With some restrictions from the COVID 19 virus still in place, the North Carolina East Division was able to hold their first Team Series tournament on the Yoepium River March 27, 2021. 26 teams launched from the Bethel Fishing Center on the Yoepium River in search of the winning bag of fish. The teams were greeted to a beautiful sunrise with temperatures in the lower 60’s and temperatures that were predicted to drop later as a cold front approaches. Division Director Pat Seigh provided a devotion before the launch which focused on “The examination of yourself” with the scripture verse coming from Revelations 3:2. He talked about how our health goal is to continually strengthen the body’s immune system which is our God given shield of protection. As the Apostle Paul’s practice of comparing the body of Christ to the human body (1 Cor.12 vs 12-31), we can apply the same strategy to maintain spiritual health. The spiritual body is only as healthy as its weakest part. Our church is only as healthy as its weakest member. The admonition to the church at Sardis given by Jesus Christ applies; “strengthen the things that remain”. Physically and spiritually, we are on a lifelong quest to strengthen every cell of our body and every member of Christ’s body. In closing He said that today is a day of self -examination. Strengthen the Body of Christ by strengthening you walk with him.  

With the wind relatively light, our teams were able to run to their favorite places on the Rivers of the Albemarle Sound in search of the winning catch. The return to the launch was a bit more challenging for our teams in the afternoon. 26 teams brought 108 Bass to the scales that weighed 264.24 pounds.  The average team weight was 10.16 pounds and the average fish weight was 2.45 pounds. When the weigh-in concluded, Quinton Chappell and Chris Turner brought in an impressive five fish limit that weighed 23.60 pounds for first place, which included a nice 7.04 pound kicker fish. They received $1,202.00 dollars for their days work including first place for the tournament, first place bonus bucks $325.00 and the Big Fish pot of $130.00.  Coming in second place was Kirk Wall and Charlie Reed, with another nice bag of fish that weighed 20.30 pounds. They received $531.00 dollars for second place, $195.00 for second place bonus bucks. Third place honors went to the team of Ricky Mize and Chris Mize with a five bass limit that weighed 17.32 pounds. They took home $345.00 dollars for third place and $130.00 dollars for third place bonus bucks. Fourth place honors went to the team of David Buchanan and Brian Richardson who brought in a five fish limit that weighed 15.13 pounds. They received $228.00 for fourth place. Fifth place honors went to the team of Michael Evans and Brian Meadows with a five fish limit that weighed 14.08 pounds anchored by a 5.58 kicker fish. They received $155.00 dollars for their days work. Congratulations to all our winners and a special thanks to all our members who participated in this event.

The NC East Division would like to thank the Bethel Fishing Center and for their hospitality and the use of their facilities. Fishers of Men would also like to thank our local sponsors and ministry partners:  First Church of the Nazarene, Camden United Methodist Church who support our ministry as well. I would also like to thank our workers; my wife Karen, Tom and Linda Houlroyd, Bill Riggs, Sue and Rich Seigh and Jerry Wessner for all their help to make this tournament a big success. .          

Fishers of Men would like to thank all of our Primary sponsors; BassCat Boats, Mercury, Abu Garcia, Real Tree Fishing, Berkley, Spiderwire, Shakespeare,  Power-Pole, our Presenting sponsors Amphibia and T&H Marine, Gator Guards and our Official sponsors, Frogg Toggs,  Jacobs Glass Company.

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	14712	Chris Turner Quinton Chappell	5	7.04	23.6	0	23.6	150
2	8708	Kirk Wall Charles Reed	5	6.85	20.3	0	20.3	149
3	27180	Ricky Mize chris mize	5	0	17.32	0	17.32	148
4	25536	David Buchanan BRIAN RICHARDSON	5	0	15.13	0	15.13	147
5	27075	Michael Evans Brian Meadows	5	5.58	14.08	0	14.08	146
6	22893	Michael Wenthe Stacey Light	5	4.3	13.78	0	13.78	145
7	12057	Kevin Jones Tyler Jones	5	0	13.49	0	13.49	144
8	27178	JA Williford III Adam Baldwin	5	2.84	13.16	0	13.16	143
9	22843	William Jordan, III Eugene Foushee	5	0	13.14	0	13.14	142
10	21427	Tommy Houlroyd Brandon Overton	5	0	12.62	0	12.62	141
11	27216	Gerald Murray morgan murray	5	0	11.42	0	11.42	140
12	18850	Tommy Banks Bubba Banks	5	0	10.31	0	10.31	139
13	17573	Gary DeBrito Derek Goodman	5	0	10.11	0	10.11	138
14	27179	Chris Rice Eric Roberson	5	2.4	9.91	0	9.91	137
15	24053	David Parker Darren Saunders	5	0	9.6	0	9.6	136
16	27183	Jerry Williams Cade Turner	5	0	9.2	0	9.2	135
17	24052	Tim Fallon Richard Griswold Jr	5	2.01	8.28	0.25	8.03	134
18	22917	William Chappell Larry Weatherly	4	0	7.96	0	7.96	133
19	25693	John Banks Gary Sawyer	4	0	7.03	0	7.03	132
20	25692	Scott Mummert Jeff Nixon	3	2.84	6.46	0	6.46	131
21	21454	Gil Burk Matt Burk	4	2.5	6.42	0	6.42	130
22	17449	Al Biagioni John LaRock	4	0	5.27	0	5.27	129
23	9595	Bryan Hendricks Chris Merritt	2	0	3.24	0	3.24	128
24	27182	Charles Britton Randy Britton	2	1.77	2.66	0	2.66	127
25	23208	Michael Hinson Jeff Stoop	0	0	0	0	0	126
26	27181	Kenneth Moore Kennan Moore	0	0	0	0	0	126
1st Place winners Quinton Chappell and Chris Turner with 23.60 pound for a 5 fish limit including the big fish that weighed 7.04 pounds. Second Place winners Kirk Wall and Charlie Reed with a 5 bass limit that weighed 20.30 pounds. 3rd Place winners Ricky Mize and Chris Mize with a five bass limit that weighed 17.32 pounds. 4th Place winners David Buchanan and Brian Richardson with a 5 fish limit that weighed 15.13 pounds. 5th Place winners Michael Evans and Brian Meadows with a 5 fish limit that weighed 14.08 pounds.