Top Bass-Club Anglers Hit Clarks Hill For 2006 Top Six Tournament

The Savannah River Bassmasters based out of Lincolnton have the honor of being the first bass club name to appear on the new Harry Hall Memorial Cup, an honor that goes to the top club in the annual Top Six tournament.

The 2006 Top Six tournament drew almost 500 of Georgia top bass-club fishermen and women to Clarks Hill Lake April 24-25, and for most it was a surprisingly tough two days of fishing. The tournament featured the debut of the new Harry Hall Memorial Cup that goes to the state’s top bass club in the Top Six tournament. That honor went to the Savannah River Bass Club and its six representatives — Ed Rice, David Dawkins, Woody Parks, Jeff Bentley, and Mike Broome of Lincolnton, and David Matthew of Evans.

Expectations were high before the Top Six event, as most felt that hungry, postspawn bass at Clarks Hill would be hot on the Spooks and Flukes topwater pattern that the lake is known for this time of year, but topwater fish were few and far between.

The anglers that found bass chasing bait to the surface were generally the ones that ended the two-day tournament with a spot on the coveted State Team, which goes to the Top-12 individuals in the touranment. Those anglers move on to a Southern Division regional tournament, with a chance to advance into the major leagues of pro bass fishing under FLW’s new format for the state federations of bass clubs.

The State Championship honors went to Woody Parks of the Savannah River Bass Club. Woody had two fish-fish limits with a total weight of 31.30 pounds. His second-day weight of 18.35 pounds was the day’s top catch, and it included the Day 2 Big Fish, a 6.71-lb. largemouth.

Second place went to Craig Johnson of Suburban Bassmasters, whose two-day limit of 10 bass weighed 30.80 pounds. Craig said on the first day of the tournament, he caught a 17.15-lb. limit by fishing a jig in two feet of water on main-lake points. The second day, those fish wouldn’t eat the jig, and Craig said he had to wait for them to come up chasing bait, and then he caught 12.75 pounds of bass on a Zara Spook.

Woody Parks of the Savannah River Bassmasters claimed State Champ honors at the Top Six tournament on Clarks Hill Lake April 24-25.