Day 3 FOM Standings/News Release

The Fishers Of Men 2006 National Championship

Day-3 of the Fishers Of Men National Tournament Trail’s final day of the National Championship dawned with mild temperatures, however ominous clouds were rolling in out of the southwest. It wasn’t long before the wind kicked up to sustained speeds of 20 to 30 mph, as predicted. The top 30 teams that made Friday’s cut and blasted off in order of their Day-2 standings began draining trolling motor batteries as they struggled with boat control in the treacherous winds. These conditions had everyone wondering how this would affect the bite.

Still, these 59 best of the best anglers, managed to bring in 111 bass that produced a net weight of 218.52lbs. Gary Brown and Andy Niles (MS-S), beginning the last day of competition in 8th place, brought in a 3rd 5-fish limit that allowed them to move up 3 places and finish the championship in the 5th spot. Their final day of 10.40lbs lifted their 3-day total to 35.85lbs.

Day-2 15th place teammates, Scot Hash and Dusty McDevitt (FL-C), weighed in the heaviest bag of the day, which included the $500, 7.21lbs 1st Big Bass. Their impressive 5 fish pushed the scales to 15.94lbs, enabling a remarkable boost up 11 slots to finish in 4th place for the event. The partners used soft jerk baits and spinnerbaits to take their catch by fishing beds that were in 7 to 8 feet of water. Day One’s 5 fish at 15.22 and Day Two’s 2 bass weighing 5.82 (one of which went 4.74lbs), along with the final day’s catch pushed the final weight to 36.98lbs.

Two fish, weighing 9.25lbs, including the 2nd Big Fish, at 7.00lbs and worth $250, were checked in by 3rd place finishers, Ernie and Ken Pate (PA-W). Their 2 fish at 9.25lbs brought their tournament total to 38.22lbs. Ernie reported catching the seven pounder on a Chatter Bait®. The successful fishermen also used soft plastics, including the Pretty Otter®.

Moving up from the 3rd place position of Day-2 and finishing 2nd, overall, were the GA-S team of Steve Stewart and Johnny Creel. The clever pair positioned their boat up against the shoreline grass and cast carolina-rigged brush hogs on 8-foot leaders away from the bank and worked the lead sinkers up to the grass line. They would then let the free flowing baits set out in the open water to catch bass that were cruising along the outside edge of the cover. Sometimes it would take an extended period of time for a bass to swim by, but once they saw the bait, Steve and Johnny said that the fish couldn’t resist taking it. Using this method that was developed on Lake Seminole, the pair netted catches of, Day-1: 3 fish at 9.11, with a 6.32 brute; Day-2: 5 bass weighing, 18.34 with a 5.51 kicker; Day-3: 5 fish going 10.91lbs, including a 5.34 pounder. This gave the successful team 38.36lbs for the tournament.

Tennessee Central’s Jeff Lokken and Mickey Smathers tenaciously held their lead all three days of this prestigious annual event, despite of the other teams were steadily closing the gap of their enormous Day-1 lead. Jeff and Mickey stated that they did not sight-fish the beds, nor use the flipping technique during the 3 days. While Mickey threw a gold Booyah Spinnerbait® for his part of the winning total, Jeff used the Chatter Bait to lure his fish to the net and that the 8.56lbs Day-1 2nd Big Bass also fell for the Chatter Bait®.

We want to congratulate them for their fine victory and winning the beautiful gray and silver metal flake Triton TR-20X/Mercury 200 combo. This was the first time that a team won two new Tritons during one Championship Series.
We want to congratulate them for their fine victory and winning the beautiful gray and silver metal flake Triton TR-20X/Mercury 200 combo. This was the first time that a team won two new Tritons during one Championship Series.

We want to genuinely thank the city of Winter Haven, Mark Jackson, Director of Sports Marketing; Sarah Smith, Sales and Events Rep; Ryan Pickles, coordinator of the banquet; Brenda Schloerb, Ryan Delaney, and Carrie Richards (Marketing Assistants) for sponsoring our event.

