Marks Wins with 44.44 pounds!
Ranger pro Paul Marks of Georgia hoists the PAA Tournament Series trophy after winning on Lake Lanier with 44.44 pounds. (PAA: Chris Dutton)
PAA Communications
BUFORD, Ga. – Ranger pro Paul Marks of Cumming , Ga., thought the bass he lost late in the day Friday would come back to haunt him in the season-opening PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix on Lake Lanier.
But the four he weighed were pretty stout, and Marks brought in a limit Saturday weighing 13.92 pounds to win the tournament with a three-day total of 44.44 pounds. He won $5,000 and a new Nitro Z-8 with a Mercury 225 and T-H Marine Atlas jackplate, along with valuable points toward the 2012 PAA All Star Series and 2011 Toyota Texas Bass Classic.
“I don’t think there’s a happier person in the world,” Marks said. “To do this at home with all my family and friends here is just great.”
Marks doesn’t live far from the lake but doesn’t fish as much as he used to due to a passel of youngsters playing sports and other activities. He said during the tournament he hit old familiar spots that had yielded fish over the years, but on the final day kind of ran by instinct.
“I caught three off of old places where I put out brush years ago and haven’t fished in a long time,” he said. “Then, I had two others on back-to-back casts on one point. I caught one, got it in and the wind pushed me off. When I got back on the point, I fired the jerkbait in there and it went umph-umph-umph … two straight.”
Marks threw an albino Fish Head Spin with a white fluke and Lucky Craft Staysee in Ghost Minnow. He worked both to bass suspending about 10-15 feet deep over brush that was about 20 feet deep.
Omega pro Derek Remitz of Alabama was second with 42.30 pounds, followed by Ranger pro Todd Auten of South Carolina with 41.89. Megabass pro Aaron Martens of Alabama was fourth (38.59) and Ranger pro Tom Mann Jr. of Georgia (38.34) rounded out the top five.
The rest of the top 20:
6. John Murray, Arizona, 37.82
7. David Hendrick, North Carolina, 33.97
8. Nick Larson, Georgia, 32.71
9. Takahiro Omori, Texas, 30.79
10. Larry “Doc” Seger, Missouri, 29.43
11. Shin Fukae, Texas, 29.35
12. Chris Brasher, Texas, 29.35
13. Tommy Biffle, Oklahoma, 28.20
14. Troy Morrow, Georgia, 28.18
15. Brett Hite, Arizona, 28.09
16. Doug Jones, Oklahoma, 27.31
17. Lance Vick, Texas, 26.79
18. Mike McClelland, Arkansas, 24.90
19. Cody Bird, Texas, 24.45
20. Kevin Hawk, Alabama, 20.93
Remitz was close
After two tough tournaments during a season-opening swing through Florida, Derek Remitz arrived at Lanier with a head full of clouds to match the gray skies at Lanier.
He easily chased them away with his strong finish and final-day catch of 18.70 pounds, the biggest of the final round and second-biggest of the event.
Remitz threw SPRO McRip and Megabass Vision jerkbaits on points with angled banks and rock, clay and shells. Wind helped throughout the day.
“I fished all new water,” he said. “This was about the best it could be for throwing a jerkbait. The sun was good and the wind distorted the water. I was glad to see it blowing like this.”
Auten’s three were big
Todd Auten has been Mr. Consistency in PAA Tournament Series events, winning at Neely Henry in 2009 and making four of the last five cuts.
He only caught three fish Saturday but they weighed 14.59 pounds, good enough to push him to third. He caught one sight-fishing and the other two on a Chatterbait around docks.
“I figured I’d look around a little and found some, and then the others came off the docks,” Auten said. “It was a tough day but those were pretty good ones to catch.”
2011 PAA Tournament Series Premier Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, E21 Carrot Stix, Optima Batteries, Nitro Performance Bass Boats
2011 PAA Tournament Series Associate Sponsors: Lazer TroKar, Jasper Engines & Transmissions, Mercury Marine, Humminbird/Minn Kota, BoatUS Foundation, Fishouflage, U.S. Reel, Sign Designs, Toyota Texas Bass Classic
2011 Lake Lanier Local Sponsors: Stainless Town, Bass Pro Shops-Lawrenceville, Booyah Bait Co., Operation One Voice
I was fortunate enough to participate in the Observer role for all 3 days. I rode with Lance Vick, Nick Larson and Aaron Martens. Riding with them was well worth it. Each day brought totally different weather and I got to see the upper lake bite as well as the lower lake spot action. I was able to learn alot from these guys. I have been the typical bank beater and flipper, but seeing how Aaron dissected his targets showed me I have been missing out. He explained to me what he was doing and why, and took alot of time answering my 1000′s of questions. Nick showed me some good tricks about how to work more visible targets in deep water I would not had thought to do. Lance showed me even though I thought I was pretty good at flipping, I have alot to improve on. I met many of the anglers and each one was really nice to talk to. BTW…..Gary Clouse…you definetly have a new customer soon!!
If you get a chance to be an observer….go for it. It is worth it in my book. I may even bite the bullet and fly out later this year to see these guys hit the warmer water patterns.