It was a tournament that people will be talking about for years to come. The 2022 Crappie Masters National Qualifier held last weekend at Grenada Lake featured a lot of firsts.
Some of the firsts included a total of four crappie weighing in at more than four pounds caught during the two-day event. Day 1 of the tournament featured a total of 32 teams catching a total weight of 20 pounds or better at the weigh-in. A total of 170 competed for a berth in the National Tournament scheduled for late September in Grenada.
It came down to the father-son teams of Brett and Robert Luther of Dickson, Tenn., and Matthew and Bruce Rogers of El Dorado Springs, Mo., in the battle for the $10,000 first prize. The Luthers led the event with 22.77 pounds, while the Rogers’ were third at 22.69. The Rogers finished with 22.02 pounds Saturday for a two-day total of 44.71 pounds. With the crowd on the edge of their seat, the Luther’s weighed in a 20.23 pounds leaving them 2.71 pounds short of the title.
Bruce Rogers credited his son’s motivation to their success on Day 2 of the tournament.
“The key was motivation to get on the lake and get it done,” Bruce Rogers said. “He didn’t abandon his plan. He just kept his head down and fished harder.”
The younger Rogers credited a lot of his success using 10-foot power poles along with paddles. It was all about feel using the Livescope, which is a device used to help locate the fish.
“Using the 10-foot power poles, I was able to stop the boat in certain situations,” Matthew Rogers said. “Having a drift paddle, I was able to run them down when I got to about 30-feet to use as brakes. I wasn’t just stopping with that – I would still troll with it until I got up to within range of the fish then I would let off and would put the job in front of them. It was a real feel thing with my foot and my hands. It’s a feels thing whenever you are doing this with Livescope. In the past, I was using an 18-foot rod. This time, I was going back-and-forth between a 14 and 15-foot rods.
It was the eighth time that the Rogers’ have fished Grenada Lake together. This time, they were able to bring home a tournament title. For Matthew Rogers, it was an emotional time when they heard the final team weight would come up just over two pounds short of their final total.
“I have put in a lot of time on the water to get where I’m at,” Matthew Rogers said. “I have prided myself on trying to figure out fish and pattern them. I come here with intentions purely focused on the skuna arms because I believe in that, it worked. I didn’t believe that four 22-pounds totals would come out Friday, but it did happen.”
However, it wasn’t that bad of a day for the Luthers. They finished second with a two-day total of 42 pounds, pocketing the $7,000 second prize and won the big fish prize of $5,000 for a 4.26 pound caught on the opening day of the tournament.
Two teams made up of Grenada residents also placed in the tournament. Patrick Stone and his partner Eric Cagle, of Tallassee, Ala., finished 10th with a two-day total of 39.80 pounds. Brandon Fulgham of Grenada and Alex Hall placed 27th with 36.34 pounds. Another Grenadian, Nathan Caldwell fished without a partner, finishing with 35.16 pounds, which was good for 34th place.
Gary Worsham, executive director for the Grenada Tourism Commission is excited to see the final numbers on just how much of an economic impact the event had on Grenada. It was one of the biggest events for Crappie Masters.
“This event will set an all-time record for economic impact for a fishing tournament based on the number of people with most of them here all week pre-fishing,” Worsham said. “The only thing that will be more will be the National Tournament that we are hosting in September.”
Blake Jackson of Crappie Masters said Grenada Lake lived up to its reputation with all the records that were broken in the tournament.
“Grenada Lake has shown up again,” Jackson said. “We smashed records here last year that I thought would not be broken for a long time. One year later, the big fish of last year was broken at 4.26 pounds. It’s a phenomenal fishery and a great place for a tournament guy to fish. Despite the conditions on the final day, we still had some outstanding weights. We are looking forward to being back here for the National Tournament.”
The National Tournament will take place Sept. 23-24 on the lake. A field of close to 200 boats is expected to take part for the title.
