Fishers of Men launches into its ninth season
The ninth season of the North Central Louisiana division of the Fishers of Men kicked off with an exciting start on Feb. 21, on Caney Lake in Chatham. Twenty-seven teams from throughout the region gathered at Browns Landing for the first of five tournaments in which anglers vie for a bid to the organization’s annual district and national championships. With overcast skies and rains approaching, the field set off at 6:30 a.m. in their 81/2 hour search of a winning stringer.
As the tournament hours came to a close and teams began to present their catch, it became evident that the wind and rain, coupled with a 15-19 inch slot limit, proved to be a challenge for even the most seasoned competitors as only seven teams weighed in a five-fish stringer.
Topping the leaderboard at the end of the tournament were Michael Colvin and Aaron Branch with their five fish weighing 11.96 pounds. To put together the stringer, the team had to fish multiple locations utilizing Rat-L-Traps, Alabama rigs and spinnerbaits. For their first place finish, Colvin and Branch earned a payout of $2,275.
Coming in second place was the team of Michael Wolff and Brandon Thrash. After overcoming early challenges, the team traveled to the spillway located on the opposite end of the lake where they utilized Alabama rigs to land nine fish, the five largest of which came in at 11.77 pounds and earned the pair a payout of $716.
Third place for the tournament went to solo angler Eric Evans who caught his three fish on jigs worked around docks. The 10.56 pound stringer generated a payout of $478. Other money winners in the tournament included: fourth place — Ronnie Sanderson and John Ross (five fish, 9.76 pounds), fifth place — D.J. Hicks and Kevin Jennings (four fish, 9.43 pounds, including the big bass of the day weighing 5.93 pounds caught by Hicks), and “just out of the money” consolation prize — Courtney and Kenny Harris (five fish, 8.62 pounds).
For information, go to www.fomntt.com or contact Tournament Director Brent Crawford: (318) 548-4196 or brentwade@aol.com.