Mid-Atlantic Division

Upper Chesapeake Bay Recap

On July 21st, 2007, we had 30 teams from the Mid-Atlantic division of The Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail launch out of Charlestowne Marina located in the Northeast River of the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Once again, despite tough post cold front conditions complete with mile high blue skies and 15-20 MPH winds, this fishery proved again why it is considered one of the top 5 in the nation. More than half the field managed 12+ inch limits with many reporting having culled through 30-40 largemouths to get their 5 best fish. Overall the field managed 107 bass for a total weight of just under 260 pounds, and considering the tough conditions, an impressive average of 2 ½ pounds per bass. The most successful patterns involved topwaters over the abundant grass during the high tide and crankbaits and soft plastics on laydowns and docks during the low tide. Location didn’t seem to be the key as teams reported catching fish from as far North as the Bohemia River to as far South as Wharton Creek and Middle River.

Coming off their win from the previous tournament on Deep Creek Lake, Brent Thackston and Don Carter proved just how versatile and good of fishermen they are, as they continued their winning ways, making it two in a row with their 1st place victory on these tidal waters of the Northern Upper Bay, courtesy of their 17.68 pound sack.

Claiming 2nd place and the corresponding $620.00 was Don Muir and Bill Ledley with their 15.31 pounds while Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht, coming off their two Adult / Junior Legacy victories, earned traveling money for the Junior National Championships this coming week via their 3rd place finish with 15.16 pounds. Cashing in for the first time with Fishers of Men with their 4th place bag of 5 bass weighing in at 14.99 pounds was John Baranik and Kenneth Dixon, their sack anchored by the 2nd biggest bass of the tournament at 5.35 pounds.

By virtue of their 5th place finish at 14.73 pounds, Greg and David Wilder strengthened their lead in the coveted divisional points race, trying to become the first ever Points Champions to win more than just once in this divisions 7 year history. Claiming the final check for their 6th place weight of 14.13 pounds was Fred Downey and John Baumann Jr.

Finishing in the unenviable position of “one out of the money” was Brian McNutt and Matthew Deese with their 7th place weight of 13.27 pounds while Walter Ross and Willie Barrett managed to catch the biggest bass of the tournament early on a buzzbait, a beautiful bucketmouth weighing in at 5.92 pounds!

Special thanks to the Pastor Dan Gedman and his entire staff from Northeast United Methodist Church for hosting our pre-tournament dinner meeting. The crowd of 80 guests was treated to a meal of charcoal grilled chicken with all the fixin’s plus plenty of homemade desserts for everyone. 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. It was the tournament director, Ian Godwin’s scheduled night to speak and he brought a message relating the tools of tournament fishing and how they can help you fail or succeed with the tools needed to face the challenges of life and how failure without the tools of Jesus Christ can have eternal ramifications. He also challenged each and every member to utilize ministries like Fishers of Men to advance Gods ultimate goals for what they each can accomplish through his use of their spiritual strengths. 8 individuals asked Jesus into their heart as a 1st time profession of faith while 12 individuals were motivated enough to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

With just one event left, The Upper Chesapeake Bay – South tournament on August 25th, 2007, before we make the determination as to who will represent the Mid-Atlantic division at the big East Regional Championships on the Pasquotank River system outside Elizabeth City, North Carolina in October, the points race shows plenty of teams still vying for the overall lead, the Adult / Junior race, the Rookies of the Year, the Comeback Team of the Year as well as the 20 slots needed to make the post-season.

(For more information, make sure to visit http://www.sfvu.com/fishersofmen or http://www.fomntt.com or call the FOM Area Tournament Director at 410-256-2966 or e-mail him at igodwin@fomntt.com )

We would like to personally thank Larry Metz of Charlestown Marina for use of his facility as well as Bill Ledley for the donation of the Shakespeare Rod Rack for our give-away.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our primary national sponsors: Triton Boats www.tritonboats.com (from my personal testimony, the finest boats ever made!), Mercury Outboards www.mercurymarine.com, Strike King Lure Company www.strikeking.com and Shakespeare.

We would like to thank our divisional sponsors for their support, Sport Fishing Ventures Unlimited and its non-profit charitable giving foundation, Fishing Dreams Unlimited where every FOM Member in the nation gets “members only” special treatment, great discounts and access to exclusive product and apparel from Christian manufacturers. ( http://sfvu.com/store/FOMdiscount.htm ). A special note of thanks to Jim Herr of Herr’s Snacks as well as to Sharon and Bev from Prize Webworks for the great job they do with our website and Nancy from Nandel Graphics for the beautiful custom apparel and hats.

We also want to thank Trey at Kistler Rods, Gary at Solar Bat Polarized Sunglasses, Troy at Mizmo Tubes and Soft Plastics, Joe at Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits and Buzzbaits, Randy at RoboWorm Finesse Handpoured Soft Plastics, Sam at Penetrator Slick Coated Tungsten Weights, Steve at All-Terrain Jigs, Eric at Scent-Tec, Keith at Hammerhead Hair Jigs, Kerry at TTI-Blakemore and the National Promotions Team at Choice Hotels and Cracker Barrel restaurants, all of which help support your division locally.

We would also like to thank our other National Sponsors which include: Lowrance, Sospenders, Keelshield, Solar Bat Polarized Sunglasses, Yamamoto, Marshall’s Marine, Kistler Rods, Spike-It Bait Company Motor Guide, Stanley Jigs, Dual Pro Chargers, Deka Marine Master Batteries, All-Terrain Tackle, Jacob’s Glass, Buckeye Lures, Poor Boys Baits, Bass Rx and Keep Alive Oxygen Infusors.