FLW Tour pro Todd Auten teamed up with Pat Tierney to win the inaugural Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament last weekend at North Carolina's Lake Norman as their 13-01 sack outdistanced the rest of the 75-angler field by 2 1/4 pounds.
“I was just hunting and pecking all day,” said Auten, a resident of Lake Wylie, S.C. “The fish were scattered. You couldn’t pin them down, so you just had to fish the whole area once you found a good spot.”
The team fished docks and brush piles in main-channel pockets in the upper and midsection of the lake. They ran only 20 to 30 minutes from the launch and stayed in the same general area all day.
“We fished a lot of good stuff and never got a bite,” said Tierney. “It was really hard out there.”
Auten and Tierney were among the 32 boats that brought in a five-fish limit, while 17 teams zeroed. Many of the anglers had a hard time catching fish that measured at least14 inches, and several – including the winners – complained of missed fish and breakoffs.
Auten and Tierney caught their two biggest bass on a white homemade buzzbait. The other three came on a Shooter jig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk or a shaky-head rig with a 4-inch Zoom Finesse Worm (green-pumpkin).
The winning team took home a check for $5,000. Auten’s cash winnings didn’t stop with his 1st-place prize – he also picked up a $500 "Weigh-to-Win" bonus because of his membership in the BoatUS Anlger-supported program.
Auten and Tierney also tied for the big-bass award, with a 4-02. Shane Lineberger and Hank Cherry, who came in 3rd with 10-10, caught the other big fish. The 2nd-place team of Joel Ross and Jerry Goble brought in a limit weighing 10-13.
The event required no entry fee. Instead, competitors simply had to be a participant in the Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks program.
“This is a great deal here,” said Auten. “You don’t get the opportunity to fish free hardly ever.”
Said Toyota rep Alan McGuckin: “This is our way of thanking the working guy for buying the truck. This has really been great.”
