After setting a possible one day, 7-fish weight record of 12.40 pounds on Rend Lake, the husband and wife team of Richard and Ashley Faulk had just enough weight on Crappie Masters Championship Saturday to go wire-to-wire and claim their second Crappie Masters National Qualifier victory over a high powered 68-boat field with a two-day weight of 24.14 pounds.
The Faulks barely held off the hard-charging team of Matthew and Bruce Rogers to take home the $10,000 winners check and walk away champions at the Rumble On The Rend, May 6th and 7th, on Rend Lake in Whittington, Illinois.Â
With a field of the best anglers in the country lurking just behind the Faulks after day one, and totally different weather conditions, the team had to adapt to the fish that were roaming fish and easy to dictate size on the first day to having to catch more fish on timber on Crappie Masters Championship Saturday to eventually get the winning weight.
Richard stated that they had over 12 pounds in the first 90 minutes of day one, at which point decided to fish water they hadn’t intended to with the intention of not giving away their target location to the other anglers.
The Faulks caught their weigh fish in 16-to-20 feet of water roaming on day one, tighter to structure on day two, and were using Slab Syndicate Crappie Jigs. Richard said the key to victory was boat control in the wind and having a product from Silent Stalker on the front of his aluminum boat to minimize the boat slap on the water so as to not spook the fish.
Richard and Ashley Faulk took home $10,000 for the win, an additional $500 from The Jellison Group for using an action cam on his boat, and $200 for the top placing Male/Female team of the tournament.
Last year’s Angler Team of the Year, Matthew and Bruce Rogers, found themselves in 8th place after day one with 11.12 pounds, and stunned the crowd and the field on Championship Saturday with a new record 7-fish, one day weight of 12.74 pounds. The Rogers finished with a two-day weight of 23.86 pounds, narrowly missing another win in the team’s historic career.Â
Victory may have come if not for the loss of trolling motor batteries at noon on Saturday, limiting Matthew and Bruce for the final 2 1/2 hours of fishing. Like the Faulks, the Rogers also targeted deeper females in ditches and ledges. The team took home $5,000 for the runner-up performance and positioned themselves for another run at Angler Team of the Year.
Starting day two in third place was HH Rods and Reels angler Lamar Bunting, and he held onto that spot with a two-day weight of 23.35 pounds. That was good for a $3,000 payday and a huge jump in the Angler Team of the Year race.Â
In 4th place was another HH Rods and Reels team, David Harley and Ethan Decker, who weighed 23.22 pounds and walked away with a $2,000 check. Round out the top 5 on Rend Lake was the fast rising father/son team of Keaton and Les Standstipher, who brought 22.86 pounds to the scale and went home with a $1,500 check.
The Car Zone USA Big Fish $2,000 bonus went to Cliff Bammes, whose day one 2.31-pound Rend Lake dandy held up for the Big Fish of the tournament.
Top Adult/Youth honors went to the Ohio team of Michael Walters and Gavin Waldschmidt, who weighed in 18.21 pounds and secured a $200 cash bonus.
Crappie Masters would like to thank Sure Stay by Best Western hotel, Lake Zone Bait and Tackle, Burtons Cafe, and Bonnie Cafe for their local support.
Up next, Turmoil on Truman Lake in June. Click here to register for that tournament now!
Fantasy Fishing Results
It was OldLakeBum who took the fifth Fantasy Fishing win of the season with a very impressive score of 768.58 fantasy points at Rend Lake. The best possible score in Fantasy Fishing this week would have been 804.86 points.
You can click here to see the full Fantasy Fishing results from Rend Lake.
On the overall season Leaderboard, River Bottom Boys Guide Service leads the way after five events with 3,889.06 points, with AustinCarey6969 and Sword Fighters close behind in 2nd and 3rd. Click here to see the Fantasy Fishing 2022 Standings.
