Maryland East Division

Upper Chesapeake Bay Recap

On August 5th, 25 teams from the Maryland – East division of The Fishers’ of Men National Tournament Trail competed in their 5 th and final tournament of the 2006 circuit season on the Upper Chesapeake Bay launching out of Dundee Creek Marina. At stake was the final determination of the Points Champions in this extremely competitive field as well as selection of the teams who would qualify to make the East Regional Championships to be held later this fall on Lake Erie out of Presque Isle Bay.

Special thanks to Pastor Bobby Owings and his entire staff from Towne Baptist Church as they did a great job in providing our free Friday night meal of ham, salads, breads and some awesome homemade desserts! As is always the case with any Fishers’ of Men event, we were excited about the opportunity to gather together for an awesome night of fellowship, pre-tournament planning, door prizes and powerful testimony. We were especially blessed and lucky as David Bowyer was our featured speaker. He mixed a combination of humor, personal stories and a profound insight into looking at Jesus thru the eyes of us who compete as tournament fisherman. One individual heard the nuances of this special message as they accepted Jesus Christ as their savior while 13 other individuals recommitted to do more with their faith in God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our national sponsors: Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, Strike King Lure Company, Kistler Custom Fishing Rods, Solar Bat, SOSpenders, Diamond Cut Jeans, Gary Yamamoto, Spike-It, Marshall’s Marine, Castrol, Motor Guide, Keel Shield, Shakespeare, Stanley Jigs, Lowrance, River Bottom Lures, Dual Pro Chargers, Jones Chevrolet, T&H Marine, Keep Alive Oxygen Infuser, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Jacob’s Glass, FishingWorld.com, X-Tools, Buckeye Lures, All-Terrain Tackle, Hot Rods Marine Care, Bass RX and Hooah Energy Bars and Drinks.

The Maryland - East division is blessed to have the following regional divisional sponsors:

Sport Fishing Ventures Unlimited and its non-profit charitable giving foundation, Fishing Dreams Unlimited where every FOM Member in the nation gets “members only” treatment, discounts and special exclusive items and apparel ( http://sfvu.com/sfvustore/FOMdiscount.htm ). Call Bill at one of the nations largest and finest independent tackle dealers, Anglers Paradise (877-702-2500) and if you present your FOM membership card at checkout or verify it over the phone, you will get 15% off everything in the store. Call Chad at Halls Marine (570-546-2310) for your new Triton bass boat, whether it is fiberglass or aluminum. These guys rank as one of the nations premier dealerships and when you meet and talk with Chad and his staff, you will immediately know why! Ask him for the special Fishers’ of Men discount on your next Triton boat purchase.

We also want to thank Joe at Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits, Trey at Kistler Custom Rods, Gary at Solar Bat Polarized Sunglasses, Troy at Mizmo Tubes, Randy at RoboWorm Finesse Handpoured Soft Plastics, Sam at Penetrator Slick Coated Tungsten Weights, Scott at Hammerhead Hair Jigs, Eric at Scent-Tec, the makers of “Speedy Reel”, Paul at McCoy Line, Steve at All Terrain Tackle Jigs and the National Promotions Team at Choice Hotels and Cracker Barrel restaurants, all of which help support your division locally. No tournament circuit can make it without great volunteers so I want to pass on my gratitude to Robbie Shrout who accepted the responsibility of being the assistant director this year as well as Donna Dewitt and Becky Harvey who always do such a great job at weigh-in with our paperwork. Finally, thanks to Bev and Sharon at Prize Webworks for their assistance in making our website such a great tool for you, the members!

Saturday morning, we were blessed with almost ideal conditions, something this division hasn’t seen in awhile with weather and / or water conditions. The talented group of anglers put it all together as almost 70% of the field managed 5 fish limits while only 2 teams “zeroed” for the day on finding 12 inch plus bass. A total of 103 fish, all largemouth, weighing in at 221.48 pounds were brought to the scales. Not bad for “dog days” summer tournament, where the average fish is 2 pounds plus!

