Maryland West / WV North Division

Cheat Lake Recap

On May 13th, 2006, 44 teams from the Maryland – West / WV – North division of The Fishers’ of Men National Tournament Trail competed on Cheat Lake for their 3rd of 5 events that make up the 2006 divisional tournament circuit season. This lake is a dammed up section of the Monongahela River that sits on the 2 states border near Morgantown, West Virginia. It offers a mixed bag of fishing for largemouth in the backwaters, smallmouth in the river and spotted bass throughout the system. Known to be a tough body of water at times, our talented field of anglers proved that this fishery has made a good comeback from acid rain challenges years earlier as all but 4 teams caught at least one 12+ inch keeper bass with over 1/3 rd of the teams managing 5 fish limits. Fish were being caught on just about every lure type in the 60-65 degree water temperatures as the field managed 133 bass weighing a total of just over 178 pounds. Overall, 30 smallmouth and 103 largemouth’s and spotted bass were weighed in for an average weight of 1.34 pounds per fish.

Before giving a run-down on the top ten, I would just like to take a moment to make an editorial comment. As a tournament director, I must remain non-bias and not show any favoritism. I have always done this but every once in a while, something special happens that deserves attention and I think all of you reading this article will agree when you hear the details. This year's 2006 Cheat Lake winning team has a member that has been fishing with us since the inaugural MD WEST event three years ago and while I have known that he has desperately wanted to win, I didn’t fully comprehend the reason why until after this tournament when he came up to me, with tears in his eyes, and asked me to dedicate this win in my article to his son, Gage, who died on March 21st, 2004 just after he had first joined the FOM trail! It is my pleasure to do so! Brian Cosner mentioned to me that his son always told him he was the greatest fisherman ever and on this day, Brian and his partner, John Stosick, showed that they were indeed the best of the best as they managed the only sack of fish over 9 pounds for the event, including the biggest largemouth of the tournament at 4.65 pounds, making their total 1st place earnings at just over $1,408.00 dollars, not to mention the extra $500.00 they will receive from Triton Boats for winning this tournament as a registered Triton Gold Points owner! God and Gage are watching over you, Brian and they are very proud!

Placing 2nd for the second time this year, and always consistently in the money, Bruce Shives and Kenny Mills win $872.00 with their 8.81 pounds while Ryan Harmon and Jim Merical from the old WV – South division take their first checks of the year worth 676.00 with their 3rd place weight of 7.85 pounds. Placing 4th and winning 556.00 on the strength of their 5 largemouth limit was the father / son team of Terry and Brad Weese, 2005 divisional points champions while another father / son team, Chuck and Brian Harvey, managed 5th place and 356.00 with their 7.71 pound mixed bag limit of 3 largemouth, 1 smallmouth and 1 spotted bass.

Earning the 6th place spot was Mark Nicholson and Mark Garner while Ron Dewitt and TJ Riley used their 7th place finish to take the lead in the overall race for the 2006 divisional point leaders. This coveted position as anglers of the year earn them an additional cash pot plus an automatic entry in the no entry fee National Championship, if they can hold on over the span of the last two tournaments left. Claiming the final checks of the tournament with their 8th place finish at 7 pounds even were Herb Fazenbaker and Lloyd LaMasters. Placing in the unfortunate spot of “one out of the money” for the second time this year as the 9th place finishers were Ed Clopper and Anthony Taylor while Shawn Skobel and Gary Crayton rounded out the top ten spots with their 6.51 pound sackwhich included the biggest smallmouth of the tournament at 1.68 pounds, a bass worth $220.00!

Special thanks to Jay Barber for coordinating with the staff at Trinity United Methodist as they did a great job in providing a meal of buckwheat pancakes, sausage and all the fix-in’s! 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 the founder and National director, Al Odom, was our featured speaker. He mixed a combination of humor, personal stories and a profound insight into looking at Jesus as the Shepherd in comparison to all of us as sheep to drive home the point that by simply allowing the word of God to act as our steering force, we can be “herded” together in a life of immeasurable gain and eternal salvation! 14 individuals heard the nuances of this special analogy as they recommitted to do more with their faith in God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

There are just two events left in the 2006 schedule for the WV North / MD - West division schedule;

Youghiogheny Reservoir – July 15th, 2006
Deep Creek Lake – August 26th, 2006

Up for grabs in the point’s race is a coveted spot for the top 20 positions in the final YTD standings as they each will earn a right to compete at the big East Regional Championships! Currently leading is the team of Dewitt / Riley with 587 points, closely followed by Mills / Shives with 586. In third are Cosner / Stosick with 580 while Rifenbery / Crawford fall to 4th. Rounding out the top 5 is Skobel / Crayton with 578 points. For a complete listing of all 51 teams and where they stand as well as to see how you might compete in the final two events, just link to http://www.sfvu.com/fishersofmen/MDwest/YTDStandings2006.htm

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 - West 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 Brian at one of the nations largest and finest independent tackle dealers, Woodlands World (866-472-6969) and if you present your FOM membership card at checkout, you will get 15% off everything in the store (Except for firearms and optics). 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” 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!