With a 9.82 pound bruiser anchoring a day one total of 14.68 pounds, the team of Dean Rojas and Jayson Kisselburg entered the final day of competition with a healthy lead of nearly six pounds. However, with the Norman, Oklahoma team of Kenyon Hill and Gary Giudice and the dangerous duo of Kevin VanDam and Lance Peck knocking on the door, Rojas and Kisselburg still had some work to do. 

Despite charges by both the Hill/Giudice team and VanDam/Peck, Rojas and Kisselburg were able to hold on for the win in front of a robust crowd gathered at Riverwind Casino. Their final day total of 21.74 pounds out distanced VanDam and Peck by just over two pounds. 

With the win, Rojas and Kisselburg claim $20,000 in first place money for the fishing portion of the event and have a leg up on the competition heading into the poker tournament which begins Sunday morning. 

Here’s what the top three teams had to say about the two days on Arbuckle Lake: 

1st: Rojas/Kisselburg
“We found the bass froggin’ but it got cold. They were still there but we just had to slow down and flip for our bites. We caught all our fish flipping and couldn’t get anything else going. When the water started coming up, it positioned the bass on a channel bend in the creek we were fishing. That’s where we got all our bites and caught the big fish yesterday. 

“The cool thing was that my partner was flipping the Big Bite tube and I was flipping the Fighting Frog. He was getting the fish that I would miss. The Fighting Frog has a kicking tail and a little more action and the tube was more of a subtle action.

“Today we fished all muddy water and we mixed it up a little bit. As far as the poker tournament tomorrow, I’m going to stall as much as possible and try to survive. Because of the position we are in right now, we can’t do anything risky and get knocked out early.” 

2nd: VanDam/Peck 
“We just basically fished shallow. We were only able to fish one practice day and it rained hard all day. I saw the rainfall totals that night and I knew that the lake would have to come up. 

“I really spent a lot of my time looking shallow and I made up my mind that with the dirty water and the water level rising like that, the fish had to move shallow. I found one pocket that had a lot of fish in it and from there I just trusted what I’ve seen from lakes similar to this in the past.”

3rd: Hill/Giudice
“We primarily fished shallow water areas for bass that were moving up and chasing shad. Today we had to change baits because the weather changed a little bit but we were fishing slow and fishing shallow.

“My previous experience here didn’t help a bit because all the places that I normally fish are deep and I couldn’t get a bite deep. We just had to make it up as we went. We found a little place in practice and made it work.

“Unfortunately, our chances in the poker tournament tomorrow are zero. I don’t even know how many cards are in a deck.”

The Second half of competition begins tomorrow morning at Riverwind Casino in Norman, Oklahoma when the 49 teams sit down at the poker tables for a Texas Hold'em tournament. The winner of the poker tournament takes home $20,000 while the overall Fish & Chips champion team takes home an additional $10,000.    

FINAL STANDINGS