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  • Lester Wray sets up at Fountain Head during Saturday’s bass fishing tournament on Lake Eufaula. Staff photo by Matt Goisman

    Lester Wray

  • Lester Wray handles a freshly caught fish during Saturday’s bass fishing tournament on Lake Eufaula. Staff photo by Matt Goisman

    Lester Wray with Bass

  • Jayce Davis (left) and Albert Dobbs (right) pose with their prize money after winning both the Big Bass pot and first place overall in Saturday’s bass fishing tournament on Lake Eufaula. Staff photo by Matt Goisman

    Jayce Davis and Albert Dobbs
July 8, 2012

Lester Wray Competes at Lake Eufaula

By Matt Goisman Sports Writer

EUFAULA — When Lester “Ripper” Wray hooked his first fish in Saturday night’s bass fishing tournament at Eufaula Cove, he barely reacted, easily reeling in the black bass and swiftly depositing it into the built-in tank in his Skeeter ZX200 bass boat. The catch came almost immediately after arriving at Fountain Head, his first stop on Lake Eufaula.

Wray’s second catch, however, got him jumping to his feet, pleading to the fish, Mother Nature and anyone else who might be listening.

“Come on, don’t jump, oh yeah, oh yeah,” he repeated giddily.

The fish jumped out of the water twice before Wray finally pulled hauled it in and dropped it into the tank. The catch left Wray exhilarated, shouting, “What a rush!” It called to mind not the 64-year-old angler fishing Saturday, but the 12-year-old boy growing up in Wilburton and experiencing fishing’s joys for the first time.

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