First place winners of the 2017 Rodney J. Brenner Memorial Bass Tournament are (l-r) Doug Bates of Grantsburg, Illinois and Richard Armstrong of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Bates and Armstrong won the team competition and a check for $2,217.60 by catching five fish totaling 17.6 pounds. The duo also won the Big Bass competition by landing a 4.97 pound large-mouth, garnering them an additional $264.
Forty-four boats roared out of the Golconda Marina on the Ohio River Saturday morning, June 3, 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 $2,217.60 first place prize money.
At the end of the day, 12 anglers received $5,368 in total prize money. Doug Bates of Grantsburg and Richard Armstrong of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, weighed in 17.6 pounds of fish to capture the top prize. The team of Melvin Jeffords of Grantsburg and Brandon Broadway of Golconda took second place with their 15.3 pound catch. They took home $1,232 for their efforts.
With 13.5 pounds of fish, Marty Sisk from Evansville, Indiana, and Mark Dove from North Vernon, Indiana, earned third place honors and $739.20 in prize money. Harrisburg’s Carl Pickering and Elizabethtown’s Tom Oxford finished in fourth place with 12.4 pounds of bass, garnering them $492.80 in winnings. Finally, fifth place prize money of $246.40 went to the team of Jason Hodge of Marion and Leon Robinson of Benton for their 11.5 pound catch.
In the Big Bass competition, Bates and Armstrong won first place and a $264 check for landing a 4.97 pound fish. Second place and $132 went to Eldorado’s Bill and Linda Penrod with a bass weighing in at 4.78 pounds, while the team of Jeffords and Broadway caught a 4.22 pound bass to claim third place and a check for $44.
Major sponsors of this year’s tournament were All In One Real Estate Company (Elite Sponsor); Taylor Eye Care (Master Sponsor); Cherry Street Printing & Awards (Angler Sponsor); Morello’s Restaurant & Catering (Angler Sponsor); Williams & Associates Insurance; (Angler Sponsor); and Banterra Bank (Angler Sponsor). Other sponsors included Oasis on the Ohio Golconda Marina, Golconda Lockmaster Homes, Dunn’s Sporting Goods, Sweetwater Saloon, and the Herald-Enterprise.
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 and was instrumental in pursuing Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) funding for the development of the Golconda Marina.
