Bass Trail Has Record Turnouts

The Norman Winter Team Bass Trail has attracted record turnouts despite a tight economy and the onset of cold weather.

The Saturday Trail of David Johnson's circuit has had record turnouts for three consecutive tournaments. The streak began with the Dec. 6 season opener at Lake Norman which drew 95 teams, setting a new record for the trail, even though the day was cold and cloudy. Newton's Brian Morgan won the tournament with 14.50 pounds and collected $1,360.

The Dec. 20 event topped that mark with 98 teams with Nathan White and Chad Taylor taking the first-place check of $1,390 with 10.30 pounds. The anglers also received a $1,000 bonus from the Skeeter Real Money Program.

At the Dec. 27 tournament, Gary Michaud and Doc McDaniel topped a record field of 106 teams with 13.45 pounds that paid $2,565. They also received an additional $1,060 for the big fish of the day, a 5.75-pound bass.

The record-breaking streak for turnouts ended last Saturday when 103 teams registered for the event, three teams shy of the previous record mark. Darrell Atkins and Bryan Silvers took top honors with 13.35 pounds and the big-fish award with a 4.90-pound bass for a total purse of $2,420.

The turnouts are impressive considering bass team tournament trails usually draw from 20 to 50 teams, and even some national fishing trails struggle to attract fields of 100 boats or more.
The large fields translate into lucrative paydays for fishermen who can enter the events with a modest investment and with little travel. All of the tournaments are held at Lake Norman out of Midway Marina off N.C. Highway 150 near Mooresville.

The cost is $60 per tournament plus a $15 membership fee per person. These expenses are much less than the entry fees of many other tournament trails that also require anglers to travel to lakes located in different states.

Another drawing card for Johnson is his Championship Fishing TV Show over WHKY TV 14 out of Hickory, which covers his tournament trail and gives anglers additional exposure. Johnson also maintains a Web site at http://www.fishwithdj.com/ which posts tournament results and features programs from his fishing show.

The Sunday Trail of the circuit has had steady numbers but nothing like the numbers of the Saturday Trail. The biggest field for the Sunday Trail has been 66 teams.

Prior to running bass team tournament trails, Johnson operated the J&J Catfish Trail, which had a loyal following but attracted only about 16 to 20 teams per event. As a result, Johnson discontinued the trail and started conducting winter bass fishing tournaments, a rarity at the time.

Shane Floyd and Tony Garitta, both of Lexington, won Saturday's New Piedmont Team Tournament trail season opener at Badin Lake with 9.50 pounds and received $200. They also took the big-fish award of $39 with a 4.18-pound bass.

Eric Moser of Salisbury and Bennett Pridgen of Trinity finished second with 6.10 pounds and collected $166.

The next event will take place Feb. 21 at Badin Lake from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. out of Circle Drive. Yadkin Promotions tournament schedules are available at local tackle shops.

The Salisbury team of John M. Trexler and Richard McCoslin won Saturday's Crappie Team Tournament event at Badin Lake with a six-fish catch totaling 7.47 pounds and shared $225. They also claimed the big-fish prize of $45.50 with a 1.99-pound crappie.

Greg Bentley of Salisbury and Jake Nixe of Terrell placed second with 6.63 pounds and earned $125.

Jared Lloyd of Moyock won the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and Wildlife in North Carolina magazine 2008 photo competition. Lloyd's image of Tulls Creek in Currituck County at dawn beat out 6,368 photographs submitted for the competition.

The image of Tulls Creek will appear in the January 2009 issue of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine.

Other winning entries can be viewed at www.ncwildlife.org. The best state park images can be viewed at www.ncparks.gov.

Biologists with the NCWRC, the Division of Water Quality, and the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences have discovered populations of the Roanoke logperch living in the Mayo and Smith rivers. The rare fish was once thought to live only in portions of the Roanoke and Chowan River basins.

We are having a mixed winter here in Georgia, cool one week then warm the next. So if you are getting mixed weather take advantage of it and get out and Go Fishing.

Happy Hookin Gary

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