhile, cashed 10 checks over two days, including two first-place checks.

“Obviously you’ve got to catch the fish, but the strategy is a lot of it, too,” LaRue said. “The morning bite was better at Douglas, so if you catch a 3-pounder, you don’t want to weigh that in the first hour because there’s a good chance it will get beat, so you kind of want to save that until later in the day, mid-day, when it’s not as good and maybe win an hour.”

LAND ONE, SAVE ONE

It’s a strategy that worked more than once for LaRue and Vaulton.

On the second day, Vaulton’s first bass of the morning was shy of 3 pounds, and although it was his biggest bass of the first hour, he weighed one slightly that was lighter.

“I was saving (the first bass) until an hour later in the day,” Vaulton said. “The first thing in the morning bite was always the best. People would always weigh in a 3-pounder first thing in the morning, but later in the day, it would take like a 2-pounder to win, so I saved him until later so I could win.”

Vaulton caught the big bass of the event — a smallmouth — between the 12-to-1 hour on the second day.

“Smallmouth don’t get that big on Douglas a lot of times,” Vaulton said, “and they’re finally starting to get kinda bigger. It was a Douglas unicorn.”

During the same hour, LaRue caught a 3.90-pounder, and their team strategy came into play again.

LaRue knew Vaulton’s 4.74-pounder would win the 12-to-1 hour, so he saved his 3.90-pounder, weighed a lighter one, and won the 1-to-2 hour with the 3.90-pounder, resulting in back-to-back $500 first-place checks for their team.

“We’d wait till the last second to weigh the fish,” LaRue said. “If we thought we could get first and second or first and third, we’d probably do that. We’d always try to keep one we thought would win an hour.”

Hatfield won the first-place $500 during Sunday’s 2-to-3 hour with a 3.89-pounder, and McCarter was third with a 3.32-pounder worth $150.

Vaulton’s 4.75-pounder was worth $2,000, winning the $1,500 for big bass of the tournament plus $500 for the hour.

Vaulton had to take two polygraph tests, validating his big-bass catch.

It wasn’t all about the money for Vaulton.

“The biggest thing for me was the big trophy,” Vaulton said. “I’m a big trophy guy. I saw the trophy before the tournament, so that was huge for me.”

The Douglas Lake event was the third of six events this year on the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open Tournament Trail. The next three are June 22-23 on Lake Chickamauga; Sept. 14-15 on Kentucky Lake; and a Championship Event, TBA.