Central/Midwest Regional Championship on Neeley Henry-Day 2 Results: Oct 6, 2012
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Day Two of the 2011 FOM Stren Team Series $48,000.00 Central-Midwest Regional Championship
Chris Hollis and Chad Hall hold on for the Win at Neely Henry
By: Senior Writer
Sat. Oct. 6, 2012 Gadsden, AL… The FOM Stren Team Series, Central-Midwest Regional Championship came to a close today as the Alabama Northeast team of Chris Hollis and Chad Hall brought in an additional 11.11 lbs limit to clinch the victory with a 2-day total of 27.51 lbs, in a nail-biting finish where the top three teams ended up separated by a mere .43 lbs. The new champions earned a brand new Skeeter 190 ZX equipped with a strong running Yamaha 150hp VMAX, in a total package worth more than $32,000.00.
Chris and Chad raced down to Canoe Creek each day and worked green/pumpkin jigs tipped with black Zoom Super Chunks around boat docks. Several of their fish fell for a swim jig tossed in and through emergent grassy areas, and isolated dead wood in 1 to 4 feet of water.
The second place finishers, Chris Hunt and Bee Patrick, hauled in limits weighing, 14.57 on Day 1 and 12.60 today, for a tournament total of 27.17 lbs. The Alabama Northwest partners used Blk/Blu Cast’in jigs tipped with small creature baits to flip around boat docks that were located along rip-rap strewn shoreline, about seven miles south of the ramp near the 77 bridge.
Following closely behind with 27.08 lbs, third place finishers Tennessee Central boys Jeremy Ethridge and Nathan Grosch, moved up 11 places from Friday’s 14th slot. Jeremy and Nathan made the 20-mile trek each day to Canoe Creek where they flipped and pitched “Hoppy’s” jigs, tipped with Zoom trailers, along rip-rap and in shallow grassy areas. They want to thank their employer, Smyrna Ready Mix owner and fellow tournament competitor, Mike Hollingshead, for allowing them the time to fish these tournaments.
Just .49 lbs down and finishing in fourth place with 26.59 lbs, Arkansas Northeast teammates Kevin Riney and Tobin Baker, netted consistent catches of 13.50 and 13.09 by working main lake shallow flats and the back end of Canoe Creek with topwaters and a homemade, shallow running, square-bill crankbait, today, and, buzzbaits, along with ‘Zoom, Swimmin Super Flukes’ on Friday. Tobin stated that they had lost several 4-pound-plus bass each day.
Jeff and John Carmen rested in 31st place this morning with 10.14 lbs. However, knowing when to stick with a developed pattern, while being down this far, shows great confidence. Having lost numerous large bass on buzzbaits near the head of Canoe Creek in 18” of water during Friday’s competition, still, didn’t deter these unwavering anglers. The Kentucky South-Central brothers heaved a jaw-dropping 16.26 lbs of green fish up on the scales today and vaulted 26 places up to finish 5th overall, with 26.40 lbs. Congratulations.
The Day 2, $500.00, 1st Big Fish Award went to Jarred Hembree, KY-W, for the tournament-high 6.05 lbs bucketmouth that blew up on a Stan Sloan Head-Knocker Buzzbait. Jarred and Lucas Devere, also, netted the largest limit of the championship with16.63. The $300.00, Day 2, 2nd Big Fish Award went to the KY-W team of Jared Carpenter and Brian Ross. Jared’s 4.48 lbs largemouth busted a buzzbait, first thing, this morning.
The Tennessee Central team of Jeff and JJ Lokken took top honors in the male-female category with 20.68 lbs, and the highest finishing Adult-Junior team is Indiana South’s, Eric Johnson and Chase Banister, with 19.57, thus earning slots in next May’s national championship.
* Unfortunately the team of Gerald Olive and Chuck Hellums were 7 minutes late today to weigh-in and lost 7 lbs from their day 2 catch. When informed they stated they got confused and just messed up. Thanks for a good attitude guys.
Teams from Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi came to Gadsden, Alabama this week as a result of battling their way to the top of their respective divisions, thru five qualifying events, that were held this past spring and summer, thus earning them the privilege to compete for the $48,000.00 in prizes and cash awards of the 2012 FOM, Stren Team Series, Midwest-Central Regional Championship.
The top 10 teams by weight and the highest placing team from each division, not already qualified, along with the highest finishing Adult-Youth and Male-Female teams from all 2012 Regional Championships will earn a berth to the 2012/2013 Stren Team Series, National Championship, Presented by Pflueger, which will be held May 16th, 17th, and 18th on Clarks Hill Reservoir in Columbia County Georgia, where the first place prize will be a 2013 Skeeter FX-21 powered by the strong running Yamaha 250/SHO and the second place prize, a Skeeter ZX190 powered by a Yamaha 150, or cash prizes.
We would like to thank Jennifer Gipson from the City of Gadsden, Kerry Payne, with Parks and Recreation, Hugh Stumpth with the Etowah County Tourism Board, Jim Carpenter, Supervisor of Coosa Landing, Frank Godfrey at the city dock, and the many workers who helped make this tournament a huge success.
We also want to thank BASS Elite Series Pro, Randy Howell for taking time out of his busy schedule to attend the pre-tournament meeting as our special guest speaker, which was held Thursday evening at the Gadsden City Convention Hall, where nearly 350 anglers and family members enjoyed an evening of food, fun, and fellowship. We especially appreciate the help Randy and his sons, Laker and Oakley, provided.
We want to thank all the fine companies that make Fishers of Men possible: Stren (the Team Series Presenting Sponsor), Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Pflueger Fishing, Markel American Insurance Company, Nestor Hosiery, Strike King Lure Company, Power Pole, Marshall’s Marine, Helly Hansen Outdoor Gear/Sporting Goods, Keelshield, Buckeye Lures, Jacobs Glass, Solar Bat, Duckett Fishing, Berkley Fishing Products, Outdoor Specialty Products (Rejuvenade "Next Generation"®), Abu Garcia, Markel American Insurance, Nester Hosiery, Power Pole, Marshall’s Marine of Lake City SC, Keelshield, and Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits.
For higher resolution digital copies, email me your boat number at: fevans@fomntt.com or my primary email account: franke@suddenlink.net
****Note**** Standings below 82nd place are inaccurate due to a glitch in the programming. The standings will updated as soon as the program error is resolved.