We also want to thank our national sponsors who faithfully support us: Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Kistler Custom Fishing Rods, Strike King Lure Company, Presnell Plantation, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Marshall’s Marine, Solar Bat, Spike-It Bait Company, Castrol, V & M Baits, Motorguide, Keelshield, Lowrance Electronics, All-Terrain Tackle, Spot Remover, HOT RODS Marine Care Products, Stanley Jigs, Dual Pro Chargers, X Tools, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Jacobs Glass Company, BASS RX, Keep Alive Oxygen Infusor, The Original Fish Formula, Hooah Energy Bars, River Bottom Lures, Sospenders, Diamond Cut Jeans, Shakespeare, and All Star Rods.
and Drinks, T & H Marine, Shakespeare, and All Star Rods.


Standings Division Partner #1 Partner #2 Total Fish Total Weight
1 TN C Jeff Lokken Mickey Smathers 12 40.22
2 GA S Steve Stewart Johnny Creel 13 38.36
3 PA W Ernie Pate Ken Pate 12 38.22
4 FL C Scott Hash Dusty McDevitt 12 36.98
5 MS S Gary Brown Andy Niles 15 35.85
6 TX NE Rick Campbell Jimmy Kinsey 15 34.92
7 GA S Rodger Beaver Derrick Millirons 15 34.52
8 MS S Terry Foskey Norman Foskey 12 32.91
9 MD E Brian McNulty Eric McNulty 13 32.41
10 PA E Michael Piccolo 10 30.87
11 IN S Eric Johnson Nathan Gray 14 29.99
12 FL C Kevin Lucas Travis Totman 12 29.57
13 WI W Nathan Whiting Chad Whiting 14 29.31
14 AL S J.R. O'Gwynn Phillip Potts 13 29.28
15 AR C Mike Courtney Rufus White 15 29.02
16 DE Jay Walls Greg Alexander 13 29.00
17 MD W Shawn Skobel Gary Crayton 15 28.85
18 MD E Tim Kowalewski Steve Patrick 11 27.60
19 OH Jason Merschman Matt Elkins 15 27.29
20 SC L Lee Morris Ronnie Morris 14 26.73
21 TX NE CJ Gillard Judy Gillard 13 25.82
22 WV Jim Merical Ryan Harmon 13 24.12
23 FL C John Cox Keith Carson 13 23.99
24 MD E Tom Rufenacht Jimmy Rufenacht 11 23.79
25 KY SC David Morgan Ronnie McClure 7 21.57
26 PA W Brad Billeter Ryan Fulks 14 21.24
27 FL S Bob Schields Axel Riley 10 20.02
28 KY W Roger Claiborne Ronnie Claiborne 8 19.47
29 AR C Gordon Parham Nathan Reel 10 17.17
30 TX E Steve Rhea Louis Rouleau 7 16.75


