White, Espy win Kemper Lake tournament
By By Mikes Giles / outdoors writer
March 7, 2003
Leland White and Kenny Espy teamed up to catch a limit of bass during the Collinsville bass club's February tournament at Kemper Lake. Although there were only two bass caught over the slot during the tournament, the first place team caught one of those, which weighed in at 2.71 pounds. They were also one of only six teams to catch a limit in the tourney.
Second place went to brothers Donnie and David Kinard with a limit of bass weighing 6.35 pounds. Third place went to the veteran team of Charles Wilson and John Mason with a limit of fish weighing 6.25 pounds.
The lunker of the tourney weighed 2.91 pounds and was caught by the team of Adrian Coleman and Mike Wall.
According to club president George Little, most of the bass were caught in shallow water on Rattletraps and spinnerbaits. The weather had been mild the week of the tournament and actually took a turn for the worse on the second day of the tourney.
Members welcome
The Collinsville bass club currently has 29 teams vying for Angling Team of the Year and a slot in the year-end Classic.
This club dates back to the late sixties and early seventies when fishermen like Bill Pennington dominated the tournaments. While the lake was in its prime, Pennington was a threat to win any tournament on Okatibbee, and did in fact win most of the money tournaments held on the lake in his day.
Currently George Little is the longest running member of the club. Little joined the club back in 1977 after graduating high school and has been chasing the bass ever since. There have been many good bass fishermen who have participated in the club since that time, but few who have been as persistent and dedicated to the club and bass fishing as has Little.
With a commitment to the sport that few others have, Little invites others to join in on the fun. Although new members must be approved according to club rules, it's not too late to join in the excitement this year. Each tournament will pay out three money places plus a lunker pot. The ultimate goal of each team is two-fold. First, every team strives to qualify for the year-end Classic, which last year awarded money to all of the Classic qualifiers. The second goal is to win the Angling Team of the Year award.
This year's tournament schedule was started last July and will go through May, with the year-end Classic to be held in June. The top fifty percent of the field will qualify for the tournament along with any teams that fished all of the regular season tournaments.
Angling Team
of the Year race
Currently leading the Angling Team of the Year race is Jeff Collum and Chris Dozier with 341 points. Ranked second is the team of Toby and Chad Chisolm with 323.5 points. Third place is held by Jaime Williamson and Dewayne Foreman with 322.5 points. In fourth place are Donnie and David Kinard with 313.5 points. Fifth place belongs to Charlie Wilson and John Mason with 312 points. Holding on to a close sixth is the team of George Little and Roy Gentry with 310.5 points.
The club's next tournament looks to be fitting with a return trip to Aliceville Lake on the Tombigbee River. Last year there were some really awesome strings of bass weighed in there. Many of the fishermen used sight fishing techniques to catch shallow water bass.
