BRANDI BRILEY MAKES HISTORY, BECOMES FIRST FEMALE WINNER OF THE BIG BASS BASH
2020 Timmons Oil Company Big Bass Bash®, presented by Cherokee Casino
Grand Lake: May 30-31, 2020
Over 1100 anglers from across the country attended the Big Bass Bash® at Grand Lake on May 30-31. With the current covid19 situation, the event was dialed down to reduce crowds and maintain proper social distancing. A limited number of anglers were allowed at the staging tanks at one time, and the awards ceremony was restricted to only the top 3 anglers. We thank you all for adhering to the guidelines and helping make this event a success. Over $143,000 was paid out at this event !!
On to the fishing. With the huge inflow of water days prior to the event, Grand Lake was around 5 feet above normal pool by tournament time. This made for some tough fishing conditions, especially on the northern end of the lake. The Bernice Point weigh-in station seen the brunt of the action, with around 70% of the field utilizing this location.
There were a total of 261 bass weighed in Saturday, and 245 bass weighed in on Sunday. All bass weighed in were placed in the AFTCO BASS BUS, which were operated by the experienced technicians at Ulrich Marine, then released alive and healthy back to the waters of Grand Lake.
Brandi Briley's bass was one of those placed into the release boat, and what a bass it was. Brandi Briley, of Louisburg, MO, hooked into her winning fish during the first time slot on Sunday. Brandi, along with her net man & boyfriend, Jeremy, were fishing a stretch of bank down towards the dam. They were working there way towards a laydown on a main lake point, which they said was hit by numerous anglers before they were able to fish it.
Once they neared the laydown, Jeremy ran a crankbait by it, to no avail. Brandi picked up her Lew's Speed Stick, armed with a Crock-O-Gator Gator Lock jig head and a green pumpkin muskrat creature bait. She pitched that bait towards the laydown, and it was immediately hammered by a 7.92 lb. giant. The fight was on!.
Brandi was able to work the bass towards the boat, where Jeremy netted it and the celebration began. They placed her into the livewell and headed off to the Bernice Point weigh-station, where Big Bass Bash history was made. Congratulations to Brandi Briley, the first woman to win the Bash, and take home the grand prize of $50,000.
We want to thank our title sponsor for this event, Timmons Oil Company, for contributing to the success of this event and to their dedication and conservation efforts to the sport of bass fishing. Please visit their website at www.timmonsoilcompany.com for their full lineup of products, or visit them instore at either the Tulsa, OK or Springdale, AR locations. We also want to thank the City of Grove, OK, the Cherokee Casino, and Bernice Point for their support of this event.
Lastly, we want to thank all of the anglers that participated in this event. Without you all this tournament would not be possible. We hope you all had a great time fishing the Bash and we look forward to next year's event.
CLICK HERE FOR TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Bill Douglas, of Grove, OK, took 2nd place overall for the event. Bill weighed in a 6.68 lb. bass in the 10am-12pm time slot on Sunday. Bill took home the 2nd place check good for $15,000. Congratulations Bill !
3rd place overall went to Jake Biram, of Tulsa, OK. Jake weighed his 6.08 lb. bass in at the last time slot on Sunday at the Wolf Creek weigh station. Jake landed a cool $10,000 for his 3rd place finish. Congratulations Jake !
EARLY BIRD WINNERS:
$250: Casey Baker - Arkansas
$250: Andrew Madison - Oklahoma
$250: Michael Jones - Florida
$250: Chris Laposta - Missouri
$250: Zach Wilson - Kansas
$250: Chase Williams - Kansas
$250: Tony Grubbs - Oklahoma
$250: Colby Hicks - Oklahoma
EXACT WEIGHT WINNERS:
Don't miss the 2020 AFTCO Big Bass Bash® at Lake of the Ozarks on October 3-4, 2020. Over $250,000 cash payout, including $100,000 to the angler that catches the heaviest bass of the event. Enter by September 21st to be included in the Early Bird drawing, where 12 lucky anglers will each win $500. For event and registration information, click here.
