North Appalachian Division

Deep Creek Lake Recap

On June 16th, 2007, we had 40 teams compete on beautiful Deep Creek Lake near McHenry, Maryland in the heart of the North Appalachian country. Weather was ideal, warm, cloudy and slightly windy, for this clear body of water full of an equally good population of largemouth and smallmouth bass. Despite conditions proving to be tough with the fish having endured a week worth of “opening season” fishing pressure as well as being heavy into the post-spawn, all but four teams caught 12+ inch bass for the weigh-in. Fifteen limits were brought to the scales. Averaging just over 5.44 pounds per team, 124 largemouth and bronzebacks were weighed in for a total of just under over 217 pounds.

Claiming 1st place and the corresponding $1304.00 via an impressive bag weighing in at 13.65 pounds was the always consistent Bruce Shives and Kenneth Mills while newcomers Jeremy Birmingham and Joseph Barnes drove in from just outside Baltimore to take 2nd place and the almost $1000.00 on the strength of the biggest largemouth of the tournament at 6.40 pounds! Taking the overall divisional points lead by virtue of their 12.72 pound 3rd place finish was Danny Adams and Aron Wagner while longtime FOM loyalists, JD Shearer and John Mongelluzzo took 4th place with 11.68 pounds. James and Don Morgan used their 11.47 pounds of largemouth to finish in 5th place while Shawn and John Skobel took 6th with 11.20 pounds. Brian Campbell and Carl Sickles used the last 10 pound plus sack to finish in 7th while Allan and Linda Stupelman, on the strength of their 8th place bag weighing in at 9.42 pounds, put a virtual lock on advancing as the Guy / Gal team for the North Appalachian division. Finishing in 9th place was the always tough team of David and Reggie Grimes while Dan Mincin and David Solties rounded out the top 10 with their 8.08 pound sack of smallmouth. The team of Jason Porter and Terry Titus took home the $200 for catching the biggest smallmouth bass at 2.83 pounds!

Special thanks to the Pastor Wally Weeks and his entire staff from Pleasant View Baptist Church for hosting our pre-tournament dinner meeting. Tracy definitely made us believers in the “5 loaves and 2 fishes” story as she somehow managed to feed the overwhelming crowd of 171 guests with lasagna and 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. With assistant director Robbie Shrout acting as emcee, it was “Members Night” as we heard powerful personal testimony of what the saving grace of Jesus Christ has meant to them as well as how the Fishers of Men organization has allowed them to stay on the right path and rededicate their efforts to serving him! 11 individuals were motivated enough to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives!

There are just two events left in the 2007 schedule for this division before we make the determination as to who will represent North Appalachian at the big East Regional Championships on the Pasquotank River system outside Elizabeth City, North Carolina in October. Teams will be vying for over $35,000 in cash and prize awards including a brand new Triton / Mercury bass boat package.

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 directors, Robbie Shrout and Dave Joy, our divisional chaplains DJ Rogers and Jack Whisted as well as our team of volunteers, Johnny Munday, Donna Dewitt and Becky Harvey for their tireless help. A huge thanks to Billy Ragan as well as Tracy Riley for stepping in to help our staff with the live release of all those bass. Another big thanks to Patty at the State Park for use of the 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 Justin at Bills Outdoor Center and if you present your FOM membership card at checkout, you will get an extra 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.