October 2019 Newsletter

Minutes of the Meeting:

Our outgoing President Jeff Weaver called the monthly Hawg Meeting for October 16, 2019 to order at 7:00 pm. His Presidency has come to the end after a 2-year stretch. Our heartfelt thanks for a Job well done! We had 23 members present including Charles Cetti who just recently retired and promises us he is going to fish more.

Old Business

Jeff got us going with a little humor. I don’t know if it quiets us down or riles us up but they are usually funny.

The reading of the minutes from the September meeting was waived by the membership. What with such greatly written Newsletters who needs them.

The Last Treasurer report from Dave Nason was read and accepted. We’ll hold the thanks for his job until after the audit is performed by the new incoming officers. Just kidding….Good Job Dave!

The Booray Pot has increased to $528 for a 6-pound fish. For those of you still in the Booray Pot you will need to bring $24 to the November meeting. It’s that time to refill the coffers with your money. For each person enrolled $2 per month is added to the pot until someone wins it. If you can’t make the meeting you'll need to make arrangements with Buddy Yates to pay it prior to the meeting so you don’t get tossed out.

The 50/50 drawing was won by Dave Hall. $52.50 to the club and $52.50 to Dave. It really pays to attend our meetings.

The September cookout was finalized with Dave Dyess in charge of bring the food while others brought the cooking supplies, tables, grills, propane tank and dessert. Promised to be a great event!

New Business:

If you have any changes to the Phone Listing contact Jere Jaillite. This way he can update our master roster. You never know when you are going to need to call on a fellow Hawg Hunter for help.

The Tournament wish list was handed out. With the start of a new season the oncoming E-board is going to meet and hash out a schedule for the 2020 Season. You inputs are important. Get them turned into the Tournament Director as soon as possible. Looks like the E-board is going to meet during the first week of November.

The Club Officer Positions nominated by the outgoing E-board was read and accepted as law by the membership.

2020 E-Board:

President: Kevin Simmons
VP / Treasurer: Tony Boyett
Tournament Director: Mack Cramer
Asst. Tournament Director: John Russell Buck
Secretary / Webmaster: Dave Bock

Welcome Gentlemen and we look forward to following your leadership.

Rule Change Vote:

The October proposed rule change vote took place with 15 eligible voting members present.
Four out of 8 changes were passed and are being updated to begin enforcement in November at the start of the 2020 Season.

To paraphrase:
1. September will be considered a summer tournament.
2. No more back-to-back partners month to month.
3. The Tournament Director loses his guarantee to take his boat but gains the opportunity to become a solo boater because he will not be paired first.
4. The Webmaster is guaranteed to take his boat.

Click to see Rule Change Voting Results

From the Tournament Director:

The Payouts were handed out for the September Tournament held at Fish River. Congrats to all those who received paychecks. Remember it is your responsibility to ensure you have up to date insurance on your boat prior to the monthly draw. The Tournament Director has the responsibility to enforce the rule as stated in our Tournament Rules. The draw was conducted with 15 members going in 9 boats for the two day Fish Off being held at Lake Mitchell.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:49pm

October means Fish Off! Fish Off means more money! Well at least for the top 10 that is and only if you were eligible. Of the 15 members going, we had 13 member eligible for the Fish Off. Everyone had a good chance of lining his pockets on this trip.

The drive up to Lake Mitchell was no caravan as some left Thursday, some left Friday morning, noon and afternoon. However, by Friday night everyone was safely tucked in their motel room beds listening to the ungodly snoring of their partners.

Saturday morning we woke up to temps in the 60’s with no wind and no dew on the boats at the motel but windy down at the ramp. The ramp was full with other clubs also trying their hand at catching them there Coosa River bass. After Blastoff, the rain started but at least it was not the gully washers we get down in Pensacola. In fact, it was a light rain and overcast all day long finally clearing up come weigh in time.

At the weigh-in, everyone caught fish. We had fifteen members out of 15 catch fish with nine limits caught. Sixty-five fish weighed in for 112.56 pounds. Leading the pack on Day one was Buddy Yates with a 10.69-pound stringer followed by Jeff Weaver with another bag over 10 pounds. Terry Smith with a nice 3.85 pound Coosa River Largemouth caught the Tournament Big fish.

Back at the motel, the cookout was superb! Dave Nason and John Buck did the cooking and the steaks just melted in your mouth. The baked potatoes were done this year to perfection and the salad was plenty. Everyone had a great time and it got even better when Jeff broke out the rum cake his wife Brenda made for us. As a non-drinker myself you could definitely taste the rum but that did not stop me from having some. Of course, if I would have known beforehand I might not have tasted it…but I am glad I did not miss out, as it was fantastic! Great Job Dave Dyess, Dave Nason, John Buck and Brenda Weaver! In addition, do not forget those who cleaned up. Thanks!

Day 2 we woke up to a little cooler temperatures with dew on everything. Sunday started out with cloud cover and some fog up north but by 9 o’clock the sun was out and the skies turned blue. That's when my crankbait bite went away too. Good thing I had my limit before then. At the weigh-in everyone one caught fish once again. 9 more limits and 65 more fish weighed. The total was 103.55 pounds. Lee Brannon’s 10.72 pound stringer was the heaviest of the tournament followed by Tony’s 9.39 pound bag. Buddy Yates was the winner of Sunday’s Big Fish pot with a 3.05 pound Hawg.

