North Appalachian Division

Cheat Lake Recap

On Saturday, May 19th, 40 teams from the 2007 North Appalachian division of the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail fished their 2nd of 5 circuit events on Cheat Lake, launching out of Sunset Marina just outside Morgantown, West Virginia. This body of water, a power generation reservoir, situated amidst the beautiful Monongahela 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 1/4th of the field managed to produce a 5 fish limit of 12+ inch bass. Another 1/4th of the field could not manage to catch a legal keeper. The total field managed to catch 91 largemouth, spotted or smallmouth bass for a total weight of just under 127 pounds. The majority of the field reported catching tons of 10-11 inch bank runners on a myriad of lure selections but the better fish came from deeper structure on jigs or soft plastics deadsticked in 15-20 foot of water.

Brian Cosner and Dave Crawford produced the only bag of fish over the double digit mark with 3 largemouths and 2 smallmouths weighing in at 10.21 pounds to take 1st place. Their sack was anchored by the biggest largemouth of the tournament day at 4.47 pounds. In total, including the extra $500.00 from their Triton Gold money, they took home $1780.00 in prize money. Claiming 2nd place and the early points lead for Rookies of the Year with just 5 fish for 8.09 pounds was Daniel Adams and Aron Wagner. 3rd place and the subsequent $728.00 went to Donald Hoover and Patrick Twigg while the father / son team of Terry and Brad Weese claimed 4th place and jumped to the runner-up position on the divisional points lead. Capturing 5th place and the overall lead in the Adult / Junior points race via their 6.66 pound bag of bass was Matt and Tim Ross.

Placing 6th was Todd Rifenbery and Shane Duvall while Mark Rose Jr. and Matthew Brown placed 7th taking home over $500.00 on the strength of the biggest smallmouth of the event at 1.59 pounds. Claiming the final check of the day for 8th place was Robert Bowsher and George Leeson with 5.61 pounds while Ronald Dewitt and TJ Riley finished one out of the money in 9th place. Rounding out the top ten was Randy Brooks and David Meck with 4 largemouths that weighed in at 5.42 pounds.

Special thanks to the Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department for use of the hall as well as Donna Dewitt for assisting with the food. Our meal consisted of turkey, ham or roast beef subs, homemade macaroni salad, chips and drinks provided by donation from Fishing Dreams Unlimited, the non-profit charitable giving foundation of Sport Fishing Ventures Unlimited. 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. With 88 individuals in attendance, Robbie Shrout delivered a powerful message filled with personal history and a simple heartfelt story relating the power of prayer and God in his life. 7 individuals were motivated enough to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

There are three events left in the 2007 schedule for the North Appalachian division schedule and that means you still have plenty of time to make the big East Regional Championships which you do not want to miss this year as their will be over $35,000 in cash and prizes awarded including a brand new Triton / Mercury bass boat package.

Deep Creek Lake – June 16th, 2007

Lake Erie – July 7th, 2007

Raystown Lake – August 4th, 2007

(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 our assistant director, Robbie Shrout as well as our team of volunteers, Donna Dewitt and Becky Harvey and family for their tireless help. Another big thanks to Barry at Sunset Marina for the use of his facility.

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 ). 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, you will get 10% off everything in his store. A special note of thanks to Brad Finch with Finch Services, your source for your next John Deere product as well as Jim Herr of Herr’s Snacks. All of these great local Christian businessman lead by example as they help support our ministry and I would ask that you consider supporting them with your next purchase. In addition, special thanks 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, Pat at McCoy Line, 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.