(Nov. 02, 2009 - Tyler, TX)... DAY 1
Pat Jenkins and Ricky Rogers Lead Day One with 16.57 lbs
The Fishers of Men kicked off the 2009 Lake Palestine South Central Regional Championship with it’s Thursday night pre-tournament meeting hosted by Bullard Southern Baptist Church. 344 anglers and many family members enjoyed an exceptional evening of great food, fun and fellowship, along with a very special guest, Stan Fagerstrom. Throughout his extended career, Stan has been traveling around the world, dazzling his audiences with his special talent. Dubbed as the "Master Caster" for his expert skill with rod and reel, Stan is a distinguished spokesman as well as an accomplished writer.
By the 7:30 am blast-off on Friday, violent weather of the previous few days had passed and cooler temperatures with less troubling winds greeted everyone. Conditions steadily improved throughout the day of competition.
Day one’s weighin saw Texas Northeast anglers, Pat Jenkins and Ricky Rogers, seize the top spot with five impressive bass weighing 16.57 lbs. Pat and Ricky’s limit included two fish; each going over five pounds.
Single Boater, Steve Graff from the Louisiana Central Division, just missed the first place slot by .39 lbs. Steve captured second place with 16.19 lbs, plus, the Day 1 2nd Big Fish Award for his 6.44 lbs largemouth. He said, he felt that he could repeat his success on Day 2.
Presently sitting in third place is the Louisiana North-Central team of Martin Elshout and Mark Price. The pair netted a good bag of fish weighing 15.78 lbs, which included the third largest bass of the day, at 6.00 lbs.
Holding down forth place with 15.18 lbs is Mississippi Central teammates, Frank Morton and Richard Parker.
Presently in fifth place and hoping to move up on Saturday are John D Russell and Otha Smith. JD and Otha are fishing out of the Ark-LA-TX division and have 15.02 lbs.
Louisiana North-Central competitors, Brent White and Jeff Boatright, stunned everyone when they brought in three fish that weighed 12.07 lbs. Their Day 1, 1st Big Fish tipped the scales at 6.97lbs.
DAY 2
Oct. 31, 2009; Lake Palestine, Tyler, Texas?
The third event in the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail’s "2009 Regional Championship Series" ended today as Louisiana North-Central competitors, Martin Elshout and Mark Price, claimed the victory and a fully equipped 2010 Triton TR-186 powered by a150 hp Mercury Optimax and valued at more than $30,000.00.
With bluebird skies and gentle winds on Day 2, weights were down quite a bit. In 2 days of competition, 173 teams brought in 1120.92 lbs of fish on Day 1 and 810.94 crossed the scales today for a tournament total of 1931.86 lbs. Day 1 saw 69 five-fish limits, while 44 limits came in to the Lake Palestine Resort weighin site today.
However, today’s clear skies, nonetheless, proved to be surprisingly productive for a number of teams and the new Champions, Martin Elshout and Mark Price. The talented Louisiana North Central pair’s steady performance throughout the two days of competition secured the win by nearly a three-pound margin. Martin and Mark netted 16.57lbs today, for 32.35 lbs overall.
