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Matt Stanley and Brandon Tramel take title with 35.71lbs.
The Ranger Aluminum Cup kicked off Championship Week at Kentucky Lake and it was a good one. 163 teams took off from Kentucky Dam Marina and the top three teams were separated by less than a pound. Matt Stanley and Brandon Tramel won the event and a brand new Ranger RT 188 with 90 hp Mercury Optimax with 35.71lbs.
Their win almost didn't happen and they have two lucky breaks along the way to their title. "After the first day we almost decided to go home when we weighed in 15.95lbs and we thought for sure we had no chance at winning the boat. On a lake like Kentucky Lake you need to have some big weights," added Tramel. They stayed for the second day of course and weighed in a 19.76lb bag which propelled them to the win.
Each of them had a fortunate fish catch that contributed to their win. Tramel recalled one bass that bit his lure a foot from the boat, "I was pulling my bait out of the water and this four pounder grabbed it as I was pulling it out of water and I flipped it into the boat and it came unhooked. Without that fish we wouldn't have won the boat." Matt Stanley had a six pound fish that got hooked deep into brush and somehow swam out of the brush and enabled him to land it. They had good fortune for the event and it paid off for the team.
They caught all of their fish on Zorro jigs, both shallow and deep. "The first day we caught more fish shallow and were using a Zorro Baits Booza Bug jig in green pumpkin. The second day, they fished deeper and were dragging a Zorro Baits football jig, also in green pumpkin.
Second place was the team of Dennis and Chad Deutsch with 35.45lbs. They earned $5,000 for their finish.
Third place was Jesse Tacoronte and George Lewis with 35.08lbs, good for $2,500.
Congrats to all of the top finishers and thank you to all for participating in this great event.
