Southeast Arkansas was well-represented over the past weekend during the 2017 Simmons Bank Big Bass Bonanza. Dumas’ Ricky Cantrell was named the overall winner of the tournament, with a 6.76-pound bass that he weighed in the early hours Friday morning.
Cantrell, a father-to-be and an 11-year veteran Dumas Police Officer took home the grand prize of $50,000. Cantrell was able to hold on to the lead from Friday morning to the end of the tournament on Sunday afternoon. With $50,000 on the line, and two days to hold the lead, at some point the nerves were bound to kick in.
“All the way up to this morning I wasn’t really nervous,” Cantrell said. “I’d been catching a lot of fish, and then the weather changed on me. My grass mats moved and my fishing went totally wrong. When I stopped catching fish it gave me time to think about it, and that’s when the nervousness hit.”
In total, 1,935 fishermen registered to compete in the tournament. With this being the largest bass fishing tournament in the state, Cantrell definitely wasn’t overly confident that he’d win the grand prize from the start. However, he’s thankful that he pulled it out, and he acknowledged what a wonderful feeling it was.
“It feels good, it’s a really nice feeling to win a tournament of this magnitude,” Cantrell said. “I wasn’t expecting to win the thing. I always go out and try to just win some hourly cash, and it just happened for me. You have to always keep your head up, never give up, and keep God first for sure.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
With the winnings, he plans to give an offering to his church, and the rest will go towards taking care of his family. Along with the expected new born, Cantrell and his wife have two daughters and a son.
Four other anglers were rewarded with $10,000 prizes for winning their pools. Those pool winners of $10,000 were:
– Pool 1/Fort Smith — Brandon Rudolph, 5.76 lbs.
– Pool 2/Lake Dardanelle — Erik Adland, 6.23 lbs.
– Pool 3/North Little Rock — Justin “Buck” Buchanan, 6.62 lbs.
– Pool 4/Pine Bluff — Steve Henderson, 6.05 lbs
The winner of the Pine Bluff pool was White Hall’s Steve Henderson who has been fishing in the tournament since 1989. A 6.05-pound catch that he weighed in the early hours on Saturday proved to be good enough to take the pool. Henderson said he has won many hourly pools over the years, but he’s never had the pleasure of winning the entire thing.
“It’s pretty awesome, and it makes you feel good about yourself,” Henderson said. “I’ve won a lot of hourly money, but I’ve never come close to winning the pool. A 6.05 is one of the nicer fish that you’ll catch out here in the harbor.”
As for the youth divisions, Watson Chapel High School’s Brandon Ward won first place for the 9th-12th grade group. Ward, a rising senior, weighed in a 5.53-pound bass on Friday, and for the next couple of days, none of the other anglers in his division got close. Ward won the first place prize pack that included an Aqua-Vu underwater camera, a Bass X rod, a Dragon Fly 7 pro with GPS, Livetarget baits, Baitcloud fish attractant, one Hardees Thickburger per week for a year, and Buff headgear.
Complete results for all anglers are available at ArkansasBigBass.com/results.