The Maryland Division hosted its 3rd Tournament on 5/20/2023 out of Anchor Marine on the Northeast River at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. Thank you to the First Baptist Church of Perryville for a masterful job of hosting the meeting! Jimmy Rufenacht shared the message from the last 7 verses of Acts 13. He spoke about our commitment to sharing the gospel and what affect our response to life’s events can have on our testimony. The highlight of the message was a re-enactment by 3 year old Abby Rufenacht of a patient sight fish named Job’s response to Jimmy’s lure that happened at the 2023 National Championship at Hartwell before the fish “lost it!.” All of the participants were then tested the next day by having to share the ramp with 6 other tournaments with a total of 110 participants! One of our teams was tested with no power trim in the AM, one with a dead crank battery, one with a bad trolling motor battery, and one with a dead truck battery in the afternoon. I am pleased to announce that all teams responded well!
Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht brought in a limit of 14.65 lbs to win the event by a margin of .02 lbs. Jeff Choi and Alicia Mull placed second with 14.63 lbs. 3rd place went to Mick McCleary and Butch Brooks with a strong bag of 13.91 lbs. Bruce Ostrowski and Billy Wiley had a limit for 13.85 lbs including 4 smallmouth. We welcomed a new team of Dylan Missimer and Jeff Long who placed fifth with 11.61 lbs. The Big Fish prize went to Jonathan and Jody Werner for their 5.43 lb big fish.
I would like to thank each one who helped with the tournament operation. From tournament weigh in set up (Ted Quatman), to publicity (Jon Crans), to our Chaplain (Paul Wiley), to family and fellow anglers who pitched in to help, we thank you for your service.
The Maryland Division would like to thank Fishermens-Heaven.store for incredible support this year. In addition to product donations, they are sponsoring an end of the year Points Fund which pays back 5 places. Each team that participates in all 5 tournaments/meetings and completed a minimum $100.00 buy-in prior to the 4/22 tournament are eligible. We would also like to thank Stanford Baits for their continued support. Nathan Hess has designed and built our plaques for the winning teams and a big fish plaque for each tournament this year.
Fishers of Men would like to thank all of our fine 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.
Upper Chesapeake Bay - 05/20/23DIVISION YEAR TO DATE STANDINGS: | 2024 | 2023 |
Place | Team | Members | # Fish | Big Fish | Gross | Penalty | Net Wt | Points | |
1 | 30388 |
Tom Rufenacht James Rufenacht | 5 | 0 | 14.65 | 0 | 14.65 | 200 | |
2 | 30593 |
Jeffrey Choi Alicia Mull | 5 | 4 | 14.63 | 0 | 14.63 | 199 | |
3 | 30386 |
Mickey McCleary Butch Brooks | 5 | 4.19 | 13.91 | 0 | 13.91 | 198 | |
4 | 30402 |
William Wiley III Bruce Ostrowski Sr | 5 | 0 | 13.85 | 0 | 13.85 | 197 | |
5 | 30780 |
Dylan Missimer Jeffrey Long | 4 | 3.95 | 11.61 | 0 | 11.61 | 196 | |
6 | 30387 |
Michael Malamphy Thomas Waters | 4 | 3.96 | 9.92 | 0 | 9.92 | 195 | |
7 | 30390 |
Robert Wolf John Dell | 3 | 4.56 | 8.66 | 0 | 8.66 | 194 | |
8 | 30800 |
William Wiley Jr John Shipley | 2 | 4.11 | 7.63 | 0 | 7.63 | 143 | |
9 | 30392 |
Jacob VanDeVander Dylan Otte | 2 | 0 | 6.89 | 0 | 6.89 | 192 | |
10 | 30405 |
Jonathan Werner Jody Werner | 1 | 5.43 | 5.43 | 0 | 5.43 | 191 | |
11 | 30401 |
Jeffrey Pelkey Colton Pelkey | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | 0 | 4.5 | 140 | |
12 | 30837 |
Jim Shinn Elvin Martes | 1 | 4.27 | 4.27 | 0 | 4.27 | 139 | |
13 | 30396 |
Paul Wiley Jon Crans | 1 | 3.69 | 3.69 | 0 | 3.69 | 188 | |
14 | 30389 |
Sean Peddicord Greg Burdick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 187 | |
15 | 30394 |
Brandon Pyles Nathan Routzahn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 137 | |
First Baptist Church of Perryville did a masterful job of hosting our meeting! Great dinner and great people! Here's Jimmy delivering the message. Jonathan Werner with a beautiful 5.43 largemouth. Tom and Jimmy with a 14.65 limit on an unusually stingy Chesapeake. Jeff and Alicia overcame AM mechanical difficulties to come within .02 lbs of winning for the day with 14.53 lbs. Mick and Bruce had a great day with a 13.91 lb. limit and a third place finish. Bruce and Billy maintained their consistency with a limit of 13.85 lbs for fourth place. First time FOM team Dylan Missimer and Jeff Long finished strong with 9.92 lbs. for 5th place. Welcome! |