Alabama residents Jeff Ragsdale and Doug Webster (pictured between Kevin VanDam and Mike Iaconelli) won the 5th annual Toyota Bonus Bucks tournament on Saturday, topping a field of 143 teams from 27 states on a tough day of fishing at Missouri's Table Rock Lake.
Their weight of 14-10 was enough to take home the $5,000 1st-place prize from the no-entry-fee tournament, in which just one teammate has to be registered for Bonus Bucks. In Ragsdale and Webster’s case, they’re both proud Tundra owners and Bonus Bucks members.
Webster, a diesel engine mechanic, explained that most of their winning weight came in a 30-minute flurry on a Carolina-rigged Lake Fork Ring Fry in about 12-feet of water.
When Ragsdale was asked what he liked most about his Tundra, he said, “I was a Chevy guy until 2010 when I bought my first Tundra, and Toyotas just last longer, so I bought my second Tundra last year.”
The top 30 teams got a paycheck and three randomly drawn teams received a check for $500. The 15th-place team took home a $1,000 Bass Pro Shops gift card.
The 31st-place team won the LEER Lucky Dog Prize – but there was actually a tie for that position – so two teams received $750 cash from LEER.
A 3-pounder caught by the team of Charles Davis and David Hargis hauled home the Carhartt Big Bass $1,000 clothing prize package.
Certainly, nobody went home empty-handed. Participants who traveled from a wide range of states were treated to free meals and a generous amount of free clothing and hats, along with tremendous fellowship before the first cast was made.
