2023 Tournament Season Off and Running

Wouldn't you know that, on our very first event of the new season, the local weather forecasters would blow their predictions in grand style. Nowhere had I seen the first call for rain in our area today, yet the trip Wayne and I had to make back to West Neck from Milldam this afternoon was anything but dry. More precisely, it was painful. The raindrops smacking us in the face were smarting.

The unpredicted rain, however, didn't cause any of the 21 anglers in 12 boats to give up our pursuit of those green fish. We stayed at it until weigh-in time arrived, and all but two of the boats weighed five-fish limits.

Those anglers who finished in the winners' circle at day's end included the following:

1st Place, (from left) the team of Ken Matthias and Jim Leavis, with 13.26 pounds but no big fish.

2nd Place, Mark Ingram, with 12.93 pounds and a 5.17-pound bass that was good enough to capture big-fish honors for the tournament. Mark further won the side pot.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Dennis Dean and Steve Bailey, with 12.86 pounds and a 3.81 kicker.

Here is the finishing order for the remainder of the field:

     * The husband-wife team of Andy and Diana Morath, with 12.44 pounds and no kicker.

     * Eddie Sapp, with 11.87 pounds and no kicker.

     * The team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, with 9.84 pounds and no kicker.

     * James Calhoun, with 9.41 pounds and no kicker.

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, with 9.01 pounds and no kicker.

     * The team of Fisher Bryan and Gabe Himmelwright, with 7.71 pounds and a 4.10 kicker.

     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, with 7.38 pounds after a 0.25 dead-fish penalty and no kicker.

     * The team of Craig Jones and Rob Chatham and the uncle-nephew team of Robert and Ryan Land didn't weigh any fish.

Congratulations to all the winners and sincere thanks to all those who joined us today.

In closing, let me announce a couple of events for April. As announced today by the tournament director (right), everyone is invited to participate in an open-to-anyone bass tournament on Saturday, April 15. Plans call for launching this event at 6:45 a.m. or safelight, as the TD desires. He also will announce weigh-in time. This tournament will be conducted under all the rules currently in force for the Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Tourney Series, but the totals WILL NOT have any bearing on totals in this series. This will be strictly a one-day open event.

Two weeks later, on Saturday, April 29, the second event of the 2023 Dewey Mullins Memorial Series will be held.

Be watching for my emails in coming days with details about both of these tournaments. As usual, if you have any questions, you can reach Wayne at 757-478-3387.

Current Overall Statistics

Click anywhere on this chart for an enlargement.