Taking first with almost 19 pounds was Wayne Marchini and Raymond Jachimski, their bag bolstered by the 2nd biggest bass of the day at 4.95 pounds. For their days work, they took home over $1250.00! Placing second, Chad Scroggs and Arthur Fettrow, managed 18.41 pounds of to collect $628.00. Brian McNutt and Matthew Deese claimed 3rd place with 14.75 pounds while Brent Thackston and Don Carter took 4th place. Rounding out the top 5 places at 13.57 pounds on the strength of the biggest bass of the day at 5.90 pounds was Greg and David Wilder. By virtue of their finish, they also were crowned the 2006 Maryland – East Points Champions, earning them over $1000.00 for the day. They will also earn a free entry into the National Championships to be held next spring. These guys were the model of consistency, finishing in the money at 4 out of the 5 tournaments this year and we all wish them the best of luck as they represent their division in May on Lake Murray.

For the 2006 circuit year, this division caught 434 bass for a total weight of just over 907 pounds all the while splitting just over $15,600 in prize money thru 18 different teams. Winning the coveted “Rookie of the Year” award was Mike Phillips and Lester Davis, For the 2 nd year in a row, Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht are the divisions Adult / Junior highest finishing team while John Heck and Chris Duffy win the “Comeback Team of the Year”. Bill Gallagher and Diane Apsche win the Guy / Gal Team of the Year.

Teams earning the right to represent Maryland – East at the 2006 East Regional Championships are as follows:

983 Points – 59.88 Pounds – Wilder / Wilder
977 Points – 59.40 Pounds – Jachimski / Marchini
967 Points – 50.31 Pounds – Martin / Jeddry
965 Points – 48.61 Pounds – McNulty / McNulty
964 Points – 47.10 Pounds – Kowalewski / Patrick
961 Points – 47.19 Pounds – Phillips / Davis
959 Points – 44.90 Pounds – Thackston / Carter
953 Points – 47.37 Pounds – McNutt / Deese
950 Points – 44.83 Pounds – Rufenacht / Rufenacht
948 Points – 44.32 Pounds – Scroggs / Fettrow
944 Points – 34.61 Pounds – Thomas / Anderson
936 Points – 35.30 Pounds – Hamer / Martin
930 Points – 35.25 Pounds – Heck / Duffy
927 Points – 30.43 Pounds – Ross / Ferreira
920 Points – 21.30 Pounds – Downey / Baumann
918 Points – 20.51 Pounds – Gerring / Ostrowski
916 Points – 24.57 Pounds – Whisted / Purvis
911 Points – 20.21 Pounds – Billings / Billings
902 Points – 11.37 Pounds – Wingo / Evans
894 Points – 11.66 Pounds – Wicklein / Wicklein

Ragan / Ragan - Adult / Junior Team

Gallagher / Apsche – Guy / Gal Team

For a complete listing of all 34 teams and where they finally finished in the YTD standings, visit
http://www.sfvu.com/fishersofmen/MDeast/YTDstandings2006.htm

For 2007, due to the reality that this division is made up of a split of 60% Maryland East members, 30% Pennsylvania – East members and 10% from other states, we will be closing down the PA – East division and including them in with all the teams from the 2006 MD East division to form a new 2007 division called MARYLAND. All members had a vote and it was decided that the division will fish the following schedule: (Permit Pending)

April 14th, 2007 – Tidal Susquehanna Flats
May 5th, 2007 – Potomac River
June 16th, 2007 – Deep Creek Lake
July 21st, 2007 – Upper Chesapeake Bay – Northeast
August 25th, 2007 – Upper Chesapeake Bay - Dundee

For a complete finalized schedule, keep watching at http://www.sfvu.com/fishersofmen

In addition, new for 2007, FOMNTT will conduct separate tournament events for Adult / Junior teams ONLY under a series called “Legacy” in which they will fish two events to make a separate Adult / Junior Only National Championship scheduled for July 25th – 28th, 2007. For what will be called the MARYLAND – EAST Legacy division, your two qualifying events are scheduled as follows:

June 23rd, 2007 – Conowingo Reservoir
July 14th, 2007 – Upper Chesapeake Bay