Lake D’arbonne in Farmerville, LA was the site for our 2024 National Championship. Beautiful weather greeted the anglers while pre-fishing for the tournament, but on the first day of the National Championship the weather turned to rain and it definitely played havoc on the teams fish patterns they had found while prefishing. All 76 teams went out onto the water trying to figure out a gameplan to keep themselves up in the top of the field.
Even with the drastic change in weather, these amazing anglers were still able to go out on the water and get some incredible bags of crappie. Team Colby Barnett and Dan Langston were able to grab that top spot with a bag weighing in at 9.50lbs. Team Chris Fields and Jared Riser took the second place spot with 9.14lbs, making them the only teams on day 1 to hit the nine pound mark. Team Clay Gann and Todd Froebe were sitting in third place with 8.82lbs, team Scott Dees and Derrick Howard sat in the fourth place spot with 8.77lbs and finishing off the top five was Team Gage and Rick Reep with 8.76lbs. The biggest crappie of the day weighing in at 2.47lbs was team Mike and Scott Keener.
With a rainy and gloomy start to the day, the anglers knew they had to push through and make it to the top 30 teams to qualify for the third and final day of the tournament. Luckily for the anglers as the day went on, the weather got much nicer and the sun started to shine. There were a lot of nerves going into day two because on the first day of tournament from 15th to 53rd was all within a pound of each other, so anglers knew that it would come down to ounces to get into that top 30 for the final day of tournament. Chris Fields and Jared Riser were able to take that first place position with a two day weight of 18.05lbs being the only team to break the 18 pound mark in just two days of tournament. But team Colby Barnett and Dan Langston were close behind with a total weight of 17.75lbs. Travis Decker and Michael Culberson were able to make a jump into the top three with a total weight of 17.05lbs. Team JoJo Baker and Danny McDonald moved up into the fourth place spot with a two day weight of 16.56lbs. Husband and wife team, Kevin and Jessica Hicks were able to grab the fifth place spot with a total weight of 16.42lbs.
It was officially championship Saturday of the 2024 National Championship and the top 30 teams hit the water with some beautiful Louisiana weather. The tensions were high, it was a battle to see who would become the Crappie Masters 2024 National Champions. To make things even better, we had a drive through weigh -in at city hall in beautiful downtown of Farmerville, Louisiana. It was such a great site for all of the townspeople to come watch all of these incredible anglers and to help crown the national champions. The local team of Chris Fields and Jared Riser were able to hold onto that first place spot with a three day weight of 26.48lbs. Fields and Riser were the only team to break the 26 pound mark. Team Colby Barnett and Dan Langston held on to that second place spot with an incredible three day weight of 25.71lbs. Travis Decker and Micheal Culberson took home that third place fishing with a total weight of 25.65lbs. Team Gage and Rick Reep were able to jump up into the fourth place spot with a three day weight of 24.61lbs. Rounding off the top five was JoJo Baker and Danny McDonald with a total weight of 24.48lbs.
The rest of the top 10 finishers include,
6th- Kayle Ward and Dillion Gossett – 24.45 lbs
7th – Alex Cochran and Kenny Ray – 23.98 lbs
8th – Jordan Sander and Jason Hollemon – 23.56 lbs
9th – Alex Hall and Cassidy Box – 23.52 lbs
10th- RJ Hargett and Zack Hargett – 23.43 lbs
With this being the final tournament of the Crappie Masters 2024 season, that means the angler team of the year and rookie team of the year race was officially over. Team Travis Decker and Micheal Culberson were able to take the top spot in the angler of the year race with a total of 970 points. Right behind in second place was team Clay Gann and Todd Froebe with 968 points and finishing in third place was Frank Haidusek with 957 points. The top ten also include,
4th- Jordan Sanders and Jason Hollemon – 946 points
5th – Zack Minnix and Bill Hunt – 945 points
6th – Les Standstipher and Jamie Standstipher – 925 points
7th – Charlie Bunting and Brandon Fulgham – 908 points
8th – Lance Sullentrop – 905 points
9th – Ryan Duley and Lincoln Duley – 896 points
10th – Amos Livingston and John Livingston – 888 points
In the rookie team of the year race team Zack Minnix and Bill Hunt were able to claim that top spot with 557 points. In second was Dustin Shields with 566 points and in third was Jason Musgrave and Caleb Baker with 525 points. The top ten in the rookie of the year also include,
4th – Dan Mabery and Cody Smith – 524 points
5th – Trey Davis and Robbie Hopper – 522 points
6th – Mike Kenner and Scott Keener – 521 points
7th – Ryan Hanson and Junior Dye – 386 points
8th – Eric Miller and Mike Belcher – 368 points
9th – John Hudnall – 351 points
10th – Adam White and Rebekah White – 339 points
In the adult and youth points race of the year, team RJ and Zack Hargett were able to take the top spot with 582 points. In the second place spot was team Ryan and Lincoln Duley with 519 points and taking home that third place spot was team Dusty and Anders McGehee with 324 points.
In the male/female team race team Cliff and Alissa Bammes took home the first place spot with 561 total points. In second was Les and Jamie Standstipher with 551 points and in third was Kevin and Mary Hawkins with 362 points. In the fourth place spot was Kevin and Jessica Hicks with 356 points and rounding out the top five is team Cameron and Bethany White with 342 points.
It was a phenomenal week in Farmerville, Louisiana and a great tournament to end our 2024 season by awarding over $100,000.00 in cash and prizes to amazing anglers. A huge thank you to the town of Farmerville, The Union Parish Tourist Commission, The Union Parish Chamber of Commerce, The Union Parish Police Jury and The Louisiana Office of Tourism for hosting our national championship.
