~~The West Kentucky division kicked off the 2017 season in Glasgow for a full weekend of fishing, fellowship, and fun. It has been a mild winter, but Barren River Lake’s bass have endured an unseasonably cold week. The lake is rising and stained to muddy from the heavy rainfall of the last few days, but everyone was excited for the season to start, nonetheless.
35 of the 35 teams were represented at the meeting at the First Free Will Baptist Church in Glasgow. The fine folks there prepared a great meal with a variety of soups, chili, sandwiches, and plenty of brownies, cookies, and pies for dessert. Many thanks to them for a job well done. Following the meal, 88 anglers and friends settled in to listen to the pastor of the church (who is also our director), Joel Franks, share with us from the Word of God.
Using John 3:16 as his text, Joel explained that we all need to receive the love that God has for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He went on to share how to overcome the common excuses that people use to avoid believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Following the message, nine anglers recommitted their lives to Christ! Praise the Lord!
Barren River Lake posed a very different challenge than previous late winter/early spring tournaments as water levels are rising and about 9 feet over the newly established winter pool level of 528 feet above sea level. Friday’s practice time was inundated with heavy rain, but thankfully, it had moved on by blast off time. Saturday morning brought a comfortable 53 degrees at blast off time. 35 teams sped off at safe light in search of 5 big largemouth, smallmouth, or spotted bass to bring to the 3:00 PM weigh-in. Barren River Lake ranged from lightly stained in places to very muddy in the upper reaches of the major tributaries. Surface temperatures ranged from 48 to 54 across the lake. With conditions as they were, most teams struggled to figure out the bite.
As usual though, some of our talented anglers put together the pieces of the puzzle and brought a few good stringers to the scales. Winning their first Kentucky West Fishers of Men tournament as a team, two of our veteran anglers, Jack Jones and Mike Walker, teamed up for the first time to bring in a whopping 20.26 pound limit. Jones and Walker bested the field by over five pounds using D&L jigs and Strike King Series 6 crankbaits. They fished on the main lake in transition areas between bluffs and chunk rock banks to catch their winning weight. Their stringer also included a 5.54 pound big bass which was the lunker of the day. Including their win in the Bonus Bucks, they earned $1,873.00 on the day along with two handsome plaques provided by Awards Inc. in Glasgow, Kentucky.
Coming in second on the day was the team of Richard Bowling and Jarrod Simpson. Bowling and Simpson landed 15.10 pounds of bass using jigs and green pumpkin mag finesse worms on a shaky head. Fishing a 25 yard stretch of mail lake bank, they patiently landed a strong limit. Their patience was rewarded with $584.00.
Finishing third was the team of Rick Brammer and Jim Oliver. Brammer and Oliver stayed on the main lake as well and managed just three fish – but they weighed in at 14.12 lbs. Two of their fish came on a spinnerbait and the third was captured on a deep diving Spro crankbait. They earned $420.00 on the day.
Coming in fourth was the team of Clint Childress and Timmie Gaddie with 11.40 pounds. They also grabbed second in the Bonus Bucks and earned $475.00 on the day. Childress and Gaddie reported fishing main lake pockets with spinnerbaits and Rapala DT-6 crankbaits. Rounding out the top five was the team of Jim Hatfield and Ed Jerriel. They used small tubes to land 10.82 pounds of bass in the pockets around the lower end of the lake.
Come on out to the second event of the season at Green River Lake for another great weekend!
Fishers of Men would like to thank all of our fine sponsors; BassCat Boats, Mercury, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Strike King Lure Company, Kings Home, Power-Pole, Raymarine, Duckett Fishing, ORCA Coolers, Buckeye Lures, T&H Marine, Gator Guards, Solar Bat, Kistler Rods, HydroWave, Enigma, KidCasters, Fishouflage, Costa, Jacobs Glass, Rayjus Sportswear, Rod ArmorZ, and Rejuvenade.
We would like to thank our local sponsors A.F. Crow and Sons Funeral Home, Barren County Business Supply, Barren Outdoors, Grayson County Baptist Association, LHI Lighting Sales Incorporated, Awards Inc., L&M Custom Bass Snacks, Coon Creek Creations, and Borders Monument Company.
