JASPER, TEXAS — Laurel Hill angler Michael Smith came up just short of winning the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series 2012 National Championship co-angler division. The Nov. 7-10 event was at Lake Sam Rayburn in Texas.
Smith was the co-angler division’s defending champion, having won the 2011 event at Lake Santee-Cooper in South Carolina.
During the four-day event, he caught 12 bass weighing in at a total of 29.61 pounds. He won $7,500 and a plaque.
Fishing for the first time in Texas, Smith used a variety of fishing tactics to put four consecutive three-bass daily division limits into the boat.
Smith caught 6.63 pounds of bass on day one using a swimming paddle-tail worm with a 3/16-ounce Elite Tungsten weight in deeper hydrilla in 5 to 8 feet of water. Days two and three, he threw a Carolina-rigged black grape Nasty Baits finesse worm in 20 feet of water to bring in 5.86 pounds and 8.30 pounds, respectively. It moved him to fourth place by the third day’s end.
Smith punched matted vegetation with a 1 ½-ounce Elite Tungsten flipping weight with a black-and-blue Nasty Kodiak Craw. It brought him his largest fish, ending the day with a sack of 8.82 pounds on day four.
Smith was the co-angler division leader at the docks with three co-anglers left to weigh in. Richard Michaiski, the last co-angler to weigh in, overtook Smith to take the title.
The tournament at the 114,400 acre Lake Sam Rayburn featured 170 co-anglers from across the United States and provided weekend anglers a professionally operated competitive tour.
Smith is the son of Hinton and Barbara Smith, who attended the tournament in Texas.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill’s Smith takes second at national fishing tournament