31 AL NE Randy Smith Jamie Perry 5 15.46
32 SC L Wayne Frierson Ronnie Mueller 9 15.33
33 MS S Robbie Cumbest Wesley Cumbest 6 14.68
34 SC L Wade Grooms Albert Pieper 7 14.63
35 LA S Dale Knott Randy Nowell 10 14.60
36 IN N Eric Foister Roger Spaulding 10 14.57
37 AR C Randy Allen Wayne Dixon 8 14.10
38 KY N Butch Jacobs Rick Odom 7 13.92
39 IA Christopher Calkins Jon Andreson 10 13.77
40 KY N Don Meade David Lawson 9 13.76
41 TN C Don Sentell Chris Shivers 7 13.59
42 TN C Kenny Phelps Corlett Jaggers 6 13.21
43 AL C Allen Yarbough Chris Rutland 7 13.05
44 MN E Robert Allen Chris Hulback 8 12.82
45 SC L David Croft Hugh Jackson 6 12.67
46 WV Jim Davis Jim Davis 8 12.47
47 TX NC Randy Parks Steve Terry 10 12.43
48 MN E Greg Lindbloom Colin Fleck 6 12.42
49 MS S Richard Parker Bryan Ryals 6 12.38
50 FL S Will Strasser Billy Mullen 6 12.32
51 IN N Mike Shock Dan Sanders 8 11.73
52 LA S Eugene Hoover Jerome Faucheux 7 11.59
53 OH Doug Hanes Trent Spencer 7 11.55
54 AR C Brian Smith Billy Smith 7 11.28
55 WI E Rick Hartwig Jeff St. Clair 8 11.07
56 OZ Kevin Jackson Bryan Jackson 5 10.93
57 TN W Keith Amerson Jason Martindale 5 10.78
58 NC P Carl Simmons Richard Rhyner 5 10.73
59 AL NW Jon Barnette Jim Barnette 5 10.43
60 NC C Tony Barham Rick Ohlson 7 10.39
61 TX C Dick Chism Don Hisle 6 10.19
62 FL S Patrick Costello Adam Markley 5 9.95
63 TX NC Tom Ward Jeff Linville 6 9.91
64 IN N Bill Bacon Scott Bacon 5 9.82
65 OZ Brian Maloney Kyle Maloney 5 9.74
66 NC F Tracy McCready Leslie McCready 3 9.68
67 WV Adrian Hoffman Larry Driggs 7 9.52
68 KY W Todd Buckingham Herbie Phelps 3 9.26
69 KY W Richard Bradshaw Darrell Turley 4 9.24
70 IA Shawn Holly Bob Thomsen 6 9.07
71 WI S Kevin Johnson Edwin Hanson 3 8.91
72 AL NW Kerry Copeland Eric Davis 6 8.89
73 IN N Bob Sheehan Bobby Maples 6 8.78
74 WI W Ron Kubin Jay Slagstad 4 8.58
75 MN W Ole Hallanger Bruce Hallanger 4 8.40
76 IN S Danny Lee Nathan Sipes 5 8.22
77 ILC Mark Vos Stewart Cousins 4 7.80
78 OK Scott Dickey Chuck Tillman 5 7.62
79 NC F Craig McGlamery Ricky Harrington 4 7.19
80 AR S Ricky Ferguson David Patrick 2 7.03
81 VA E Jackson Hudson Marty Hudson 5 6.80
82 TN W Billy Cooper Linda Cooper 4 6.68
82 AR S Alan Melder Mark Maxey 5 6.68
84 MS C Robbie Myers Dan Brown 4 6.65
85 NC C Scott Miller Jim Webb 5 6.60
86 TN E Brian Jordan Michael Smith 3 6.49
87 TX NC Randy Murphy Jerry Kleam 4 6.39
88 NC F Jody Wright Clyde Whiteside 3 6.20
89 MS C Roy Lewis Stephen Williams 5 6.13
90 GA N Steve Perdue Alan Hampton 5 5.90
91 OZ Larry Herron Tim Gingrich 1 5.86
92 AR C Ross Boling Mark Boling 3 5.39
93 MS N Larry Perrin Phillip King 5 5.33
94 KY SC David Brandenburg Allen Brandenburg 5 5.04
95 GA S Freddie Howard Randy Ingram 3 4.95
96 IN S Tom Forrester John Santos 5 4.93
97 NC P Gary Preston Bryant Preston 1 4.69
98 MN W Scott Lythjohn Gary Minor 3 4.64
99 IN N Joe Coble Kim Coble 3 4.57
100 PA E Joseph Dellavalle Dan Hawley 3 4.52
101 IL N Jack Peplow Bob Nelson 3 4.47
102 AL S Chris Pope Chuck Vinson 2 3.78
103 AL C Kenny Barrett Kirk Barrett 2 3.51
104 TN E Benny Roberts Todd Nidiffer 2 3.41
105 IL N Brian McMartin Don Jacobsen 2 3.38
106 MS N Johnny Avant John Avant 2 2.98
107 LA S Paul Hodnett 1 2.49
108 KY W Johnnie Ford Jackie Ford 1 2.44
109 WI-S Tom Schultz Bill Schultz 2 2.42
110 TX E David Marshall 2 2.39
111 SC U Mark Hicks Oscar Hicks 2 2.33
112 NC C Horace Mason Roger Mason 1 1.98
113 LA N William Smith Timothy Schultz 2 1.83
114 TX E Elizabeth Lewis John Lewis, Sr. 1 1.72
114 NC P Steve Singleton Wayne Needham 2 1.72
116 VA E Don Johnson Rusty Johnson 1 1.57
117 MI John Shafer Harold Mattmiller 1 1.47
118 OH Bill Baldwin Ted Baldwin, Sr. 1 1.10
119 IN N Robert Vaughn Rebecca Vaughn 1 1.01
120 SC U Dan Morrow Tony Richardson 0 0.00
120 WI S Doug Hennings Shawn Bagley 0 0.00
120 AL S Greg Hall David Crutchfield 0 0.00
120 FL C Mike Scarborough 0 0.00
120 FL C James Trenary Cody Trenary 0 0.00
120 MI Matthew Metzger Phil Holwerda 2 0.00
120 WI E John Sosnowski 0 0.00