Grand Lake Casino’s First Big Bass Cash Tournament Success

The two-day Big Bass Cash tournament presented by Grand Lake Casino on Saturday & Sunday, October 29-30 was such a resounding success, the tournament will return to Grand Lake in 2017! The event, coordinated out of Grand Lake’s Wolf Creek facilities by tournament director Mark Howard of JC Outdoors, included an aggregate of 299 entries from Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Joe Copeland of Roff, Oklahoma was the “Double Your Earnings Winner” of the tournament. Copeland, the owner of Future Bass Trails in Oklahoma, earned $2,300 by winning two of the four bi-hourly payouts on Sunday ($1,000 each) and taking 4 th place money on Saturday ($300). His “Double Winnings” total take for the weekend was $4,600.

Mitch McLain of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma took home $2,000 by locating the biggest bass in the lake. His Saturday catch of a 5.01 lb. bass was the biggest of the tournament; and his Sunday catch of a 4.75 pound lunker was the 3 rd biggest of the tournament.

The winner of the drawing for a beautiful new Ranger Bass Boat was Craig Hanna of Dallas, Texas. He said the drawing for the Z175 with a 115 outboard, Motor Guide 24 volt trolling motor, and a trailer was what initially attracted him to the tournament – “a chance to come fish two days on water I don’t know, but still have a shot at the Grand Prize.”

“We are so happy with the success of this first Big Bass Cash event,” said Grand Lake Casino General Manager Dusty Logan. “We intentionally set the date late in the year, after the trails and circuits wrapped up, hoping to extend and expand the Grand Lake fishing and tourism season. It provided a way for us to expand the bass tournament market while bringing more and more tourists to the Grand Lake area to support our local businesses later in the season,” he said.

“If we can expand the reach of a popular sport while expanding the economic growth of the Grand Lake community, it’s a win-win situation. It’s a goal every Grand Lake business should share. We’re excited about the success of the event, and we are already looking forward to an even bigger event next year,.” Logan concluded.