LAKE CONCORDIA, La. &045; Gene Spears came down from his Monroe, La., home to compete in the Isle of Capri Casting for Cash bass tournament with a friend’s boat hitched to his truck, since he was void of his own.

He’s sure to return it, but will make another venture to Concordia Parish later this week to pick up the fully rigged Triton TR185 Spears won for snagging a 4.84-pound bass Sunday to win the two-day event.

&uot;I had never seen Lake St. John or Concordia before Friday,&uot; Spears said. &uot;But from what I’ve seen these lakes have a lot of fish. The fishing here, both days, was excellent.&uot;

Launching at 5 a.m. Sunday, but not getting out on Lake Concordia for another half hour due to fishermen chatter, Spears followed the same routine he established Saturday when he reeled in an aerator of fish.

&uot;I went to the north end (St. John), so I figured I’d go back today,&uot; he said. &uot;I caught a lot of fish (Saturday) on a small finesse jig, but none of them were weigh fish. In the last 20 minutes I caught one that was between 3- and 6-pounds, but I didn’t have time to weigh it.&uot;

After traveling vertically for a ways, Spears came to an idle when he approached a man, who was fishing from his dock, to ask how much distance was between he and the end.

The man informed him Spears had about a mile left, so he idled further out until the first bi-hourly weigh-in began Sunday.

&uot;I started out fishing using a buzz bait, and I wasn’t catching a thing,&uot; Spears said.

Then, he followed the advice of a friend Dell Taylor, who said to try sticking a purple artificial worm behind a wobblehead.

It took four casts before Spears landed the trophy fish and, thus, the Triton TR185, as well.

&uot;I knew it was a good fish when it hit; there was no doubt about that,&uot; he recalled. &uot;I couldn’t tell how big it was until I got it to the side of the boat and got my hands on it.&uot;

That was between 6:30 and 7 a.m. Spears approached the weigh in location at Lakeview Lodge brimming with anxiety and excitement.

He watched as the scales tipped until the magical number &045; 4.84 &045; flashed before his eyes.

The rest of the day was a lost cause, Spears said.

&uot;I wasn’t too good after that. I was too nervous, and I executed poorly,&uot; he said. &uot;I would hang a fish and he’d get off.&uot;

Surprisingly, a cloudless, bright Sunday yielded bigger fish than Saturday’s overcast sky.

Claude Rabb of Vidalia hauled in a 4.47-pounder to finish third overall on Lake St. John, and walk away with $1,000.

&uot;It was a beautiful day, but what fishermen call a bluebird day. We don’t want that,&uot; tournament director Eddie Roberts said. &uot;We look for low pressure systems usually.&uot;

Roberts said going into the first day he expected a high 3-pound fish to place in the top 10, but fishermen had to cross the 4-pound threshold to finish in the money.

Jeff Well’s 4.03-pound catch was good enough for 10th.

&uot;All indications are our lakes are coming back from the largemouth bass virus that has infested our waters,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;The contestants caught large numbers of fish, which is a good sign for St. John and Concordia.&uot;

The lakes will continue to gradually recover from the virus that decimated the bass population for several years.

Roberts hopes to lobby for stricter restrictions on limits and sizes for both lakes, which he said has some of the lenient regualtions in Louisiana.

&uot;Once a fish reaches 2 pounds, a fish can put on 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per yea,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;The fish next year, I look for them to be around 3- to 4-pounds fish.&uot;

Despite expected numbers being down, 196 contestants had a great weekend of fun thanks to some healthy bites, Roberts said.

&uot;They caught a lot of fish, so they were always happy,&uot; he said. &uot;As long as you’re getting bites, you have that thought that this might be the big one. When you’re catching nothing is when you sink.&uot;

Roberts, who leaves today for a similar event in Lake Fork, Texas, hopes this year’s turnout will pave the way for an annual event with more local fishermen entering.

He approximates 70 percent were from outsie of the Miss-Lou.

&uot;We pulled it of without any accidents or mishaps, which I thank the fishermen for,&uot; Roberts concluded. &uot;We thank all of our great sponsors &045; Isle of Capri, United Mississippi Bank, Pepsi, Triton Boats, Bryan’s Marine, Budweiser and 95.1 Country &045; for helping us put this on. Whenever I can shut down an event without any complaints, I call it a success.&uot;