Big Weigh-In: Sapp & Bass Fishing Tournament

On May 1st, Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS) hosted its inaugural Sapp & Bass fishing tournament at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. Thanks to our gracious industry partners and strong support from the angler community, Sapp & Bass reeled in $10,000 for The ESS Foundation! Read on to get the event recap and check out which anglers took home the top spots!

Friday evening before the tournament, it was seventy-five degrees and the sun was setting behind Lake of the Ozarks. A hazy orange glow mirrored across the water. The tiki torches were lit and the James Clay Band started jamming at Margaritaville. A hundred of our industry partners and angler community members joined us for our pre-tournament Bait & Booze party. On a patio overlooking the lake, we ate our weight in coconut shrimp, enjoyed a few cold ones, and competed in yard games.

• Achen-Gardner Construction, LLC
• Berry Tractor
• Blue Ribbon Site Services
• Carter-Waters Construction Materials
• Forterra

Before the sun rose Saturday morning, a crop of pro and amateur anglers met us at Pa He Tsi boat ramp. The coffee was brewed, grab-n-go breakfast sandwiches were served, boat numbers were assigned, and more than 100 anglers were ready to hit the water. Al McCulloch of The National Professional Fishing League and Charlie Terrell of Anglers in Action emceed take-off announcements, laid out the rules, and called out boat numbers for our 29 pro and 19 amateur teams. Hearing their number called, each boat set off in search of big bass.

• ADS
• Anderson Engineering
• Atkins Lawn Care and Pest Control
• Brinkmann Constructors
• Crafton Tull
• Creative Design Concepts
• Crockett Engineering Consultants
• Kansas City Winwater
• Kimley-Horn
• Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc.
• Liberty Aggregates
• Logan Contractors
• Olsson
• Seal-O-Matic Paving Company
• Winter-Dent

Our 48 teams throttled across the lake in hopes of hooking up to three bass that would give them the heaviest combined weight for their division and if they got lucky – the single biggest bass of the day. The anglers cast lines around their favorite docks and in their secret coves. After six hours on the water, our teams made their way back. The crowd at weigh-in enjoyed burgers and brats fresh off the grill with a side of their favorite domestic cold one. In drive-by weigh-in format, each truck and trailer circled the team boats around to the weigh-in stage. Each team showed off the best from their live-well. The bass was checked, weighed, and the leader-boards started to move. As final weights were tabulated, raffle numbers were called and the winners took home Yeti rigging buckets, $100 gift cards to Dick’s Sporting Goods, bottles of Rieger Whiskey, and more.

Hayden Machinery

1st Place – $5,000

Chuck Austin & Dale Burgman
Total Weight: 12.82 LBS

2nd Place – $1,500

Andy Gill & Scott Grause
Total Weight: 11.21 LBS

3rd Place – $1,000

Jared Williams & Mark Wiese
Total Weight: 10.85 LBS

4th Place – $750

Patrick Joyce & Garrett Cates
Total Weight: 10.79 LBS

5th Place – $500

Dan Hirstein & Dave Hulsey
Total Weight: 10.77 LBS

6th Place – $250

Dana Zander & Jim Dill
Total Weight: 10.24 LBS

1st Place – $1,000

Max Jaben, Cale Johanning & Lauren Plunkett
Total Weight: 11.37 LBS

2nd Place – $500

Travis Hogle, Tyler Hogle & Justin McFarland
Total Weight: 8.04 LBS

3rd Place – $350

Logan Landwehr, Jeff Borgmeyer & Tate Borgmeyer
Total Weight: 6.84

4th Place – $200

Grant Nichols & Roger Rackers
Total Weight: 6.63 LBS

5th Place – (2) $100 Cabela’s Gift Cards

Neal Preston & Spencer Stillman
Total Weight: 5.01 LBS

6th Place – (2) $100 Bass Pro Gift Cards

Bill Kivett, Richard Rowlins & Kyle Bilderback
Total Weight: 4.69 LBS

7th Place – (4) $50 Bass Pro Gift Cards

Lonnie Thomas, Devin Gordon, Erwin James
Total Weight: 4.21 LBS

• American Concrete Products
• APAC – Central, Inc.
• Battery Outfitters
• Central Concrete
• ESS Materials
• Hunt-Rogers Materials
• Kwik Kar Wash
• Little Dixie Construction
• Lockton
• McClure
• Pomp’s Tire Service
• Roland Machinery
• Standard Materials Group
• Van Keppel
• Watkins Roofing

Thanks to our employee-owners, industry partners, and the Angler Community for making this event a great success! We look forward to hosting you again in 2022!