~~Jordan and Smith ride the new Mercury powered Nitro to $2000 victory

The first East Tennessee Fishers of Men kicked off with a big bang.  With $2000 guarantee first place, there were many new teams showing up to take their shot at the grand prize.  Midway Baptist Church was the host church again this year.  The church had enough food to feed an army, and boy was it good!  Next, all the teams went to the sanctuary where Preacher Ronny Jones warned against living your life like a fool---as if there is no God.  Ronny did a great job as always, and we had one get saved and one rededication.
Saturday morning came with a 70 degrees air temperature and storms that gave way to overcast skies by the end of the day. First place went to the team of Brian Jordan and Michael Smith, giving them over $2400 in winnings.  This team, fishing from Jordan’s brand new White Pine Marine Mercury powered Nitro, ran to the mid section of the lake using their Lowrance Electronics to locate their fish.  They came to the scales with a 5-fish limit weighing in at 19.12 pounds and the tournament big fish, a 5.69-pound largemouth.
They reported using a Dixie Custom Rod and the new Dixie Custom Reel to catch their fish on a rattle trap in shallow water.  This team owns Dixie Custom Tackle and are sponsored by White Pine Marine, Mercury, Nitro and Lowrance.  Great job guys.
 Second place went to the team of Pastor Ronny Jones and Randy Fain who came to the scales with a five fish limit weighing in with 18.26 pounds of beautiful Watts Bar largemouth. The talented team used spinnerbait, crankbait, and A-rig to catch more than 2 limits of bass on the lower end of the lake.
 Third place went to the team of Eugene Randolph and George Galyon who ran down the lake to haul back a five fish limit weighing in at 17.07 pounds.  This talented team reported using spinnerbaits and rattle traps in shallow pockets off the main to catch their fish.
Fourth place went to went to Tony Chambers who fished by himself in this tournament.  Tony came back from the lower end of the lake with a five fish limit weighing at 16.58 pounds. He reported using a rattle trap on muddy banks to catch his fish in less than five feet of water.
Fifth place went to the new team of Chase Henley and Michael Van Osdale.  This team ran all the way to White’s Creek to catch their fish on a crankbait and A-rig from rock banks.  They focused their fishing on spots less than five feet deep.
East Tennessee Fishers of Men would like to thank it local sponsors that make everything possible this year Bill Freeman and Randy White with Ameriprise Financial, White Pine Marine, Dixie Custom Tackle, Mack’s Auto Glass, Tennessee Overhead Door and B&M Tires.
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 Maine, Gator Guards, ,Kistler Rods, HydroWave,  Costa, Jacobs Glass, Rayjus Sportswear.

Smith and Jordan drive new boat to $2000 win

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	1121	Michael Smith Brian Jordan	5	5.69	19.12	0	19.12	200
2	3678	Randy Fain Ronny Jones	5	4.44	18.26	0	18.26	199
3	22616	Eugene Randolph George Galyon Jr.	5	4.85	17.07	0	17.07	198
4	21529	Tony Chambers Cade Chambers	5	4.6	16.58	0	16.58	147
5	22662	Michael Van Osdale Chase Henley	5	0	14.98	0	14.98	196
6	15906	Chester Wooton Timothy Vanover	5	0	13.04	0	13.04	195
7	21523	George Headdon Rick Ellis	5	0	12.02	0	12.02	194
8	3869	Greg Cope Donnie Wormsley	4	0	8.89	0	8.89	193
9	21525	Nathan Crisp Jason Holder	3	4.31	8.5	0	8.5	192
10	1117	Paul Rogers Rod Garrett	2	0	6.91	0	6.91	191
11	22558	Brad Brown Brodie Brown	2	0	6.6	0	6.6	190
12	22660	Tommy Bryant Wes Channel	2	0	6.16	0	6.16	140
13	8490	Randall White Randall White II	1	3.85	3.85	0	3.85	189
14	18168	Rob Clowers	1	0	2.88	0	2.88	188
15	18712	Chris Sexton Mason Sexton	1	0	2.81	0	2.81	187
16	18710	Brian Leach Brian Leach	1	0	2.58	0	2.58	186
17	22559	Don Raley Tim Corum	1	0	2.56	0	2.56	185
18	1118	Jeff Beach William Maggard	2	0	3.44	1	2.44	184
19	22557	William Freeman Michael Melton	0	0	0	0	0	183
20	22560	Dan Broom Kerry Broom	0	0	0	0	0	183
21	15003	Tim Leonard Tom Leonard	0	0	0	0	0	183
22	12123	John Long Karen Taylor	0	0	0	0	0	183
23	22661	John Underwood Thomas Underwood	0	0	0	0	0	183
24	22663	Michael Perdue Ryan Hawn	0	0	0	0	0	183
25	15983	Dewayne Rankin Cole Rankin	0	0	0	0	0	183
26	21829	Calvin Murphy Steve Terry	0	0	0	0	0	183
27	22664	Matthew Kagley Seth O'Hara	0	0	0	0	0	133