Morse Tournament 2012

Morse Tournament Story 2012

With rumors of large fish being caught the entire week prior to the 2012 Morse Lake Indiana Slab Masters Tournament, it looked as though last years winning weight would easily be shattered. Mother nature totally changed the game on tournament day with a major cold front sweeping through Indiana on the day prior to the tournament that changed 70 degree temperatures to highs in the low 50s with brisk North winds. The fishing cooled off as much as the temperatures and large fish were not easily found.

Besting the field of 32 teams for their 1st regular season tournament win was the team of Glenn Gill and Tom Hankins with a total weight of 6.34 lbs and catching the largest fish of the tournament a 1.16 lb. slab. Glenn and Tom have finished in the top 5 in each of the Indiana Slab Masters events for 2012, and now hold a commanding lead on the B'n'M points race. Glenn and Tom were spider rigging in 16' of water and found that the fish bit the best on their Lake Fork Live Baby Shad baits without tipping with live bait. Great job men on a great finish and an excelllent start to the 2012 season!

Finishing in 2nd place was the team of Mike Bledsoe fishing alone with a total weight of 6.11 lbs. This is Mike's first top 5 finish of this year! Mike was vertical jigging Southern Pro 2" tubes in 6'-13' of water in the upper end of the lake to hold off the other competitors in some stiff winds and tough conditions. great job Mike!

Finishing in 3rd place was the 3 man team of Myron Etchison, Pat Vowell, and Jay Vowell with a total weight of 6.10 lbs Myron, Pat, and Jay were fishing in the Hinkle Creek area spider rigging southern pro tubes tipped with shiners to secure their 1st top 5 finish of the year! Great Job Men!

Finishing in 4th place was the team of Gale Risner and John Quinn with a total weight of 5.61 lbs Gale and John were spider rigging in the very upper end of the lake, using Southern Pro baits tipped with live bait. Great job on your first top 5 finish of the 2012 season

Finishing in 4th place was the team of Roger Claywell and Mike Wantz fishing with Mke's son Chris with a total weight of 8.06 lbs. Roger, Mike and Chris were spider rigging the upper end of the lake using Southern pro baits tipped with shiners to finish in the top 5 for the 1st time this year. Great Job Men!

On a final note, I would like to thank each of the Indiana Slab Masters Members for their excellent handling of their tournament fish this year! During the Morse Lake Tournament we only had 3 fish that didn't swim away. At each of the tournaments this year you will notice one of the advisory board members at the release site with a net, making sure that the fish we release swim away and we capture all the weak fish.

Keep up the good work and hope to see you all at Mississinewa on May 5th!

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