David Beach of Natchez didn’t catch any big fish on Sunday at Lake St. John, but the big one he caught on Saturday at Lake Concordia was, well, really big.

The 6.57-pound bass that gave Beach the lead on day one was also the one that enabled him to hold off Don Davis and become the overall champion of the $15,000 Casting for Cash Big Bass Tournament.

Beach ended up not only taking the top prize of $5,000 cash for being the overall champ, but another $300 for taking first place in Saturday’s 12-2 p.m. weigh-in.

&uot;It feels great,&uot; Beach said. &uot;I appreciate the sportsmanship from the other fishermen. It was a big weather difference. It was overcast yesterday and bright and sunny today.&uot;

Fishing on Lake St. John, Beach caught a lot of fish, but couldn’t get any big ones to get into the top four in any of the day’s weighs.

&uot;I wasn’t disappointed,&uot; Beach said. &uot;I ended up with 17 fish. I had plenty of fun catching them. I just couldn’t find the bigger fish.&uot;

Beach was one of just 14 local (Natchez-Vidalia-Ferriday-Monterey) fishermen participating in this year’s tournament.

Don Davis of Port Gibson had surprising success on Lake St. John Sunday, catching a 4.81-pounder that won the 8-10 a.m. weigh and a 3.49-pounder that was good enough for third place in the 10-noon weigh.

In addition to the 5.83-pound bass he caught Saturday on Lake Concordia that led his to finish in second place overall and $2,000, the 4.81-pounder Davis caught on Sunday allowed him to finish in third overall and another $1,000.

&uot;I didn’t catch but three fish the first day. Two of them were money fish,&uot; Davis said. &uot;One of the fish, a 5.83-pounder, led for the first six hours.&uot;

As for the fish he caught that gave him third place overall, Davis said. &uot;I got lucky. I caught five and lost three today. It was hot. I didn’t catch a lot of fish, but I caught quality fish.&uot;

As for his day of fishing on Lake St. John, Davis said, &uot;I was really surprised. I dreaded fishing St. John.&uot;

Davis ended up winning a total of $3,875, which he capped off by saying, &uot;Not bad for a weekend.&uot;

Ninety fishermen participated in the 13th annual tournament, and tournament director Eddie Roberts was not happy with the turnout. Roberts noted that the first year of the tournament, 1993, had nearly 500 participants.

&uot;Poor local draw,&uot; Roberts said. &uot;We thought about canceling the tournament because of the hurricane. With gas prices as high as they are and Katrina, too, it had an effect on them. They (locals) wanted to take the weekend off.&uot;

Because of this Roberts and Isle of Capri director of marketing Baxter Lee decided that next year’s tournament will take place in the spring and will be a team tournament. Roberts also said that the two lakes will be used.

Nelson Howell of Hazlehurst finished fourth overall after catching a 4.49-pound bass on Lake Concordia on Saturday.

&uot;It was hard. It was tough,&uot; Howell said. &uot;I caught several fish yesterday and six fish today (on Lake St. John). I was kind of surprised (about finishing fourth). I didn’t think it would hold up.

&uot;The fish didn’t bite quite as good today because of the sunshine. I loved it, especially with the competition. I fish a lot anyway.&uot;