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Five teams were invited to participate in this second unique competition since the inaugural event last October. Each team would be allowed to pre-fish one day prior to the start of the contest and the teams arrived early to get some time on the water and to enjoy the hospitality of Anglers Inn at El Salto.
 In the early evening hours young Jim Webster and Matt Fuchs of "Team Webster III" were found sorting gear and checking line before joining the group in the dining room for Bar-B-Q Spareribs and hearty tortilla soup.
Jimmy offered up that for this lake there were certain standards to maintain. "El Salto bass will take something old or something new but not the same old thing" explained young Jim taking out a 12" red power worm and screw top bullet weight. "Some of this stuff is pretty typical for bass just about anywhere, but here they need to see something different."
He held in his hand a "secret weapon" from an older arsenal that he hoped the fish had not seen in some time. "Now this is what I consider a good bait that should produce for big bass to 10-14 pounds or more," Jim concluded.
Not the least of the benefits of fishing Lake El Salto is the outstanding service and amenities of staying at Anglers Inn. Owners Billy and Chappy Chapman were on hand to offer encouragement and advice to the team members prior to the start of the competition. The evening before the official start of the three day event Chappy met with the participants to outline the rules and regulations as well as point out the two "weigh-ins" required daily.
 Each day of competition began with a cup of coffee or juice brought to the room with an early-morning wake-up knock at the door; then a made to order breakfast and off across the lake at 6:00 AM for each team with experienced guides running matching Triton bass boats powered by Mercury Optimax outboards.
The teams worked the far reaches of the lake finding the various waters that would suit their individual styles and returned back to the Anglers Inn for the first day's morning weigh-in promptly at 11:00 AM. The teams brought in five bass equal to a 20 pound average for each team's weigh-in.
Two teams were in a real battle for supremacy as they had been in competition with each other previously. "Team Webster", made up of Jim Webster of Hernando, Mississippi and Steve Ciskie of Naples, Florida had fished El Salto many times before. However, "Team Webster III" comprised of Jim Webster III, of Memphis, Tennessee and fishing buddy Matt Fuchs of Southhaven, Mississippi brought extensive experience with them as well.
But it was the older and wiser Jim Webster-the-father, and his partner that would jump out to a commanding lead against Jim-the-younger, along with all the other participants at the end of the first days PM weigh-in with a five fish total for the day of 24.44 pounds
 Chappy Chapman announced the days results at a "Survival" get-together that night and one team was made to "walk the long walk" with their bags and gear as this was an elimination tournament.
The fever of the competition began to build when the remaining four teams hit the water the next day with only two spots up for grabs in head-to-head competition on the final day.
"Team Tharpe" had been eliminated the day before and team captain Jason Tharpe, of Gainsville, Georgia, explained that it was hard fishing for them from the outset. "We couldn't find the big fish that would give us an edge, and even though we had lots of fish to cull out they still were well-below average for El Salto," explained Jason.
El Salto is known for its abundant numbers of bass and the incredibly huge size they are growing to since being planted by Billy Chapman some 20 years ago. According to Chappy the numbers and size of the fish is a direct result of both the tilapia food source and the introduction of fast-growing pure Florida strain bass.
Not to be outdone, it was this reporter's intent to test the waters as an able locale for fly fishing for these behemoths. Each day, as the competition proceeded in earnest amongst the remaining teams, the guide assigned to my particular boat, a well experienced fellow called Lacho, helped me prove that a fly fisherman could also succeed at El Salto.
 Early morning hours the Elkhorn 9-foot, 8-weight big game rod and T-3 series reel loaded with floating line would land 30-40 fish before the 11:00 AM break. The biggest, ugliest bird/mouse, stringy, noisy, top-water fly that could be thrown was tossed against rocks and into coves. Time and again it brought out big bass that were ready to take a fly in a big way.
Later in the day the bass might be crashing on shad or tilapia in the back waters and then a 4" long shad pattern stripped deep on an Elkhorn 8 weight sinking rig brought equally tremendous results.
The competition's second day results would bring about the end of two more teams. Despite "Team O'Neill" led by John O'Neill, owner of Rod Saver Marine Products having posted an incredible 42.19 pound two day total and "Team Schurz" captained by Jay Schurz of Linton, Indiana putting 38.94 pounds on the board, both teams were eliminated.
The final day of competition saw a classic battle between the experience of the more mature "Team Webster" and the youthful exuberance of "Team Webster III."
Both teams took to the water early as agreed the night before. "There was no point in making them wait" said Chappy as the boats took off across the 24,000 acre lake. The results of the 11:00 AM weigh-in were to be kept secret until the end of the day when both morning and afternoon totals could be combined to determine the winners of the event. An astonishing 7 pound 14 ounce fish was hard to keep under wraps at the morning weigh-in but everyone involved was sworn to secrecy.
The evening weigh-in kept everyone on edge as it seemed the father-son competition had developed into a tight race to the finish.
 Once again with a bit of flare and theater, Chappy announced the winners and the first place honors would go to "Team Webster" with the incredible total of 83.06 pounds over the three days competition. Along with first place honors, team member Steve Ciskie took the big fish $1,500 prize money with his last day, 7 pound 14 ounce fish. Steve very graciously gave the prize money, and the credit for getting on top of the big fish, to his Anglers Inn guide.
After four days on the water and hundreds of big bass landed, each of the fishermen involved in the competition agreed that, as "Team Tharpe" member Ben Corbitt said: "It was a blast!" Leaving the next day by van, the reflections on this exciting place were unanimous.
The people that take care of you at Anglers Inn and the bass that are there for the taking in Lake El Salto really are a prize not found in any other fishing experience. And whether you are there for the competition or for the monster bass everyone who visits is a winner.
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