“Some of the guys say they have been catching bags in the 13- to 14-pound range on various lures, mostly shallow fish.”

The CBC Classic will cap another outstanding year for the series held in North and South Carolina, Collins said.

“For the second year in a row we had over 1,200 teams fish at least one CBC event this year and we are sending 22 teams to the Bassmaster Team Championship Dec. 9-13 on DeGray Lake in Bismarck, Ark.” The winner on DeGray Lake will qualify for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic Feb. 20-22 on Lake Hartwell with weigh-ins in Greenville, S.C.

“The selection of the teams to go to the Team Championship was decided by points. If a team declined, we went on to the next one on the list,” Collins said.

Steve Sink and Tony Foster won the North Carolina Division points for the second year in a row, Collins said. After the scheduled opening tournament of the season was postponed by bad weather, Sink and Foster started the year off in a hole, finishing 63^rd on Lake Norman in March, but they rebounded strong, with a 1^st place at High Rock in April, 7^th at Lake Hickory in May and 5^th at Falls Lake in June. Fishing with Robert Mixon, Foster finished 13^th in the rescheduled season opener on Lake Wylie June 14 to wrap up the points title.

Eric and Marc Grigg won the South Carolina Division points title despite notching only one top 10 finish for the year. They started off at Lake Murray in February with 36^th place, then finished 8^th at Lake Wylie March 1, followed by 26^th at Lake Wateree March 29, 44^th at Santee Cooper in April, and capped the year with a 14^th place finish at Lake Hartwell in May.

“Chris Richey and George Bost won the North Carolina Championship Sept. 20, besting the field of 132 boats with 17.86 pounds at Kerr Reservoir,” Collins said. “Shane Lineberger and Anthony Johnson won the South Carolina Championship Sept 27 with 22.64 pounds in a field of 91 boats at Clarks Hill.”

Collins said both teams took home a Skeeter ZX200/200 Yamaha SHO. CBC is sponsored by Skeeter Boats, Foothills Marine in Morganton, N.C., Marshalls Marine in Lake City, S.C., and Palmetto Sports Center in Greenville, S.C.

Collins also announced the 2015 tournament schedule for the Carolinas Bass Challenge. The North Carolina Division schedule will start Feb. 14 on Lake Norman, followed by tournaments March 21 at Lake Wylie, April 4 on Jordan Lake, May 9 at Lake Hickory and June 20 at High Rock Lake. The South Carolina Division will open its schedule Feb. 7 at Lake Murray, followed by tournaments March 7 at Lake Wateree, April 11 at Santee Cooper, May 30 at Lake Hartwell and June 13 at Clarks Hill. The dates and lake for the 2015 championship will be announced in a few weeks, Collins said.

 

Carolinas Bass Challenge Classic

Nov 7-8, 2014

Lake Norman

Blythe Landing

Call Brett Collins 803-413-7521

www.carolinasbasschallenge.com