Veteran professional angler Donna Newberry put her years of angling skills into good practice on Arkansas’ Lake Dardanelle as she coaxed a five bass limit weighing 12.08-pounds to take the day one lead in the Lady Bass Anglers Association’s 2012 Dardanelle event.
“I had a keeper fairly early this morning and then caught another one and then moved,” Newberry stated. “Then I fished a place where I had not fished that much before and caught one there and I followed that with a bank I had caught fish on, saw one there, but she wouldn’t bite. I came back to where I started and on the first cast I caught one, and from there on out I just kept working that bank – even culling.”
“Although you never know about fish,” Newberry continued, “I do think my fish will hold up.”
“It has been awhile,” Newberry, a resident of Prim, Arkansas, stated when asked about how it felt to lead the LBAA Dardanelle event. “I’ve been there before but it has been awhile,” Newberry laughingly concluded.
Newberry holds a slim 0.38-ounce lead over Greenville, Texas veteran Judith Hart who weighed in 12.72-pounds of bass, but was penalized one pound as she had live well difficulties and lost two fish. Bainbridge, Georgia veteran Pam Martin-Wells is in third with 11.29 pounds and is just ahead of fourth place Kim Bain-Moore from Pelham, Alabama who brought 10.04 to the scales. Mt. Juliet, Tennessee’s Emily Shaffer is in fifth with 9.91; Patti Campbell of Waxahachie, Texas is sixth with 9.77; Murray, Kentucky’s Debbie Warner is seventh with 6.13.
Hart also took the Legend Big Bass Award for the day with her big bass of 4.43-pounds.
On the co-angler side of things Kentuckian Brandi Frasier made her way to Arkansas from Hanson, Kentucky and not only took the day one lead at Dardanelle with 6.96-pounds but captured the Legend Big Bass Award on the co-angler side with a 4.47-pound Dardanelle largemouth.
Sitting in second is Vicki Henderson of Ashdown, Arkansas with 5.73 and in third place is hometown angler Helen Wood with 4.15. Fourth is Brenda Reeves from Weatherford, Texas with 3.59-pounds of bass. Fifth, sixth and seventh on the co-angler side are Mt. Vernon, Illinois’ Diana Uebelhack with 3.56, Plano, Texas’ Judy Skibinski with 3.47, and Alpine, Alabama’s Kim Giddens with 3.25.
The Lake Dardanelle ProAm continues on Friday from “safe light” until 3 p.m. CDT.
Friday’s launch and weigh-in will take place at the Lake Dardanelle State Park Visitors Center at 100 State Park Road in Russellville, AR. The Lake Dardanelle State Park Visitors Center’s phone number is 1-479-967-5516, and they are on the World Wide Web at http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/
The LBAA usually has a charity tournament on the Saturday after the LBAA Pro/Am but at Lake Dardanelle, there was a scheduling conflict, so there will be no LBAA charity event on Saturday. However, the LBAA will still be supporting the Main Street Mission with a raffle of items donated by local and national sponsors that will occur at the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in.
The Main Street Mission’s mission and purpose is to demonstrate Christian love to people in need as they provide meals, food boxes and other necessities to help meet their physical needs while also striving to address their spiritual needs. The Main Street Mission is located at 1110 East 2nd Street Russellville, AR 72801. Phone 1-479-968-8303. World Wide Web http://mainstreetmission.org/v2/
The Russellville Tourism and Visitors Center is hosting the LBAA’s upcoming tour appearance. They are located at 708 West Main Street Russellville, AR 72801. Their phone number is 1-479-967-1762 and they have a presence on the World Wide Web at http://discoverrussellville.org/
Lodging headquarters for the LBAA Lake Dardanelle event is the Best Western Inn 2326 N. Arkansas Avenue Russellville, AR 72802. Phone 1-479-967-1000. World Wide Web at http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/AR/Russellville-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-Inn/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=04077
Sponsors of the 2012 Lady Bass Anglers Association Tour are: Bass Angler Magazine, Red Dirt Bait Company, Reaction Innovations, Legend Boats, Bass Kandi Baits, Integrity Insurance, Progressive Insurance, Kick `n Bass, Reel Girls Fish, Minn Kota, Hummingbird, Vickie’s Threadworks, Rayjus Outdoors, Castaway Graphite Rods, Save Phace, DEKA Batteries, Fish Guardian, West Kentucky LED, Arkansas Tournament Fishing (ATF), SureLife, and River Runner Baits.
The LBAA 2012 Contingency Programs are Legend Advantage Program, Boats, BoatUS Angler Weigh-to-Win, Tundra Bucks, Rayjus Wear-It-To-Win, Skeeter Real Money, Phoenix First Flight, BassCat Quest, and Triton Gold.
For more information on the LBAA contact co-founder Cheryl Bowden @ 1-214-738-7518, co-founder Secret York @ 1-270-748-9041, or media specialist Larry Morris @ 1-540-239-7902. The LBAA has a presence on the World Wide Web, on Facebook, and at http://www.ladybassanglers.com/
