Indiana Slab Masters
Established in November 2010 For Fun And Friendly Competition in a Club Environment
2013 Cagles Mill (Cataract) Tournament Story
Most of the Indiana Slab Masters Members found out during practice that the crappie at Cataract this year were all very close to the same size. Cataract is a cyclic lake that has boom and bust years where there are dominant class year fish. This allowed for a very close finish with only a half of a pound seperating the top 5 finishes. The cream always seems to rise to the top and this tournament was no different with Myron Etchison and Jim Kiritsis taking the top honors and winning their first ever Indiana Slab Masters Tournament with a total weight of 5.86 lbs. Myron and Jim were fishing near the State Park Ramp area of the lake spider rigging all day in 4'-7' of water using plain minnows on bare hooks to claim the win with some very tough wind conditions. Along with the plaque and prize money for 1st place, Myron and Jim also received a $50.00 B'n'M gift card for their efforts. Great job on the win men!
Finishing in second place is the team that has proven to always be a threat at all of our Indiana Slab Masters Events, Tom Hankins and Glenn Gill with a total weight of 5.77 lbs. Tom and Glenn finishing in the top 5 for the second time this year, were spider rigging on the south side of lake in 13'-20' of water using Lake Fork Live Baby Shad that sometimes required tipping with live bait. Great job on the 2nd place finish guys!
Finishing in 3rd place for their 1st top 5 finish of the year was the team of Mike Bledsoe and Allen Sutkowski with a total weight of 5.56 lbs. Mike and Allen had the same weight as the 4th place team but won with the big fish of their stringer tie breaker (1.10lb crappie) Mike and Allen were spider rigging with hair jigs fishing both on the north and south side of the narrows targeting 6'-10' of water. Great job on the top 5 finish guys!
Finishing in 4th place is another team that is always a threat, Charlie and Paul Hildreth. Charlie and Paul were our first year points champs and are also claiming their second straight top 5 finish of the year with a total weight of 5.56 lbs. Charlie and Paul actually tied for 3rd, but the big fish tie breaker bumped them to 4th. Their big fish was a .86 lb. crappie. Charlie and Paul were spider rigging in 15' of water fishing 4' down and using Southern Pro orange and chartreuse tubes tipped with minnows. Great job men!
Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Doug and Dawson Berg. This is Doug and Dawsons 1st top 5 finish in the Indiana Slab Masters and it always a pleasure seeing a youth finishing in the top 5 position. Doug and Dawson were spider rigging near the Park ramp and fishing in 20'-25' of water fishing 12' deep using minnows.Great job and congratulations on your 1st top 5 finish!
Catching the big fish of the tournament was the team of Josh Ross and Gary Halcomb with a 1.49lb slab. Josh and Gary were also the 1st team out of the money (7th place) and received a $50.00 B'n'M Gift card along with a Big fish plaque and the big fish pot. Congratulations on the big fish of the tournament Men!
In closing I would like to mention that we have offered our sponsors a spot on our trailer, and as you can tell we have had many of them take advantage of the chance to add their logo and decals to our trailer. Special thanks go out to Damon Phillips and James Lasswell for placing the decals on the trailer. I would also like to thank our new Tournament Director Ron Bilbrey and Advisory Board members this year for helping our weigh-ins go very smoothly and efficiently. Our next stop will be Brookville Reservoir on May 20th. We hope to see you there! Until then good luck and good fishing!