40 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
news breakers
Pruett, girlfriend win tournament a week after the Big Show
By Chris BerzasJ
ust a week removed from the frigid condi-
tions on Lake Hartwell and his first-ever
Bassmaster Classic appearance, Colfax’s
Brett Pruett reeled in the biggest bass of
his life while fishing on Caney Lake.
The 24-year-old angler and his girlfriend,
Sarah Purvis, were fishing together during Monroe’s
Toledo Tackle Team Circuit Series event on Feb. 28
when the fish struck.
“We had a very slow start,” Pruett said. “Sarah and I
fished for 1 ½ hours, and we didn’t get a single bite.”
The couple was fishing in 30 to 40 feet of water in
a creek channel. Both were casting Creme umbrella
rigs.
Pruett stuck it out, despite the lack of activity.
“I wanted to stay for a while,” he said. “In a recent
trip, we caught 30 pounds of fish there.”
At about 8:30, Pruett’s U-rig got hit hard.
“I told Sarah to get the net because she’s a giant,”
he said. “The bass was pulling hard, and I could feel
her head shaking. When she tried to jump, I did get
a look at her belly. When I saw her, I thought she
would have been 13 or 14 pounds. Sarah netted the
fish, and we gave each other a big hug. We were
really excited.
“Then Sarah said, ‘Let’s win this thing.’”
Pruett’s huge bass was placed in the livewell, and
the anglers continued fishing.
But the bite remained tough.
“We moved all over the place on the lake,” he said.
“It just wasn’t happening.”
About four hours later, Purvis caught a good fish on her U-rig.
“Sarah reeled in a bass that almost went 5 pounds,” Pruett
said. “We hadn’t had a bite for so long, and I told Sarah now
we had a chance with her fish well over the slot. She ended up
catching a 12-inch bass a little later, so we had three bass to
weigh-in.”
The third fish did the trick at the, with the couple’s winning
three-fish stringer weighing 15.74 pounds — anchored byPruett’s 10.89-pounder that also took Big Bass honors at the
event.
“Two years ago, I caught another 10-pounder at this same
tournament, but this one was larger,” he said. “And having my
girlfriend Sarah with me made this day real special.” ■Classic angler lands
double-digit Caney hawg
BELOW: Brett Puett caught this 10.89-pounder
at Caney Lake, only a week after competing in
the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.