Tommy Biffle caught an 11 1/2-pound bag today to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the Arkansas River Bassmaster Central Open out of Muskogee, Okla. with a 3-day total of 45-13. He was ineligible to claim the 2012 Classic berth available to Open winners this year, however, because he did not fish the circuit's first event at Lewisville last February.
Biffle competed out of a jet-driven aluminum boat and caught all of his fish on his Gene Larew Biffle Bug.
“It was a slow day,” he said. “I didn’t get my first bite until about 10:20, where I’ve been getting my fish by 9:00 on the other days. It was cloudy early, and that’s probably what kept the fish from biting.”
Full details of his winning pattern will be published soon.
Below is a look at the final numbers for the Top 12:
1. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 15, 45-13 -- 315 -- $54,067
Day 1: 5, 18-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-09 -- Day 3: 5, 11-08
2. Chris Zaldain -- San Jose, CA -- 15, 37-04 -- 295 -- $13,600
Day 1: 5, 10-15 -- Day 2: 5, 11-06 -- Day 3: 5, 14-15
3. Stephen Browning -- Hot Springs, AR -- 15, 35-10 -- 290 -- $11,333
Day 1: 5, 10-07 -- Day 2: 5, 12-14 -- Day 3: 5, 12-05
4. Trevor Romans -- Plano, TX -- 14, 32-06 -- 285 -- $9,067
Day 1: 5, 11-09 -- Day 2: 5, 12-04 -- Day 3: 4, 08-09
5. Joey Nania -- Liberty Lake, WA -- 14, 31-13 -- 280 -- $8,160
Day 1: 5, 11-01 -- Day 2: 5, 11-14 -- Day 3: 4, 08-14
6. Dale Hightower -- Sand Springs, OK -- 14, 30-08 -- 276 -- $7,253
Day 1: 5, 11-08 -- Day 2: 5, 10-09 -- Day 3: 4, 08-07
7. Lendell Martin -- Nacogdoches, TX -- 11, 29-15 -- 272 -- $6,347
Day 1: 4, 12-13 -- Day 2: 4, 11-09 -- Day 3: 3, 05-09
8. Shonn Goodwin -- Moore, OK -- 13, 29-13 -- 268 -- $5,440
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- Day 2: 5, 12-13 -- Day 3: 3, 06-13
9. Chris M Jones -- Bokoshe, OK -- 14, 29-09 -- 264 -- $4,533
Day 1: 5, 11-10 -- Day 2: 5, 09-05 -- Day 3: 4, 08-10
10. Janet Parker -- Little Elm, TX -- 11, 28-08 -- 260 -- $4,080
Day 1: 5, 15-02 -- Day 2: 3, 05-13 -- Day 3: 3, 07-09
11. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 13, 28-02 -- 257 -- $3,627 -- $3,627
Day 1: 5, 12-11 -- Day 2: 5, 09-08 -- Day 3: 3, 05-15
12. Ryan Lovelace -- Denison, TX -- 11, 25-07 -- 254 -- $3,173
Day 1: 5, 11-14 -- Day 2: 4, 09-03 -- Day 3: 2, 04-06
