Fishers of Men Texas Central Event #5 is a wrap. The last seasonal event of 2026 has come to an end on Lake Waco. It all started Friday night at Brazos Meadows Baptist Church in Hewitt Texas. The wonderful folks at Brazos Meadows welcomed us with their typical overwhelming hospitality, what an incredible, loving, caring group of individuals at this house. We are always so very blessed to have our events at Brazos Meadows, and they did not hold back at all; the anglers were fed like kings. The church served pulled pork, corn, potato salad, rolls, peach and cherry cobbler and variety other desserts, ensuring no one left hungry. We received a great message from the church’s youth Pastor regarding the good news of the Gospel, and what was available through the blood of Jesus Christ. He spoke on the importance of understanding that our good deeds are not what saves us, but the deeds of the one who came on the rescue mission to give what we could not achieve on our good merit.  

Saturday morning the anglers gathered at Airport Beach Park on Lake Waco to battle it out for the last event of the season. We launched them out at first light and checked them all back in at 3pm. When the smoke cleared John Price and Dusty Franks were crowned the champs with an impressive Lake Waco limit of 20.81lbs. Dusty anchored their limit with a huge one weighing 9.05lbs. What a great limit for these two. Second Place was secured by Mike Nichelini and Frank Ono, they reported to the scales with a limit weighing in at 17.95lbs. The two also secured our Points Champs title for the season and have received an automatic birth to the National Championship on Lake Wheeler in Alabama scheduled for March 2027.

Third place honors went to Chester Jenke and Trevor Rogge, this dynamic team came in with a limit weighing 15.97lbs. Trent Blake and Phillip Thompson took the fourth-place position with a limit totaling 14.64lbs. Fifth Place was taken by Collyn Eastham, he fished the event solo today and brought in 13.54lbs. Sixth Place was our final paying position and it was secured by Bryan Cotter and Darrell Denton, the two came in with 13.43lbs.

Hal Gatewood was presented with a check today for having the biggest bass of the season, he had caught a 9.58lb large mouth at our second event which held for the entire season.

Three teams received their entry fees back at our “Event Fee Payback” drawing, Justin King & Bobby Kazmir, Chris Noel & Shawn Fischer, and Bill Shelnutt all went home with $150.00. Anglers stick around and congratulate the winners, so we find it fitting to give a few entry fees back after the event. Always a great time to call out a few boat numbers during this time.

The event wrapped up in the most special way; Matthew Savadin requested to be baptized right there in good old Lake Waco water. Bill Shelnutt and Will Eller were happy to oblige him with his request. His boldness to publicly display his love and devotion to follow Christ was incredible, such an amazing display made by him. And the icing on the cake was, Matthew’s public proclamation triggered a chain reaction by some by standers that had just gotten off the water. Two teenaged girls who had witnessed the baptism asked if they could also be baptized. After speaking with one of the young girl’s father, and to the girls we were happy to fulfill their desire to be bold as well. The two accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior last year and had been wanting to be baptized but had not had the opportunity, so today an opportunity was presented. What an incredible ending to an amazing weekend.

Melissa, Ty, and I are so blessed to be a part of this team, so blessed to put these events on, to share the Gospel, share encouragement, love and time with all the wonderful men and women that participate at our events. We truly enjoy every one of our competitors, it is always sad to see the season end and we always look very forward to the next season starting. Thank you all for letting us do this, we certainly appreciate each angler and member involved and associated with this family.

We absolutely could not do this year in and year out without the wonderful support we receive from our local sponsors. We are forever in their debt, the outpouring of love from these companies truly means the world to this team.

DIAMOND M LANDMANAGEMENT: total package heavy equipment construction company for all land needs.

HEALTHY SELF DPC: Direct Primary care like it should be, no insurance involvement, one on one personal relationship with a doctor that cares

CUSTOM TRUCK & WHEEL in Killeen: Everything you could ever dream of for your vehicle. From bed lines, wheels, tires, lights, they have it all.

BINGHAM MARINE TEXAS: Boat servicing and repair, from routine maintenance to full motor replacement.

MAJOR SERVICES: For all your pool and sauna care, home and event lighting installation

TIGHTLINES PREMIUM TACKLE: Veteran owned and operated local tackle store with premier products from all the top manufacturers.

TYLER WRAP COMPANY: Second to none when it comes to wrap design, printing and application

CODA LURES & BARRACUDA BAITS: handtied jigs, perfectly poured custom plastics to meet your needs and desires

Fishers of Men would like to thank all our National Sponsors and Advertisers for their support and encourage you to look at their products:  Falcon Bass Boats, Mercury Marine, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Realtree Fishing, Power-Pole, T&H Marine, Fish 419 Performance Gear & Frogg Toggs. 

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	38735	John Price Dusty Frank	5	9.05	20.81	0	20.81	200
2	38553	Mike Nichelini Frank Ono	5	0	17.95	0	17.95	199
3	33012	Chester Jenke Trevor Rogge	5	0	15.97	0	15.97	198
4	38547	Trent Blake Philip Thompson	5	0	14.64	0	14.64	197
5	39581	collyn eastham	5	4.97	13.54	0	13.54	196
6	38535	Bryan Cotter Darrell Denton	5	0	13.43	0	13.43	195
7	38536	JP Brazeal Daron Jetton	5	0	12.24	0.25	11.99	194
8	29598	Mike Sedillo Justin Rathbun	5	0	11.27	0.25	11.02	193
9	29565	Mitch Randles Don Schuetze	5	0	10.53	0	10.53	142
10	33016	COURTNEY HOBGOOD GARRETT DOKTER	4	0	10.35	0	10.35	191
11	33008	Brennan Fertig James Beauchamp	5	0	10.03	0	10.03	190
12	39582	Dustin Waters David Fowler	4	0	9.67	0	9.67	189
13	29572	Jayson Kisselburg Lake Kisselburg	4	0	9.51	0	9.51	188
14	33005	Austin Talasek Kyler Roberts	4	4.85	9.28	0	9.28	137
15	38534	Willam Gatewood Jonathan Baseke	3	0	8.41	0	8.41	186
16	38520	William Shelnutt Byron Koenig	3	3.79	8.04	0	8.04	185
17	32996	Will Vanderhoeven John Koons	4	0	7.51	0	7.51	184
18	39584	Matthew Savadin Darrell Gibson	2	5.62	7.47	0	7.47	133
19	30228	Christopher Noel Shawn Fischer	1	5.73	5.73	0	5.73	182
20	39074	Luis Caban BOBBY CAMPBELL	1	3.32	3.32	0	3.32	181
21	29559	Nathan Eller Christopher Eller	0	0	0	0	0	130
22	29646	Gus Chavira Toby Turner	0	0	0	0	0	180
23	36208	Justin King Bobby Kazmir	0	0	0	0	0	180
24	38738	Ryder Price Crew Price	0	0	0	0	0	180
25	39583	David Titus Jerome Holman	0	0	0	0	0	180
First Place Team of John Price and Dusty Franks with an impressive limit weighing 20.81. Dusty also had the Real Tree Monster Bass of the event with that 9.05 he is holding Second Place was Mike Nichelini and Frank Ono, the team finished the day with a limit settling the scales at 17.95lbs With a third place finish Chester Jenke and Trevor Rogge finished the day with 15.97lbs Fourth Place went to Trent Blake and Phillip Thompson, the two came in with 14.64lbs 5th place went to Collyn Eastham, he came in with a limit weighing 13.54 Bryan Cotter and Darrell Denton finished out our paying spots in 6th place. the two brought in a limit weighing 13.43