Maryland West Division

Cheat Lake Recap

On April 30 th ,2005 we had 28 teams fish the 2 nd of 5 circuit events for the 2005 Maryland – West division of The Fishers’ of Men National Tournament Trail on Cheat Lake just outside Morgantown, West Virginia. This body of water, a power generation reservoir, situated amidst the beautiful Appalachian mountains, proved to be tough on the majority of the field as highly fluctuating water levels and temperatures put the bite off for most anglers as only 3 teams produced a 5 fish limit of 12+ inch bass.

Averaging just under three pounds per team with 4 struggling to catch a single bass, 44 largemouth and 12 smallies were weighed in, with most teams reporting having caught their fish deeper on deadsticked soft plastics in 15-20 foot of water.

Marlon Whoolery and Jay Barber produced the only bag of fish over the double digit mark with 5 largemouth weighing in at 11.63 pounds to take 1 st place and $1162.00 in prize money. Claiming 2 nd place and the early points lead for Rookies of the Year with just 3 fish at 9.05 pounds including the biggest bass of the day at 4.47 pounds was David and Reggie Grimes. For their efforts they earned $780.00. On the strength of another limit, 3 rd place went to John Swesey and Scott Turer while the father / son team of Terry and Brad Weese claimed 4 th place and maintained their points lead towards becoming division champions. Capturing 5 th place via the strength of just one $312.00 largemouth was the team of Michael Burnside and Raymond Grimes while Charles Plessinger and Kenneth Walters finished one out of the money in 6 th place. Despite catching 4 bass, Ron Dewitt and Charles Harvey finished 7 th with 3.55 pounds while the father / son team of Matt and Tim Ross used their 8 th place finish to take the early lead in the Adult / Junior points race. Placing 9 th was Mike Miller and Darin Winters while Kenneth Mills and Bruce Shives rounded out the top ten.

The next tournament of the circuit season for the Maryland – West division will be on May 21 st, 2005 on Jennings Randolph launching from the WV side ramp. All the information for this event can be found at our national website www.FOMNTT.com under the Schedules tab or for more detailed information, at http://www.sfvu.com by double clicking on the FOM logo, then hitting the MD-West button.

Special thanks to Pastor Maggie Foreman and all the staff at Trinity Methodist in Fairchance, Pennsylvania for providing our Friday evening pre-tournament meeting place as well as food. All the teams enjoyed an awesome buckwheat pancake dinner, complete with sausage and fried potatoes. 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. Much to the enjoyment of everyone, we spared no expense as we had evangelist Chris Wells from Wellspoken Ministries visit us from South Carolina. His message combined the humor of his life as the worlds greatest “bass pro wanna-be” with his ministry of sharing the everlasting saving grace of Jesus Christ. Eleven individuals were so moved by the message that they were motivated to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

We would like to recognize the special efforts of Jay Barber for assistance in securing our meeting site as well as Frank from WV DNR for assistance in obtaining our permit. We would also like to give thanks to all our volunteers without whom we could never put on the professionally and well organized events that we do.

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 Pennsylvania - West division is blessed to have the following regional divisional sponsors: Call Brian, Craig or Brad 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 (except firearms and related 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. 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 Handpours, Sam at Penetrater Slick Coated Tungsten Weights, Joe at Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits and the National Promotions Team at Choice Hotels.

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.