Maryland East Division

Potomac River Recap

On April 16th, 2004 we had 60 teams from the Maryland - East and Delaware divisions blast off on the Potomac River out of Smallwood State Park near Waldorf, Maryland for their first event of the 2005 circuit season for the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail. Despite the predictions for the typical wind that sweeps across this fishery, each team was excited at the anticipation of hooking up with the "hawgs" that roam the tidal waters of this famed big bass fishery.

The angler teams and tournament volunteer staff were presented with the first sunny weather this area has seen in a while with air temp in the mid 60's, but the wind made it feel much cooler. Teams reported water temps ranging from the high 40?s to a few areas in the low 60's.

Conditions would prove to be tougher than expected for this field of "local" anglers as 14 teams "zero-ed" while only one limit was brought to the scales. Averaging just at 3 pounds per bass, only 60 fifteen inch plus largemouth bass were weighed in for a total of 179.78 pounds. The winning patterns all focused on the teams willing to work to find the better quality fish as numerous teams reported catching plenty of smaller 12-14 inch fish, some as many as 60 to 80 fish total. Most of the better weighable fish were coming on soft plastics and jigs fished tight to hard cover while few fish came on lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits. All the fish weighed in were pre-spawn, most full of roe and despite the time of year, few had the typical raw red lower fins of fish ready to bed.

The winning team of Chris Oeser from New Jersey and Justin Riley from his own stomping grounds used the strength of the only limit to claim 1st place and over $1170.00 in prize money. Finishing in second with 4 bass at 13.45 pounds, bolstered by a great "kicker" bass at 6.13 pounds as the big bass of the tournament, was the team of Dan Downer and Robert Stanley. For their efforts, they were rewarded with a nice payday at over $780.00. On the strength of the second biggest bass at 5.26 pounds combined with two other nice fish, 3rd place went to the team of Raymond Jachimski and Wayne Marchini while John Smith and John Poffenberger, last years points champions, finished in 4th with 11.24 pounds. The always tough team of brothers, Greg and David Wilder rounded out the top 5.

Sixth place went to Fred Downey and John Baumann with 8.78 pounds while James Brown Jr. and Richard Cox returned to our circuit after a two year layoff to claim 7th place. Brian and Eric McNulty claimed 8th place and the final check with a weight of 8.19 pounds with just three bass. Don Hamer and Dan Martin finished one out of the money in 9th place while Jack Whisted and Tom Purvis who won the first ever FOM Mid-Atlantic event 5 years ago rounded out the top 10 finishers. Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht took the early lead in the Adult / Junior placings with an 11th place finish.

The next tournament of the circuit season for the Maryland - East division will be on May 7th, 2005 on the Tidal Susquehanna Flats area of the Upper Chesapeake Bay launching out of Elk Neck State Park. All the information for this event can be found on our national website http://www.fomntt.com under the Schedules tab.

Special thanks to the Pastor Tim Bean and the entire staff of Marbury Baptist for providing our Friday evening pre-tournament meeting place as well as food. All the teams enjoyed roast turkey, baked ham, assorted vegetables and salad as well as a bounty of 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 food, fellowship, pre-tournament planning, door prizes and powerful testimony. A special thanks to Joe Haubenreich, president of Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits, a great Christian businessman, who provided us a wonderful message on how God fishes for us, looking to hook us with the lures of "truth" so we can rest in his heavenly net, peaceful in the knowledge of having been caught by the greatest "fisher of men" of all, Jesus Christ. Through a mix of personal stories, real life anecdotes and timely scriptures, Joe's message led 10 individuals to make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. 16 more were motivated enough to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

We would like to recognize the efforts of all our volunteers with special recognition to Rob Hager, Assistant Director for Pennsylvania, Bob Moody and his team from Delaware as well as all of the park staff at Smallwood.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our primary national sponsors: Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, Strike King Lure Company, Kistler Custom Fishing Rods and Presnell Plantation Services.

The Maryland - East division is blessed to have the following regional divisional sponsors: Call Dan at Sport Fishing Ventures Unlimited, now one of the nations largest independent tackle dealers specializing in only Christian manufacturers. (877-898-5818) Apply for your FOM membership discount at http://www.sfvu.com and you will get 15% off everything at their discount online store for as long as you are a FOM member. 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. A special note of thanks to Jim Herr of Herr's Snacks as well as Trey at Kistler Custom Rods, Gary at Solar Bat Polarized Sunglasses, Troy at Mizmo Tubes and Lizards, Tom at RoboWorm Finesse Handpour Soft Plastics, Sam at Penetrater Slick Coated Tungsten Weights and Joe at Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits.

I would also like to thank our other National Sponsors which include: Gary Yamamoto, Spike-It, Marshall's Marine, Castrol, V&M Plastics, Motor Guide, Keel Shield, Solar Bat, Stanley Jigs, Lowrance, The Original Fish Formula, Dual Pro Chargers, Keep Alive Oxygen Infusor, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Jacob's Glass, FishingWorld.com, X-Tools, The Spot Remover, All-Terrain Tackle, Hot Rods Marine Care and Bass Rx.