WELDON Pair win $15,000 in Lake Norman tournament

Jason Wilson and Kelly Logan teamed to win $15,000 on Saturday in a Carolinas Bass Challenge fishing tournament on Lake Norman.

The duo weighed in a mixed limit of five largemouth and spotted bass scaling 15.44 pounds to claim the top prize. They won $10,000 from the sponsoring series and a bonus $5,000 for fishing from a Skeeter boat.

They topped anglers casting from 167 other boats in the event based at Midway Marina.

Just behind in second place came Todd Phillips and Jerry Goble with 15.28 pounds. They earned $5,000.

Winning $3,000 for third place were Hunter Hicks and Mike Stevens with 14.16 pounds.

Forty-nine of the top 50 teams checked in catches weighing at least 10 pounds. Practically all the two-person teams among the top 100 brought five fish to the weigh-in just before snow started falling across the lake.

Most participants said they enticed the bass to strike brightly colored crankbaits and jigs cast to discolored water along the shoreline. Tom Higgins

Roanoke River striper season set

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will open the entire Roanoke River Management Area to striped bass harvest from March 1 through April 30. This includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.

The daily creel limit is two stripers per angler. The minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no striped bass between 22 and 27 inches can be possessed at any time. Only one striped bass larger than 27 inches can be included in the daily creel limit.

Anglers are required to use a single barbless hook or a lure with a single barbless hook when fishing in the upper Roanoke River from April 1 through June 30. The upper Roanoke River is defined as the main river channel and all tributaries, upstream from the U.S. 258 bridge near Scotland Neck to Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam. Observer News Services

Youth bass fishing championship March 23

Young anglers from around South Carolina are scheduled to compete in the first S.C. Department of Natural Resources Youth Bass Fishing Championship, set for Lake Murray on March 23.

The weigh-in will be held at the big Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic expo at the S.C. State Fairgrounds in the Nutt Cattle Arena.

Both middle and high schools can send up to six anglers to fish in two-person teams . Each team will share their boat with an adult volunteer.

The high school team with the heaviest catch will receive scholarship funds.

Those interested in forming a school bass fishing club can find more information by contacting DNR Aquatic Education Coordinator Lorianne Riggin at 803-737-8483 or rigginl@dnr.sc.gov.

Catches of the week

•  A 72-inch, 200-pound bluefin tuna off Oregon Inlet by Eddie Hoffman and his young son, Caleb, of Charlottesville, Va. They were trolling aboard the Dream Girl with skipper Jason Snead out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.

•  A limit of smallmouth bass at Fontana Lake by Steve Birchfield of Robbinsville. The fish hit black and white Zoom worms trailing a black jig head.