Billy and Kim Lester headed to Tavares, Fla. expecting to have some fun fishing in a crappie tournament and spend some time with their friends. The husband and wife team headed back to Troy Oct. 19 with a Toyota Tundra and a second place trophy in the Bass Pro Shops National Championship.

“It felt good to win the truck and it was great to do so well in our first time to the national championships,” Billy Lester said. “This is our second year competing in tournaments and we are excited and real proud of what we have accomplished.”

The Lesters qualified for the tournament by fishing in other crappie tournaments across the Southeast. At the national championships they came in second with a two-day total haul of 17.92. Their catch of 9.61 had them in line for first place and two Nitro boats valued at more than $70,000.

The Lesters beat out all but one of the more than 200 boats on the lake for the tournament.

“We might have been able to win, but everyone followed us out to our spot after the first day,” Billy Lester said. “They just all crowded me out and we were happy to come in second.”

The feeling of winning the truck and placing second has not yet sunk in for Kim Lester.

“It is kind of an unbelievable feeling and we had a wonderful week,” she said. “We have some friends down there and we were able to have dinner with them and we just made it a vacation. We did not go down there to win anything. We just wanted to have some fun and we did that.”