We would like to thank our local sponsors Pittsburg Marine, A.F. Crow and Sons Funeral Home, Mark Miller Marine, Barren Outdoors, Grayson County Baptist Association, LHI Lighting Sales Incorporated, Awards Inc., Fishidy, L&M Custom Bass Snacks, Piccola Manufacturing, Barren County Business Supplies, and Coon Creek Custom Baits.
Barren River Lake - 03/18/17
Place | Team | Members | # Fish | Big Fish | Gross | Penalty | Net Wt | Points | |
1 | 21180 |
Jack Jones | 5 | 5.54 | 20.26 | 0 | 20.26 | 200 | |
2 | 21478 |
Richard Bowling Jarrod Simpson | 5 | 4.4 | 15.1 | 0 | 15.1 | 199 | |
3 | 21475 |
| 3 | 4.91 | 14.12 | 0 | 14.12 | 198 | |
4 | 21477 |
Timmy Gaddie Clint Childress | 4 | 4.84 | 11.4 | 0 | 11.4 | 197 | |
5 | 21430 |
Edwin Jerriel Jim Hatfield | 5 | 3.2 | 10.82 | 0 | 10.82 | 196 | |
6 | 21490 |
| 4 | 5.09 | 10.8 | 0 | 10.8 | 195 | |
7 | 21486 |
Ken Freeman Steve Haysley | 4 | 0 | 10.28 | 0 | 10.28 | 194 | |
8 | 21479 |
| 4 | 0 | 9.82 | 0 | 9.82 | 193 | |
9 | 21432 |
Lee Bishop Mike Miller | 4 | 0 | 9.33 | 0 | 9.33 | 192 | |
10 | 21178 |
Dacelle Peckler Darren Peckler | 4 | 0 | 8.13 | 0 | 8.13 | 191 | |
11 | 21181 |
Cory Holman | 4 | 0 | 7.86 | 0 | 7.86 | 190 | |
12 | 21489 |
| 4 | 0 | 7.63 | 0 | 7.63 | 189 | |
13 | 21480 |
Kyle Lear | 3 | 0 | 7.33 | 0 | 7.33 | 188 | |
14 | 21175 |
Greg Gibson Ted Myers | 3 | 0 | 6.76 | 0 | 6.76 | 187 | |
15 | 21472 |
Jerry Hogue Steve Prewitt | 4 | 0 | 6.04 | 0 | 6.04 | 186 | |
16 | 21434 |
David King Brian King | 2 | 0 | 6.01 | 0 | 6.01 | 185 | |
17 | 21429 |
Steve Denton Lloyd Easterly | 3 | 0 | 5.88 | 0 | 5.88 | 184 | |
18 | 21485 |
| 3 | 0 | 4.93 | 0 | 4.93 | 183 | |
19 | 21473 |
Robby Hendrickson Matt Mattingly | 3 | 0 | 4.45 | 0 | 4.45 | 182 | |
20 | 21431 |
Chris Ring | 1 | 0 | 3.63 | 0 | 3.63 | 181 | |
21 | 21481 |
Trey Rigsby Andy Spencer | 2 | 0 | 3.27 | 0 | 3.27 | 180 | |
22 | 21491 |
Kenny Hardin Josh Hardin | 2 | 0 | 3.27 | 0 | 3.27 | 180 | |
23 | 21483 |
| 2 | 0 | 3.12 | 0 | 3.12 | 178 | |
24 | 21484 |
Eldon Newcomb | 1 | 0 | 2.33 | 0 | 2.33 | 177 | |
25 | 21182 |
| 1 | 0 | 1.7 | 0 | 1.7 | 176 | |
26 | 21435 |
| 1 | 0 | 1.33 | 0 | 1.33 | 175 | |
27 | 21488 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
28 | 21487 |
Bob Floro Mike Floro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
29 | 21179 |
Roger Crain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
30 | 21482 |
Jared Elmore Ricky Elmore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
31 | 21476 |
Michael Shelton Troy Shelton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
32 | 21176 |
Jeff Boone Eddie Goode | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
33 | 21177 |
Chris Wash Jody Wash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
34 | 21474 |
David Lowe John Rediess | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
35 | 21433 |
Cory Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 174 | |
Jones and Walker - 20.26 lbs Bowling and Simpson - 15.10 lbs Oliver and Brammer - 14.12 lbs Childress and Gaddie - 11.40 Jerriel and Hatfield - 10.82 lbs. Winners with plaques by Awards Inc., Glasgow, KY |