Team Line Em Up topped the competition during the 2018 U.S. Open Bowfishing Championship in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
The tournament was held June 2-3 and included 176 teams from across the country. The maximum number of shooters on each team is four. Team Line Em Up, with three shooters from McAlester, Oklahoma, took home the $25,000 first-place check.
And They’re Off!
The competitors departed Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow at 6 p.m. Saturday. They could bowfish until the Sunday weigh-in, which took place between 4-8 a.m. According to those in attendance on Sunday morning, a line of trucks and boat trailers waiting to weigh-in stretched from the parking lot at Bass Pro to the Broken Arrow Expressway.
Team Line Em Up Captain T.J. Nooner shared the boat with his uncle Chris Nooner and friend Tyler Sipes. The winners wouldn’t reveal their winning hotspot, instead simply saying that they shot their 20-fish limit at a "deep river down south.” The winning weight was 424.25 pounds, and included a 34-pound gar measuring 61 inches.
T.J. Nooner posted the following on Facebook: “This almost doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe we just won this! Me and my uncle Chris have been saying we’re going to win this thing since March, and Tyler has been shooting his bow every day since we registered for this! We don’t have the money or time to buy the boats we want or time to fish as much as we would like, but we do the best we can with what we have and made it happen! Thank you all for all the congratulations, it’s much appreciated!”
Team Line Em Up with their $25,000 first-place check.
Drake Fletcher of Muskogee, Oklahoma, took home the Big Fish Championship Belt and a cash prize of $5,000 for his 43.4-pound grass carp shot on the Arkansas River. The longest fish brought to the weigh-in was a 63-inch gar, which was arrowed by Brian DeMark of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it weighed 39 pounds.
A spokesman for the event concluded: “Thank you to all 176 teams and our great sponsors for supporting the 2018 U.S. Open Bowfishing Championship! We are already looking forward to next year’s tournament at Bass Pro Shops in Shreveport, Louisiana.”
Team Line Em Up won by almost 20 pounds over second-place finishers Short Bus Riders, whose 20-fish limit weighed 405.10 pounds. Below is a list of the top 10 teams and their weights (20-fish quota).
Top 10 Teams in the 2018 U.S. Open Bowfishing Championship
- Line Em Up 424.25
- Short Bus Riders 405.10
- Flat Bottom Boys 401.15
- Plug Uglies 363.45
- Grand River Monsters 362.10
- Team Yamaha 345.20
- Shoot Em All 326.20
- Team Oneida 303.35
- Shallow Shankerz 303.05
- Deep Penetration 297.60
Jordan M. and his crew won a drawing for the Bass Pro Shops TRACKER Grizzly 1860 CC Sportsman at the 2018 U.S. Open Bowfishing Championship.