Overall we as a club we weighed in 130 fish totaling 216.11 pounds with 18 limits. Only 3 didn’t survive our weekend. I’m not sure how the other faired but I had the good fortune to cull up 3 times both days of the tournament.

Tournament Results:

Place	Hawg Hunter		Total Fish	Total Weight

Also Fished

Tournament Results:

1st Place

Lee was the only angler this weekend to bust the 20-pound mark as his 2-day total topped 20.24 pounds. Lee came into the tournament needing every point he could get to try and beat Jeff out of the Angler of the year spot. You can’t get no better that First Place! Believe it or not this is Lee’s first win this season. Earlier in the season he had two Second Place and one Fourth Place finish.

Great job!

Congratulations Lee!

2nd Place

Second Place went to Buddy Yates who started off leading the tournament on Day one but dropped slightly on day two. He did however have big fish on Day two. Buddy only fished 3 tournaments this season but he placed in the money twice. This time and back in April where he placed Third. Buddy’s two day total of 10 fish was 19.78 pounds.

Great Job!

Congratulations Buddy!

3rd Place

Tony also managed to hit the 19 pound mark for two days with 10 fish weighing in at 19.29 pounds. Tony finishes the season with 4 Top Four finishes. In addition to this third place finish he won the May Miller’s Ferry tournament and placed fourth 4th in two others. Tony’s final standing for the year was 8th place fishing only 9 tournaments.

Great Job!

Congratulations Tony!

4th Place

With 18.2 pounds for 10 fish Dave Nason rounds out our Monthly Tournament Top Four. Dave fished with Buddy Yates where they worked together to bring in almost 40 pounds of fish during the two day tournament. Dave had one other money slot tournament when he placed Second in June.

Great Job!

Congratulations Dave!

AOY Analysis:

Place	Top Six Hawg Hunters		Points

We Have a Winner!
Jeff Weaver is our New 2019 Season Angler of the Year!
Great Job!

Jeff started the season in 3rd back in November then climbed up to second for 4 months before taking over the top spot in April. In May he slid back to second but by June he reclaimed First Place and managed to keep it until the end. Lee almost caught him in August but Jeff held him off. Jeff only placed in the Top Four 3 times during the season and they were only Third Place finishes. So how did he do it? Consistency! Jeff caught at least 1 fish in all 12 tournaments he fished. No Skunk’s for him and he showed up every time! Something every one of us could do if we put our minds to it. Great Job Jeff and Congrats!

Last year’s Angler of the Year, Lee Brannon takes Second Place! Just 4 points shy of winning it back to back. What’s impressive about Lee’s finish is he skipped the February Tournament this year. Lee started the season with a Second Place finish and just now ended it with a First Place win at the Fish Off.

Third Place is John Russell Buck who started out strong at the beginning of the year but struggled to catch fish midway thru the season. John Russell did this in back of everyone else’s boat except maybe the two times he volunteer to bring his boat as we got short boated and didn’t want to leave anyone on the bank. It could have coincided with the two times he skunked. Making sacrifices for the club is noble indeed. John Russell took our money 4 times during the season starting out with a First Place in November followed by a Second Place and then two Fourth Place finishes.

Capturing Fourth Place in the AOY Race is Mack Cramer. Also impressive considering he missed a two day tournament and zeroed in two others. Mack went to the winner’s circle once during the season in July while also claiming two Second Place finishes.

Fifth Place position is John Buck. John had two wins early on in the season during the December and January tournaments. In addition, he also placed Third during the February and July Tournaments.

Closing out our Top Six in Sixth place is our newly elected President Kevin Simmons. Kevin only fished 9 tournaments this season and would of finished higher up possibly Fourth if he didn’t miss the crucial last tournament. Participation is a big element in the Race for the Angler of the Year and the Top Six standings. Oh and you have to catch fish too…. Kevin won the April tournament and finished third in January along with two Fourth Place finishes during February and August.

Great job to the Top Six on a Season well played.

CO-AOY Analysis:

Place	CO-Angler of the Year Race	Points
Gold
Silver
Bronze

John Russell Buck claimed the Co-Angler of the Year spot a couple of months ago. His strong start to the season ensured no one would be able to keep up with him. John Russell was the only other member besides Jeff Weaver who participated in all club events during the year. A perfect attendance record as a Teacher should.
Great Job on a title well earned!

Claiming the Silver Position is Terry Smith. Terry fished 9 out of 12 club tournaments and managed to take a little money home during the season with a Fourth Place finish in September.

The Bronze Position went to Dave Nason. Dave fished 7 tournaments and during two of them he took our money. He finished Second Place in June and then Fourth Place in October.

Great job to all our Co-Anglers! Sometimes putting up with us Boaters can be a pain but at least next season you won’t get paired with the same guy two months in a row.

Hero to Zero Nominee:

Last month our new club member Quinten Mengerink who won the September tournament with only 3 fish at Fish River choose not to fish with us at the Fish Off. Hopefully we didn’t scare him away with all the ribbing he took.
He actually missed out on a great tournament.