Beebe’s Warden nets $50,000 fish

Nicholas Warden of Beebe won the Arkansas Big Bass Bonanza and $50,000 Sunday with a 6.82-pound largemouth bass he caught in the Dumas Pool of the Arkansas River near Merrisach Lake.
Nicholas Warden of Beebe won the Arkansas Big Bass Bonanza and $50,000 Sunday with a 6.82-pound largemouth bass he caught in the Dumas Pool of the Arkansas River near Merrisach Lake.

— Nicholas Warden’s history in the Arkansas Big Bass Bonanza reads sort of like a country and western song.It’s been nothing but bad luck and heartache, but he found redemption Sunday by winning the tournament and $50,000 with a single largemouth bass weighing 6.62 pounds.

“Last year I fished this thing, and somebody broke into my truck,” Warden said.“The year before that, somebody ran over my boat trailer. That’s the only two years I fished it, so I was ready to change my luck.”

Warden caught the bass Saturday in the Dumas Pool of the Arkansas River, at the mouth of the canal leading into Merrisach Lake. He said he wanted to catch a big enough fish to win an hourly prize, but he didn’t expect to catch the tournament winner there.

“I started off in the morning fishing a [plastic] frog, and it was kind of slow, so I went to a spot that I’ve always caught fish on,” Warden said. “I was expecting to catch a 3- or 4-pounder and win a little hourly money. I threw a jig, and on the first cast I caught the big one.”

Although the water was low and muddy, Warden said a strong current pushed shad against a grassline, where he caught the fish with a one-half ounce, peanut butter and jelly colored football jig. He used 17-pound test Seaguar flourocarbon line, a Berkley Carrot Stick rod and a Pfleuger reel.

Warden, 30, owns a Candy Bouquet store in Beebe and fishes local tournaments. He said the Big Bass Bonanza money will help fund that pursuit. Best of all, Warden fished alone, so he’ll keep all the money. Customarily, anglers in the Big Bass Bonanza split the prize money evenly with their partners.

Montine McNulty, executive director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, which sponsors the event, said 1,755 fishermen participated in the tournament. That’s more than 400 fewer than last year, she said, and she attributed the decline to a bad economy and the weather.

“People were worried about the river [levels] up to the last minute,and they just have less discretionary money to spend right now,” McNulty said.

Even so, McNulty said the AHA paid $209,800 in prize money, including $10,000 apiece to the anglers who caught the biggest bass in each of the other four pools. Russell Pryor of Greenwood won $10,000 for a 5.36-pound bass in the Fort Smith Pool, and William Menz of Ward caught the biggest fish (6.23 pounds) in Lake Dardanelle (Pool 2). Andrew Smith of Alexander caught a 5.83-pounder to take the top prize in the Little Rock Pool, and Brent Ward of Pine Bluff won the Pine Bluff Pool with a 5.83-pounder.

“We put an extra $10,000 in the pools, and each city has its ownmini-tournament,” McNulty. “It strengthened all five of those places, where before, all the fishermen were concentrated in two places, Dumas and Dardanelle.”

There was some drama in the tournament. McNulty said that John Higman of Evansville, who won the event last year, weighed in a bass early Sunday morning that weighed more than 8 pounds. She said he and his partner, whom she didn’t name, also weighed in two 7-pounders at Fort Smith, which would have won the pool money and some hourly money. She said they did not pass the mandatory polygraph, however, and were disqualified. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was unable to contact Higman.

Sports, Pages 13 on 06/28/2010

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