Ray Loveday and John Inman caught the small-mouth lunker (5.93). Bourgeois won the prize for the large-mouth lunker. When asked what they were going to do with the nice checks, McLemore joked, 'I guess our wives will have to decide that.'įinishing second were Brandon Coulter and Chris McReynolds (15.37 pounds), while Don and Nancy McCurdy (14.92) came in third. 'We just didn't get them all.'įor winning, the two received $5,000 in prize money each. 'We lost five more big fish in the same area,' said McLemore. The good-sized fish were still biting, but the two were not getting them into the boat quite as easily this time. They went elsewhere during the middle of the day, but decided to come back to that spot again in the afternoon. The strategy worked, as they caught three good fish really early. 'We found some big fish Monday coming off the bed really strong,' said McLemore, a retired electrician. Earlier in the week while fishing, they had noticed a shallow place on Tellico Lake where some big fish seemed to be, so they decided to return to that spot Saturday morning. Not only were they aided by being familiar with each other's fishing skills and styles, but they also tried to familiarize themselves as much as possible with the water.

'We've tried to win it for years,' said Webber, who works for Mastercraft Boat Co. Their weigh-in total of 18.09 pounds for their five fish was nearly three pounds more than that of any of the other 191 teams.Īlthough McLemore had won the tournament previously with another partner, this was the first for the two Maryville area residents together. LENOIR CITY - James McLemore and Jeff Webber were disappointed that several seemingly large fish kept getting away from them Saturday during the 24th annual Tim Irwin Food City Celebrity Bass Tournament.īy the end of the day, however, they were smiling after they managed to secure the most-important prize - first place.

Jeff webber