The Pilot Pont Chamber of Commerce weathered a rainy Saturday and hosted their annual Buddy Bass Fishing Tournament at Ray Roberts Lake State Park on Saturday.
In spite of the wet weather, 28 boats made their way on to the water to take part in the fourth Buddy Bass Tournament, with the event being made even more special with the winner’s circle being filled by representatives from Aubrey, Tioga and Pilot Point.
“We started out with 21 boats, and we ended with 28, and we are very proud of that,” said Evon Lusk, Pilot Point Chamber of Commerce executive director. “It was rainy day, but these guys came to fish.”
Buddy Bass Tournament Director, Alvin Korbel, echoed Evon’s sentiments on the event.
“The started off kind of dreary, and we were like, ‘Man, this is going to be a little tough for everybody,’ but they showed up and fished, and it was a great time. Everyone had a good time and the camaraderie these guys brought to the table amazing.”
The duo of Luke Wenger and Banks Buck, who was a member of Aubrey High School’s fishing team, took home the tournament crown with five fish, weighing 22.6 pounds.
“This was our third time on this lake, and we just came out the see what we could do and did better than we thought,” Buck said.
“We started the morning off with a bang, caught our big fish in about six inches of water on a bait we did not expect to throw, and it ended up working out,” Wenger said.
The duo’s first catch was also the event’s largest fish of the day, weighing over 8-pounds.
Tioga High School graduate Logan Westbrook and his teammate Breandon Ebans earned second place, and Evans said the rainy conditions actually improved fishing for the anglers.
“I think it helped a bunch,” he said. “We’ve had so much hot weather that it turned all the fish off and then this little bit of cool and overcast came in, and the fish eat better out here whenever its overcast.”
Pilot Point’s own father and son fishing duo, Will and Aiden Hamblin, took home third place, and Will said the Buddy Bass tournament is an extra special for him and his family.
“This is the one tournament that we fish together every year,” he said. “It’s kind of like our father-son [event], and we plan for it, and the chamber does a great job of [organizing] every year, and it feels like it gets bigger every time we come out.”
Lusk said the event brought back memories of fishing with her family, which she said helped inspire the event along with the 2021 Bassmaster Classic.
“It all started with the Bassmaster Classic coming to Pilot Point, and I was like, ‘We have a lake. Let’s do something with it, and lets promote our biggest tourist attraction here,’” she said. “… And it reminds me of being a kid and fishing with my parents and being a mom of boys, which made me the only woman hanging out with the guys, fishing was always around.”
Lusk and Korbel sent a special thank you to all of the sponsors, organizers and participants for the event.
“We couldn’t do it without them,” Korbel said.
