North Appalachian Division

Mount Storm Lake Recap

On April 28th, 2007, 39 teams from the newly formed North Appalachian division of The Fishers’ of Men National Tournament Trail competed on Mt. Storm Lake for their 1st event of the 2007 team circuit season. This power plant lake, near Davis, West Virginia, sits literally at the very top of the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains but offers some extraordinary mixed bag fishing as far as numbers of keepers go. True to its name, we have rarely been on this body of water when we did not incur just about every weather condition from fog to rain to sun to even some brief snow showers.

Every team but two caught at least their limit of five 12+ inch keeper bass with most teams reporting having caught 30-60 keeper smallmouth and largemouth, some even over 100 bass! Fish were being caught on just about every lure type in the 58-64 degree water temperatures as the field managed a phenomenal 192 bass weighing a total of just over 213 pounds.

Taking the early points lead via their 1st place win with 9.40 pounds which included the biggest largemouth of the day at 2.93 pounds was the team of David and Reggie Grimes. Their total earnings for the day was $1620.00, not to mention the extra $500.00 they will receive from Triton Boats for winning this tournament as a registered Triton Gold Points owner! Over $2100.00 dollars for a rainy Saturday, makes it all worth it, don’t you think?!?!?

Local favorites, Scott Lycliter and Steven Cooper nailed down 2nd place and the early lead for Rookies of the Year with 8.52 pounds, winning just over $800.00 while Brian Campbell, fresh off his win a week earlier on this water thru the Adult / Junior Only FOM Legacy event, partnered with his senior team mate, Carl Sickles to claim 3rd place. Coming in 4th place was Ron Dewitt and TJ Riley with 8.18 pounds and a $520.00 payday while 2006 PA-West point champions, Ernie and Ken Pate claimed 5th place with 7.92 pounds. Rookies to our circuit, Cleveland Yost and David Clark earned the 6th place spot while Shawn Skobel, fishing with out his dad, got the final check of the day with his 5 bass weighing in at 7.72 pounds. Finishing in the horrendous position of “one out of the money” in 8th place was Brad and Terry Weese although their pocketbooks haven’t hurt too bad as they have won this event both in 2005 and 2006. Brian Cosner and Dave Crawford placed 9th and rounding out the top ten was Mike Polinski and Aaron Wagle from western Pennsylvania. Mike Merchant and Oliver Swink earned the $198.00 for the biggest smallmouth of the day, which weighed in at 2.74 pounds.

Special thanks to our divisions’ chaplain, DJ Rogers and his team of help along with sponsorship money from Nandel Graphics which helped put on our meal at the Davis Community Center. All the teams enjoyed an awesome meal of spaghetti with meat sauce, rolls, salad and cookies. 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 79 individuals in attendance and so many teams new to FOM, divisional director, Ian Godwin, took the time to explain what being a “Fisher of Men” was all about as he delivered a poignant message filled with personal history, humorous anecdotes and a heartfelt laying out of the simplicity of steps in how to become a true winner in the “tournament of eternal life”. Unlike all of us, Jesus has NEVER missed one at the “boat”, netting ALL those willing to accept him as the light, the truth and the way! 2 individuals felt the same as they were moved to make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. 6 more were motivated enough to proclaim a renewed commitment to return to God and follow Jesus in all areas of their lives! These may just seem like numbers to some but to know the stories behind these decisions is to know the power of what we provide here thru the grace of God as he allows us to provide you the FOM tournament events and a place to bring family, friends and the lost to a safe and accepting environment, no matter their current walk with their faith.

There are four 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.

Cheat Lake – May 19th, 2007

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 Kristin Edwards from Dominion Power for making use of this facility such a flawless success.

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.