CLEWISTON, FL – When the weather up north gets frightful, Florida can be so delightful. Especially when you add in world-famous Lake Okeechobee, some of the best anglers in the region, and a big old sack of cash up for grabs. It’s the Roland Martin Marine Center Series 2020 Championship presented by HUK and big bass and big checks were on everyone’s wish list.
As the highest paying team tournament trail in Florida, the Roland Martin Marine Center Series has grown to this year’s record $30,000 winner’s payout. And when the final fish was weighed for the two-day event, the team of Roger Crafton and John Ochs found their names on the big check.
The water is up, the vegetation is all around and the front had passed. So with favorable conditions, the stage was set for a Lake Okeechobee shootout.
“We caught plenty of fish both days and culled out half-dozen four pound fish,” Crafton explained. “We were in a good area where the fish were coming in and staging underneath the mats and we punched them out.”
“Our game plan was to go into this area and methodically just go slow,” Ochs said. “And then it was just one after another. I was mainly flipping a Skunk Ape with 3/4 to 1 1/2 oz. weight. And Roger was throwing other variations of black and blue. No big secret. Just working it slow.”
Slow and steady worked to the tune of $30,000 with the winning weight of 53.53 lbs. for the two-day event.
Coming in second with two-day total of 46.21 lbs. was the team of Chris Schirling and Alex Nagdeman. Adding contingencies, the second place finish netted them $11,500.
“We had a rough day Saturday with a lot of fish jumping off and missing the bait. We also broke down and were stuck in the middle of the lake for over an hour and lost about three hours of fishing time,” Schirling said. “We fished a community hole in the mornings and then found a place to ourselves where we didn’t see a boat and they were there. The Bruiser Baits Swimmer in a custom color Steve at Bruisers Baits made just for me was how I caught them all.”
“Today was a pretty magical day,” Nagdeman said. “There was actually a lizard in the live well that jumped on his (Chris) shoulder that he didn’t even notice and he caught two 7 pounders in the first 15 minutes. The lizard jumped off and we never him again. But that lizard was good luck.”
Rounding out the top three was the team of Stephen Alberson and Victor Knight with a two-day total of 43.31 lbs. that earned them $3,500 for the 3rd place finish.
“We found bait in practice and that’s what we went out to target,” Alberson Said. “Once it warmed up, the bait got more active, the fish started stacking up and our spot reloaded for us both days.”
As the highest paying team tournament trail, the payouts continued deep into the field of the 135 qualifying teams for the Championship.
With a progressive Big Bass Pot presented by BoatCoversAnywhere, Jimmy Anderson collected $3,500 for his 8.82 bass. He also collect $500 as the first day big bass winner and Alex Plesher received $500 for his 2nd day big bass of 8.61. The second big bass awards presented by Gambler Baits for $100 went to Chris Jerdan for his day 1 bass of 8.44 while James Moretz won day 2 with his 7.88 bass.
Chris Schirling added $1,000 to his second place check as the highest finishing Ranger Cup angler. He also collected another $250 as the highest paying angler to cross the stage in HUK Gear and another $250 as the highest finishing Mercury angler. Gilbert Chevrolet awarded Jame Moretz $250 as the highest finishing Gilbert Chevrolet owner. The Mercury youth award went to Brice Prowant earning him $100. Team Crafton and Ochs added to their winning check with $150 from Bruiser Baits and Bass Addiction for the biggest tournament bag. Amber Bass was the the highest placing Female Angler and received $100 from Mary Ann Martin. And going small paid off big for Kris Thibodeau and the team of Larry Payne and Doug Smith with the smallest two-day limits earning them $500 each from AV Inspection.
With that said, the 2020 Roland Martin Marine Center Series has come to and end. Which means we’re starting to think about how we can make the 2021 Season even bigger and better. Make sure to join us and be a part of all the action all year long. In the meantime, have a safe and Happy Holidays and we wish you all the best in the New Year.
