Stop #2 is in the books!

The Harris Chain was rough on all accounts this month with some anglers not weighing anything to some anglers having major boat issues. The overall result of the weekend however was awesome! We got to see God move on Friday night at our meeting and we got to see His beautiful artwork on Saturday! I'd say thats a great weekend! 

Friday NIght the anglers arrived at Berean Baptist Church of Okahumpka to be greeted by Dr David Downs, Sr Pastor and guest speaker. Once check-in and registration was complete, the anglers got to fill their physical needs with an awesome meal from Oakwood Smokehouse of smoked chicken, baked beans and mac and cheese. While they ate, the director and staff went over the rules, talked about some upcoming events, updated them on division happenings and answered any questions they had. Dr David Downs then took the floor to deliver God's Word to the anglers on "God's Tackle Box". The message was awesome. Once completed we conducted boat draw and sent the anglers on their way to finalize their preparations for the tournament. 

Saturday morning started with a cool crisp 63 degree misty rain morning which quickly departed. Our live well checker, Mr. Jase, ensured all anglers were checked and welcomed and encoureaged them to do their best. Approxiamately 0645, prayer and the National Anthem was conducted and the anglers started aligning their boats for blast off. At 0650 the director determined that it was safe light and commenced to send the anglers out in order to start the tournament. 16 teams took the Harris Chain to see who would come out on top. Would the team of Bythwood and Pierce go for two or would someone surpass them? Only time would tell. The skies were cloudy for most of the day and then The Lord pulled back the clouds and gave the anglers some much needed sunshine. 

16 teams returned to the scales but only 9 would find the illustious five fish limit. As the scales opened all eyes were on the anglers as they brought in their catches. The total weight for the tournament was 106.01 uncharacteristic for the Harris Chain but still a blessing nonetheless. The big fish of the day went to the team of James Williams and Gerald boyd with a nice 6.08 pound largemouth but it wasn't big enough to knock off the current season big fish held by Patrick Pierce at 6.11 pounds. Billy Taylor and his son Chase brought the days first double digit bag with a nice five fish limit of 11.62 pounds which held on to net them a nice third place finish on the day. James Williams and Gerald Boyd wouldn't allow Billy to sit in the hot seat for very long when they came in and edged them out by 11 ounces with an amazing three fish limit weighing in at 11.73 poundsand second place. Then enter Justin Bythwood and Patrick Pierce to the scales, did they have enough? Would they knock off Williams and Boyd? Yes, they did have enough! Justin and Patrick dropped a five fish limit of 14.92 pounds on the scales to take their second win of the season going back to back on the first two tournaments of the year. Congratulations gentlemen. Congratulations to all who came out and fished and gave it their all, it was a tight race all the way down the list. Stay tuned for next month when we head over to Crescent Lake to see what God has for us there!

First and foremost we would like to thank Almighty God for allowing us the priviledge and ability to serve Him daily and chase His creation monthly. We would like to thank Dr David Downs for sending us out with Gods Word, Mr. Eric at Oakwood Smokehouse for blessing us and filling our bellies, and to each and every angler and their families for supporting this trail and making it all possible. We would also like to thank the Greater Orlando Sport Commission https://greaterorlandosports.com/ and Berean Baptist Church bbcleesburg.com and the city of leesburg and lake county. 

We would like to thank our local sponsors, Hope 91.3FM, Trinity Baptist Palatka, Trinity Baptist Keystone Heights, Orange Lake Baptist, South Putnam Church, Berean Baptist Church, MadeinUSA.com, Bass Capital Tackle, Bald Eagle Bait and Tackle, Becky Williams, and Hi-Way Mart.

We would like to thank all of our national sponsors, Basscat Boats, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Mercury, Realtree Fenwick, Firefly Marine, Power-Pole, TH Marine, Fish 4:19 Performance Eyewear, Frogg Toggs