On Saturday, September 20th, five of the area
pastors took to the water in search of the "Big 'un." A
few found them and a few lost them, but everyone had a blast.
Along with the beautiful weather came very tough fishing conditions.
The team of Ted Martin and Norman Cotton tallied the largest stringer of
bass with four keepers weighing 10lbs 2oz. The duo earns the
right to keep the "traveling trophy" all winter, but must put it up for
grabs next spring at the next Pastor Appreciation tournament.
Bro. Derrick Norris of Liberty Point Baptist Church claimed big fish honors
among the five pastors with a 2lb 6oz largemouth. After the
weigh-in, all competitors and their families, enjoyed a good BBQ lunch!
Results:
1st FOCAS Chaplain, Ted Martin
of Delmont Baptist Church fished with Bro. Norman Cotton, Youth
Minister of Liberty Point. Ted's pastor was unable to participate due
to an illness, so Bro. Norman proved to be a good "pinch hitter."
This role of "pinch hitting" is not a stranger to Bro. Norman since he often
delivers God Word at many churches in the area. This winning team
reported catching only 7 bass total, but 4 of them were keepers pushing them
them to victory.
2nd Steve DeCoursey fished with
his pastor, Derrick Norris. Both of these FOCAS members
represented Liberty Point Baptist Church. This dynamic duo went
to their "honey hole" to locate some bass. As a result, they
brought the only limit of 5 fish to the scales weighing in at 9lbs 4 oz.
In addition, Bro. Derrick captured the braggin' rights among the pastors
this time with a 2lb 6oz keeper.
3rd Faith Chapel General Baptist Church
in Hopkinsville was represented by Pastor Tim Baxter and Todd Ladd.
This team weighed in a pair of keepers tipping the scales at 3lbs even.
Bro. Tim, who was the first of three pastors to join the Cadiz Chapter of
FOCAS, reported catching plenty of fish, 41 bass to be exact, but like
everyone else, they couldn't locate the big ones.
4th FOCAS Vice President,
Bruce Higbee persuaded his Pastor Kevin Roberts into getting into
the boat with him. The Cadiz Baptist Church pair reported that they
caught several fish, but once again, the big ones were tough to find.
Bruce shared a funny moment in the day was seeing Bro. Kevin set the hook on
a fish and having only the handle of his rod remain in his hand.
Apparently the other five feet of the rod broke and went flying into the
water. They did manage one good fish, a 2lb 14oz keeper to avoid
taking last place!
5th Last place honors went the team
from Crossroads Fellowship. FOCAS President James Shelton
and Pastor Geoff Baggett had a motto of....."If it were not for
bad luck, we would not have had any luck at all." The team did
manage one 15" keeper, but to avoid embarrassment and harassment from the
others, they didn't even weigh it in. Here comes the fish
tale.....With 30 minutes remaining, Bro. Geoff hooked the "Big 'un", but
hooking and catching are two different things. The 6+ pound largemouth
leaped once, then went under the surface, only to break the line and never
to be seen again (except in Geoff's dreams).
