Local standout Gene Bishop caught a 21-pound stringer on Saturday to win the Ross Barnett Reservoir Bassmaster Central Open out of Ridgeland, Miss. with a 3-day total of 55-14.
Bishop's vast knowledge of the impoundment worked both for and against him in the tournament. He stumbled the first day by fishing one of his offshore sweet spots with a Carolina rig.
On the following 2 days, he fished shallow pad stems that produced his heavy limits.
“I was fishing a Barnett Special,” Bishop said. “Everybody around here knows about it.”
The Barnett Special is an 8-inch junebug Zoom Lizard. He Texas -rigged it with a 4/0 hook and a 1/4 ounce bullet sinker.
“I was barely crawling it back over the pad stems lying on the bottom in 2 feet of water,” he said. Full details of his winning pattern will be published soon.
If Bishop fishes the final two Central Opens this year, his victory will earn him a ticket to the 2016 Bassmaster Classic at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.
Oklahoma's Jay Brainard, competing in his first Open, finished 2nd with 54-08. Veteran tour pro Tommy Biffle was 3rd with 52-09.
Here are the final totals for the Top 12:
1. Gene Bishop: 55-14
2. Jay Brainard 54-08
3. Tommy Biffle: 52-09
4. Jason Christie: 45-12
5. Stephen Browning: 42-13
6. Fred Roumbanis: 41-03
7. Ramey Harrell: 41-02
8. Brett Preuett: 40-10
9. Bradley Burns: 39-02
10. Luke Clausen: 38-03
11. Brent Chapman: 37-06
12. Chris Jones: 35-00
