~~***Looper and Miller smash a 27 pound bag to win; Craine and Glasgow repeat as Points Champions!***

The Alabama Northeast Division wrapped up the 2018 season at world famous Lake Guntersville. In the aftermath of subtropical storm Alberto, the current was swift, the water stained, and the bass a bit unpredictable. Practice results were mixed with some anglers reporting great catches and others struggling to get bit. But first we would all gather for one last time for a pre-tournament meeting.

The fine folks at Lifepoint Church in Albertville welcomed 65 anglers, family, and friends into their church for the meeting. Ms. Lynn and her staff provided delicious barbecue dinner served with baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. Following the meal, director Joel Franks addressed the anglers for the last time with a challenging message designed to push each listener to get serious about accomplishing the purpose for which God saved us. By serving others, we have an opportunity to witness, or tell people what Jesus has done for us. Three anglers recommitted their lives to the Lord at the close of the meeting!

Over the last year or two, many anglers have decided that the big G was in decline. But you sure couldn’t tell it by today’s results! Lots of quality bass crossed the scales with 23 of the 30 teams weighing in a 5 fish limit of 15” bass.

Besting the field for the first time this season was the team of Edward Looper and John Miller with 27.49 pounds of bass.  Looper and Miller started out shallow fishing a frog in the grass but lost the only big bite that they had. Around 8:30 though, they made a key move to an offshore ledge and experienced a magical morning. Using jigs, they boated four consecutive bass between 4 and 6 ½ pounds! As the morning continued, they caught too many bass to count and culled a few times to attain their winning weight. For their win and 1st place finish in the Bonus Bucks, they earned $1,582.50 and stylish plaques from Abernathy Monogramming and Awards in Athens, Alabama.

Coming in second by just a few hundredths of a pound was the team of Kenneth Bean and Alvin Parrish. Bean and Parrish found a different magical ledge and caught dozens of bass using Strike King jigs as well as a few on a plastic worm. Bean and Parrish reported landing five limits of 20 pounds or better and wound up culling up to 27.36 pounds. They also landed the big bass of the day – a 7.46 pound lunker. Along with their second place in the Bonus Bucks, they earned $872.50 on the day.

Kent Ware and Emily Ware brought in 23.91 pounds of bass to take home third place overall as well as  in the Bonus Bucks. The Wares were also fishing offshore, but they were targeting shallow grass patches using Dirty Jigs swim jigs. They were able to take home $512.00 at the end of the day.

George Craine and Allan Glasgow only managed to finish sixteenth in the tournament, but their consistent high finishes all season allowed them to repeat as the points champions for 2018! Craine and Glasgow earned $805.00 along with a berth into the 2019 National Championship at Lake Hartwell. Congratulations to them on a fine year!

The following teams are qualified for the Alabama State Championship on Weiss Lake, September 22, 2018:

Craine/Glasgow

Hazel/Hazel

Lawson/Lawson

Carroll/Looper Jr

Melvin/Winks

Baldus/Faile

Brooks/Fenton

Lovvorn/Lovvorn

Van Polen/Wilcox

Junior/Horne

The following teams are qualified for the District 2 championship on Smith Lake out of Cullman, Alabama:

Craine/Glasgow

Hazel/Hazel

Lawson/Lawson

Carroll/Looper Jr

Melvin/Winks

Baldus/Faile

Brooks/Fenton

Lovvorn/Lovvorn

Van Polen/Wilcox

Junior/Horne

Norris/Bucki      

Davis/Davis        

Lovvorn/Gravett      

Holler/Holler       

Blackwood/Terrell       

Borden/Rich        

Benton/Housley        

Bragg/Hill       

Floyd/Moore        

Barrow/Stephens       

Scott/Williams        

Lynn/Lynn        

Johnson/Greer

McEarchern/McEarchern       

Burns/Stephens        

Bean/Parrish        

Bryson/Johnson        

Ware/Ware        

Huffstutler/Harbison        

Horne/Watson

Laurance/Slaton

Remember that all teams who have fished all five tournaments are qualified to fish any district championship of their choice. Also, any team that has fished five tournaments in any division and attended at least 3 meetings are qualified to fish any district championship of their choice.

