Friday, March 29, 2024

Sanders/Gorden take top prize and catch biggest bass

First place winners of the 2016 Rodney J. Brenner Memorial Bass Tournament are (l-r) Steve Sanders and Greg Gorden of Vienna. Sanders and Gorden won the team competition and a check for $2,318 by catching five fish totaling 17.67 pounds. The duo also won the Big Bass competition by landing a 5.17 pound large-mouth, garnering them an additional $552.
First place winners of the 2016 Rodney J. Brenner Memorial Bass Tournament are (l-r) Steve Sanders and Greg Gorden of Vienna. Sanders and Gorden won the team competition and a check for $2,318 by catching five fish totaling 17.67 pounds. The duo also won the Big Bass competition by landing a 5.17 pound large-mouth, garnering them an additional $552.

$6,000 awarded at Brenner Memorial Bass Tourney

Forty-six boats roared out of the Golconda Marina on the Ohio River Saturday morning, June 4, to compete in the annual Rodney J. Brenner Memorial Buddy Bass Tournament sponsored by the Southeastern Illinois College Foundation. The 88 anglers headed for their favorite fishing holes in hopes of catching enough large-mouth bass to win the event’s $2,318 first place prize money.

At the end of the day, 12 fishermen from Southern Illinois received over $6,000 in total prize money. Steve Sanders and Greg Gorden, both of Vienna, weighed in 17.67 pounds of fish to capture the top prize. The team of Tom Taylor of Golconda and Jess Taylor of Brookport took second place with their 16.14 pound catch. They took home $1,288 for their efforts.

With 14.0 pounds of fish, Jody Betz from Stonefort and BJ Betz from Marion earned third place honors and $773 in prize money. Elizabethtown’s Jeff Fulkerson and Justin Conkle finished in fourth place with 13.99 pounds of bass, garnering them $515 in winnings. Finally, fifth place prize money of $258 went to the team of Carl Pickering of Harrisburg and Tom Oxford of Elizabethtown for their 13.61 pound catch.

In the Big Bass competition, Sanders and Gorden won first place and a $552 check for landing a 5.17 pound fish. Second place and $276 went to Golconda’s Roy Arnold and Tim Threlkeld with a bass weighing in at 4.79 pounds, while the team of Tom and Jess Taylor caught a 4.33 pound bass to claim third place and a check for $92.

The SIC Brenner Memorial Bass Tournament was established by the Southeastern Illinois College Foundation in remembrance of Mr. Rodney J. Brenner to raise funds for scholarships for incoming SIC students from the college district. Brenner was a charter member of the Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees.

One comment

  1. Love our hometown paper. We are so fortunate to have Lonnie Hinton as our editor/publisher. He is supportive of our community and cares about our businesses thriving. He and the mayor were some of the first people to meet/greet my new store and gave me a big welcome to the square. That is what small towns are all about