Burns And Wills Take 2008 J-BAIT Championship

Jacob Wills (left) and Rick Burns won bragging rights and $800 for winning this year’s J-BAIT tournament. They weighed in 18-lbs., 9-ozs. of Lake Varner bass.

Rick Burns of Madison and Jacob Wills of Loganville took it to a field of 21 jonboat teams, claiming their first championship victory at the Oct. 11 “Bcrods.com J-BAIT” tournament at Lake Varner. Their winning stringer weighed 18-lbs., 9-ozs.

“It felt like winning the Bassmaster Classic,” said Rick. “We had five good fish by 10 o’clock and then hung into the big one at 10:30.”

Jacob caught the 8-lb., 2-oz. bass in a blowdown in 8 feet of water. He was fishing a green-pumpkin DBK Lures u-tail worm on a Texas rig. Rick and Jacob fished above the bridge in the left fork of the lake.

“We caught 15 on Texas-rigged worms and Rat-L-Traps,” said Rick. “We just hammered the banks; the bite was in 3 and 4 feet of water.”

At the tournament, the top-six teams from Southern Jonboat Anglers, Lil’ Water Bassin’, High Voltage Bass Anglers and the Johnboat Bass Association were invited to the jonboat championship.

Jacob Wills’ 8-lb., 2-oz. bass was big fish in the tournament.

For the third consecutive year, Southern Jonboat Anglers members won team bragging rights. Collectively, they had 56-lbs., 11-ozs., edging out the Johnboat Bass Association, which finished second with 51-lbs., 6-ozs.