Going into day number two of the season opener of The Women's Bass Pro Tour by The LBAA was interesting to say the least. The forecast the evening before almost looked like it needed to be cancelled but come morning it looked like the most severe thunderstorms might miss most of the 180,000 acre lake of Toledo Bend. Tournament Officials let the ladies know that the lower half of the lake should be clear of the most dangerous storms. A lot of anglers had to change there plans and fish different water to be cautious of the northern area of the lake.
That was just the start of the battle. Nikki Jo Hatten had a 6lbs lead going into day #2 with the Bait-wrx.com biggest bag of the week. Which meant on the boater side that's a huge hill to climb on top of checking radar all day. The co-angler side was no different when Judy Skibinski jumped out to a big lead with a 10.68 bag on day number one.
That feat was not too big for some of the anglers today. One thing I've learned in our first tournament after taking over the operations of the Lady Bass Anglers operation is there is no quit with these ladies. They fish in all conditions in practice to figure out the best bites. That was the key to Cheryl's success today as some of her bites in the rain in practice clued her in on what was happening during the rain. Sometimes they were eating the frog which is not a good thing when you have 2023 Classic Champion Lynda Gessner in the field. If the frog bite is on Lynda is even more dangerous of a competitor. Luckily for todays conditions the bigger fish Cheryl caught was on swimbaits and one on a crawl on a bed. Congrats to Cheryl on todays comeback.
Coming in second was Lynda Gessner who fell just short of back to back wins with her second place finish today. Lynda weighed in 26.08 for her two day total. Rounding out the top three was Danalee Lofton who had 25.94. Danalee had a decent practice she said and it showed cashing a check in the season opener.
Yo-zuri sponsors the LBAA for the first spot out of the money with a prize pack which went to day one leader Nikki Jo Hatten who also won the Big Bass of the week prizes of $500 courtesy of Joey Ridgle Septic and Sanitation. Plus a Clutchswimbaitco.com "ECO" hand made glide bait.
5th place also won a prize pack thanks to Toyota which was Jan Hudson. Speaking of Toyota the offer the LBAA the same deal that the Bassmaster Elites for the highest placing finisher if they win or place second of $750 for the win or $500 for 2nd. It pays to drive a Toyota. They also have the Bonus Bucks program for our co-anglers. It pays to drive Toyota and fish the LBAA. Jan Hudson also won the Vickies Thread Works $50 bonus for smallest fish of .99 to hit the scales. That shows that the rest of her fish had a decent avg. weight to finish 5th. Rest of the leaderboard is below for the boater side.
Co-angler side is one of the best ways to get comfortable fishing tournaments with the LBAA or any pro-co format. We just offer all ladies pro events to let women have a lower burden of stress option of entry into professional bass fishing. Speaking of co-anglers Pamela Holwerda had an amazing day with her boater Heather Broom. She weighed in 9.70 today to up her two day total to 14.04 which was enough to take the lead.
Second place went to Susie Hurn who not only finished second with 13.95 plus won the Ridgle Septic Big Bass Co she also had to use her lifeguard experience today to help save Nikki her boater from a scary situation when she accidentally fell overboard in her full rain suit. One thing we always recommend when out on the water especially when in tough conditions and wearing extra gear is wearing that life jacket. They save lives. So does having and experienced angler with you. Praying all of you always get back safely wherever you are fishing.
Secret York fresh off her 2023 Classic co-angler championship win was able to finish 3rd with 13.16 and cash a check. Secret and Cheryl founded the LBAA fourteen years ago now and just recently handed over operations to Travis Burch, Craig Lapointe, and Steve French so they could concentrate more on the fishing side. It was nice to see them fish stress free for the first time in a very long time and not have to worry about the tournament operations. We are all blessed at their willingness to grow the sport of woman in fishing. We also hope we make them and all of the ladies proud of their decision to let us take on this wonderful women's bass tour.
Fourth place is Yo-zuri prize pack winner Dianna Uebelhack who weighed in 12.99 on her two days on Toledo. Fifth place was day one leader Judy Skibinski who won the biggest bag of the weak by bait-wrx.com with her day one total and she also got the Toyota prizes as well.
Winning the Highway 125 Marina Rising star award was Julia Darbonne who hasn't fished as a boater in the last two seasons. Julia won't be eliglible for that going forward but is open to all new boaters or ones that haven't fished as a boater in the last two seasons. The rest of the results are posted below and on womensprobasstour.com We hope to see you all at Anchor Pointe on Bull Shoals Lake in Peel, Arkansas next month. Registration is closing soon.
If interested in fishing or hosting an LBAA event please email info@ladybassanglers.com or call/text 913-562-4660 and speak with Travis Burch.
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