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Texas state qualifier tests anglers

Fifty-six Texas Bass Federation anglers braved rain, wind and thunderstorms to compete in the TBF State Qualifier Tournament on Richland-Chambers Reservoir May 1 and 2.

In spite of the inclement weather, Clint Farris of Crowley managed to catch nearly 29 1/2 pounds of fish to win the contest.

He topped the second-place fisherman, Patrick Anderson of Buda, by more than 12 pounds.

The top twelve anglers won a sponsored trip to   yankton, South Dakota to fish in the eight-state regional championship in early June.

Farris also won a $500 gift card from Wal-Mart.

In addition to winning the TBF state championship, Farris also won the big bass competition on Saturday and finished with the second-largest bass on Friday. His combined big bass winnings totaled $310. Tom Enloe, TBF president, was impressed by the stamina of the fishermen.

“It was a tough bite both days. The wind and rain really made it hard to pattern the fish. My hat is off to those guys who were able to get out there and get it done,” Enloe said.

Thirty-three anglers caught fish on Friday, but that number declined sharply on Saturday, as only 26 participants were able to catch any fish.

Farris finished Friday in the lead with five fish weighing a total of nearly 21 pounds, but Saturday he was only able to bring one fish weighing 8.9 pounds into the boat. Scott Dean, 31st after the first day’s competition put together a four-fish stringer weighing 10.8 pounds, which vaulted him into 7th place overall.

“I feel like the tournament was a big success. Not only did 12 guys win a trip to compete on Lewis and Clark Reservoir in South Dakota, we got a chance to showcase our sport and our organization in Corsicana,” Enloe said.

“The people of the Corsicana area treated us really well- Paul Hooper and the Chamber of Commerce jumped in and bumped up the big bass pot and provided our dinner Friday night, Jerry Jordan (Owner of Oak Cove Marina) was a great host, and we all had a great time here. We can’t wait to come back.”