The father-son team of Kyle and David Presley, both of Harrison, Ark., caught a tournament-best 20.75-pound limit on Saturday to pass 10 other teams and claim the victory in the 29th annual Bass Cat Owners Invitational at Bull Shoals with a 2-day weight of 35.67 pounds. Their day-2 bag included a 5.95-pound kicker, the largest single bass of the tournament by over a pound, and enabled them to turn a 2-pound deficit into a nearly 2-pound margin of victory.
Eric and Dustin Blevins, another father-son team from Harrison, led after day 1 and turned in another stalwart effort on day 2, but ended up a little bit short with a total of 34.02. It took 28.67 pounds to crack the Top 10 and 24.92 to make the Top 20.
The Top 3 teams were all father-son combos, a true testament to the idea that family and pride of ownership is what this event is all about.
Bull Shoals fished exceptionally well during this tournament, providing anglers with an opportunity to fish their strengths, whether that be bed-fishing, wacky-rigging Senkos in shallow water, flipping brush or deep-cranking for prespawn fish. While Bull Shoals veterans were able to capitalize on their sight-fishing expertise, beds were scattered, and finding the right ones took strong batteries, trained eyesight and exceptional perseverance. In an event in which ounces separated several places, the heartbreak of losing a single fish was often monumental, and break-offs caused by zebra mussels ended a lot of dreams.
For their efforts, the Presleys will take home a new Bass Cat Margay, but they were not the only boat winners in the field. Bradley Kocher and Matt Wallis didn’t weigh in a fish, but during Friday night’s social event at Mountain Home High School, they were drawn at random to receive a fully-rigged Bass Cat Eyra with a Mercury 250 Pro XS, as well as Humminbird Electronics and a Motorguide Trolling motor. It was necessary to be present to win, and while they’d considered leaving as soon as they put the boat on the trailer, they were glad they resisted that urge.
The overall payout structure awarded the field prizes exceeding 300 percent of the entry fees.