Fishers of Men would like to thank all of our fine sponsors; BassCat Boats, Mercury, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Spiderwire, Shakespeare, Strike King Lure Company, Kings Home, Power-Pole, Raymarine, Duckett Fishing, BassBoat Technologies, ORCA Coolers, Buckeye Lures, T&H Marine, Gator Guards, Kistler Rods, HydroWave,  Costa, Jacobs Glass, Rayjus Sportswear.

 
Please support our local sponsors that help the Alabama Northeast Division:

Coon Creek Custom Baits, @cooncreekcustombaits on Facebook
Fishidy, search “Fishidy” at the App Store on your smartphone
L&M Custom Bass Snacks, (606) 875-0724
MVD Motor Vibration Dampers, www.bowjax.com

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	18913	Brad Carroll Edward Looper Jr	5	6.59	27.49	0	27.49	200
2	22644	Kenneth Bean Alvin Parrish	5	7.46	27.86	0.5	27.36	199
3	22797	Emily Ware Kent Ware	5	5.22	24.16	0.25	23.91	198
4	19013	Kelly Huffstutler Tim Harbison	5	0	18.2	0	18.2	197
5	22862	Tim Van Polen Clay Wilcox	5	0	17.01	0	17.01	196
6	23348	Darien Craig Hannah McCombs	5	0	15.43	0	15.43	195
7	19032	James Swindle Austin Swindle	5	0	15.08	0	15.08	194
8	22640	Alan Davis Todd Davis	5	0	15.03	0.25	14.78	193
9	16275	Robert McEarchern Richard McEarchern	5	5.14	15.39	1	14.39	192
10	10604	Barry Johnson Dale Greer	5	0	13.75	0	13.75	141
11	22591	Cody Benton Harris Housley	5	5.69	13.3	0	13.3	190
12	11893	Albert Lovvorn Randy Gravett	5	0	12.81	0	12.81	189
13	21781	Mark Scott Ross Williams	5	0	12.78	0	12.78	188
14	22642	Larry Melvin Hank Winks	5	0	12.68	0	12.68	187
15	22647	Mark Lovvorn Warren Lovvorn	5	0	12.64	0	12.64	186
16	19037	George Crain Allan Glasgow	5	0	12.26	0	12.26	185
17	21765	Billy Brooks Chad Fenton	5	0	12.2	0	12.2	184
18	22639	Chris Blackwood Sean Terrell	5	0	11.64	0	11.64	183
19	6287	Greg Norris Jay Bucki	5	0	11.23	0	11.23	182
20	22641	Donna Lynn Spenser Lynn	5	0	11.4	0.25	11.15	131
21	22593	Rodney Floyd Tim Moore	5	0	10.57	0	10.57	180
22	8528	Mark Junior Gary Horne	5	0	10.41	0	10.41	179
23	11889	Ron Holler Elaine Holler	2	7.02	9.19	0	9.19	178
24	3808	Mike Hazel Chad Hazel	5	0	8.55	0	8.55	177
25	22648	Chet Borden Shannon Rich	4	0	7.64	0	7.64	176
26	14540	Billy Lawson Barbara Lawson	2	0	7.5	0	7.5	175
27	21221	Chris Baldus Josh Faile	2	0	3.97	0	3.97	174
28	19030	Waylon Hill	1	3.11	3.11	0	3.11	173
29	22590	Johnny Barrow Karl Stephens	0	0	0	0	0	172
30	10608	Garry Burns Kevin Stephens	0	0	0	0	0	172
Looper and Miller - 27.49 lbs. Parrish and Bean - 27.36 lbs. Ware and Ware - 23.91 lbs. Huffstutler and Harbison - 18.20 lbs.