Our second tournament of the year is in the books and..... wow, what a tough day. We launched at 6 AM with high hopes of seeing multiple bags over 15 pounds in this tournament and to say that did not happen is an understatement. Cold front conditions moved in a few days before tournament day and absolutely put the fish in a funk. With 14.57 pounds taking the win in this tournament; it came down to who could fish the slowest and smallest. The team of Gaje Ayres and Denzel Ayres took the win on their home lake and done it all with a shakyhead. This team fished main lake cuts and short pockets where bass had deep water access close by. Most of their fish came out of 5-15 feet of water and every fish they weighed in came off a picasso tungsten 1/4 ounce shakyhead with a zoom green pumpkin 5" shakyhead worm. The team mentioned how slow they had to work the bait to even get the most subtle bites. Like the winning team, the second place team of Mike Devere and Colton Hembree fished a shakyhead worm for most of the day to fill their 5 fish limit. Fishing identical types of structure as the winning team, cuts/pockets in 5-10 feet of water with deep water access close by paid off for Devere and Hembree as they brought 13.95 pounds of bass to the scales. Our third place team of Michael Carter and Jason McFarland had a 5 fish limit that weighed 12.38 pounds. They as well fished main lake structure and focused on 10-12 feet of water; working those areas with jigs and texas rigged plastics. The last team to cut a check was Matt Mattingly and Grant Bryant. Although Matt had to fish by himself, he still managed to cut a check on a tough fishery with 4 bass that weighed 10.21 pounds. At 11 AM, Matt had zero fish in the livewell. He was able to get on a main lake bite that consisted of a wobble head with a texas rigged plastic on the back. He focused on pea gravel flats in 8-12 feet of water and was able to salvage his day to cash the last check!

Summarizing the tournament day... it was TOUGH. 

Our Friday night meeting at South Fork Missionary Baptist Church was phenomenal! Brother Ben Wood brought the devotional and boy did he BRING IT. Brother Wood spoke about how the Lord is the vine and we are the branches; without the vine being our core root of strength, as branches we would die and not bare fruit. We are to keep the Lord in our lives; make him our vine so we can branch from him and grow. It was a great message and all the anglers really enjoyed it. On top of the great message, the food was amazing. We had pulled pork, pork shoulder, baked beans, potato salad and more deserts than you can ever imagine. Our friends at South Fork Missionary Baptist took GREAT care of us and we were fed twice during the meeting - our bellies were full and so were our hearts. Thanks to South Fork for hosting our Friday night meeting; can't wait to do it again next year.

As most of you know, we have a Facebook page where I post a lot of information about our tournaments, weigh-ins, meetings, sponsors, etc. Please go give the Facebook page a like and follow to keep up-to-date with what is going on amongst our division. The Facebook page name is "Fishers of Men NTT - Kentucky West".

Fishers of Men would like to thank all of our fine national sponsors: BassCat Boats, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Mercury, Spiderwire DuraBraid, Realtree Fishing, FireFly Outdoor & Marine, Power-Pole, T-H Marine, X2 Power, FroggToggs, FSB Mortgage and Jacobs Glass.

Fishers of Men would like to especially thank all of our great local sponsors: Phillip Brinegar HVAC & Plumbing, Mid-State Recycling, Kingrey's Auto Repair, Jet-A-Marina, Plumbers Supply Company, Mark Miller Marine, Spearpoint Performance Hooks, Fire Line Guns & Knives, R.L. Craig Company, Minco Insulation, Land Big Fish, Brite Wholesale Electric Supply, Hayz Meatz, Air Mechanical Sales, Jody Lashley Custom Docks, Wieda's Marine, NexAir, Ultimate Whitetail, Victaulic and Monticello Bank.