38 teams fished, 31 teams weighed in and 8 places were paid.
Faith Angler Network ended their inaugural season on a tough and windy Lake Belton Saturday, May 22. The points race in the Regular Team and Male/Female divisions were separated by a single point in both divisions and everyone watched closely to see who would be crowned the 2010 points champions.
Coming to the stage with a big fish early were Justin Toledo and Joe Sierra. Although they only had two fish, one of them was a Belton giant weighing 7.34 pounds; the fish won the team Big Bass and helped them secure a fifth place check.
Always a threat to win any tournament in Central Texas and coming in with a nice Belton limit were Ronny and Eddy Maynard. Their 17.42 pounds bested the rest of the field by nearly three pounds and gave the brothers another very decisive win on Belton.
We had a chance to speak with Ronny after the weigh-in.
“We really were happy with our bag of fish. We’d been out a little, and had no idea what the day would bring. Fortunately, we caught those two big fish early, so it helped us fish more thoroughly through the rest of the day.”
Ronny told us they caught their fish early on crankbaits and rigs, and worked a few other patterns to get their limit.
“The real good bites came draggin’, but that bite faded for us after the morning. We had to go out and get after a few deeper fish. Caught a few smaller keepers on a jiggin’ spoon out off a main lake point…followed some bait and they seemed to be down under ‘em.”
We asked Ronny if there was anybody they’d like to thank, and got a real refreshing answer.
“Really, we’d just like to thank our mom and dad…don’t have any sponsors. Our folks instilled a passion in us for bass fishing at an early age, and really taught us a thing or two about catching ‘em.”
That they did! Congrats to Eddy and Ronny.
Coming in second, for the third time this season, were Lance Wenmohs and Mike Clark. Mike and Lance were sitting in second place in the overall points standings for most of the season and sealed their position as the 2010 Anglers of the Year with 14.50 pounds on Belton.
They did not pre-fish at all and decided to focus on three separate areas of the lake where they had success in the past. By 8 am, the team had three solid bass on 4-inch plastic worms fishing small pockets in the mid lake area. The bite got slow after 9 so they moved to fishing main lake points and picked up the largest bass (4.5 lbs) of the day on a Carolina rigged Brush Hog; their last keeper came around 1 pm while fishing in Cedar Creek.
Congrats to the 2010 FAN points champions! When asked what they thought about fishing with Jeff this year, Lance summed it up best,
“Mike and I really enjoyed fishing Faith Angler Network this year. We have been fishing with Jeff Cook and the guys for several years now and appreciate the service and friendship they provide. We particularly enjoy the healthy mix of fellowship, faith based discussion and fishing fun.”
“We feel very fortunate and blessed to have placed 2nd in three tournaments this year and held on to the points lead at the end of the season. FAN is comprised of some great fisherman and some woderful people.”
Lance and Mike would like to thank God and their wives for giving them the opportunity to fish and look forward to fishing with FAN next season.
Coming in third with an impressive bag at over 13 pounds was the successful duo of late, Tim Dixon and Kenneth Cummins. Tim took some time to talk to us about their day.
“Kenneth and I located some decent fish in practice in several spots. We had practiced out of both boats so we could cover as much water as possible. After we finished the day and talked about it we both ended up fishing the same kind of water, just in different parts of the lake.”
Great minds think alike! It seems they were fishing the same way a lot of other competitors were, but found the key areas that held fish.
“They were very small areas. The day was slow overall but once we got the fish to bite it was fast and furious. We culled 3 times in about 10 or 15 minutes! We were not able to get the kicker we needed in the boat; we had her on but broke off. That’s fishing though, you gotta love it!”
Tim and Kenneth ended the regular season fifth in overall points, but missed a pre-tournament meeting (worth 25 points) earlier in the year. They both felt they had a good year and Tim had some great things to say about the inaugural season with FAN.
“We had a blast fishing FAN this year and look forward to the championship. Jeff and his crew are good people and do a great job!”
TTZ couldn’t agree more Tim!
We would also like to congratulate the Male/Female points champions, Earl and Leisha Loggains, and the Adult/Youth champions Dale and Jake Read. For complete points standings, please click here.
If you haven’t already realized, FAN is a different kind of trail. With so many tournament trails to choose from, it’s nice to see a circuit that integrates both fierce competition with faith and fellowship. Catching fish, cutting checks and winning awards may be a few reasons we all fish; but at the end of the day it all boils down to spending time on the water with your friends, significant others and family. We’d like to thank Jeff and the entire FAN crew for everything they’ve done and think this picture sums it up best…
Good luck to everyone at the Championship!