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April 22, 2007  By all accounts the 2007 tournament was the best yet for the record fifty-five participants. First and foremost we thank the Good Lord for smiling on us with incredible weather and a beautiful lake next to the mountains. Temperatures in the 70’s with a light breeze and sun were a welcome sight after last year’s tornadoes. Official chef Jason Koch treated us to breakfast burritos, pancakes, barbequed chicken, shrimp and crab legs. Thanks to Purity Dairies for providing all the beverages. Tom Herring did a fantastic job setting up the weigh-in stage, PA system and everything else at the pavilion to allow the rest of us to fish. The facilities at the Lake Guntersville State Park were tremendous and thanks go to the Lake Guntersville State Park Convenience Store for extending their hours to accommodate our gas needs. The Super 8 hotel was also helpful for our overflow of participants and providing a room accessible for the physically-disabled folks and their families. Professional guides Troy Jens, Sam Bass and Wesley Black did a wonderful job in guiding our special guests from Hope Outdoors. Those three guys are awesome guides and tremendous examples of doing good works for others.
The fishing was also the best we have ever had. All participants were able to catch fish and a record number of keepers were brought to the scales. We would also like to thank BASS Elite Series pros Keith Phillips , Bill Lowen and Bradley Stringer for visiting with us and helping out. Their stories from the tournament trail and how they live their lives are a testimony to how much they love the sport of fishing and how they want to share it and introduce new people to it.
Zach Wesley won the Horizon Award given to the most intense non-boater and Derek Bell won the Best Sportsman award. Kendle Yates did well fishing for the first time the boater division in his new Triton from Clark Marine. We would also like to thank Trent Peterson from Clark Marine for participating and hope that his truck transmission gets fixed soon. All award winners will receive their plaques at the 2007 Wild Game Dinner on September 29th. Randy Howell of the Bassmaster Elite Series will be the keynote speaker. Thanks to all of those that drove a long distance to participate – Steve Hall from Acworth, GA, Lee Yates from Louisville, KY, Brad Betts from Asheville, NC. On Saturday night we learned more about the great work done by Hope Outdoors. Hope Outdoors participant Dylan Raney won a spinning rod and reel combo donated by Jason Sain . Castaway Rods donated two bait casting rods that were matched with reels given to Back40 by Scott Brummett. Hunt’s Outdoors, Secret Weapon, Berkley, Gambler Lures, Yamaha, BASS, Wesley Dentistry , Clark Marine and Triton boats all donated items as well. The 2008 dates are set for April 18th – 20th at the Lake Guntersville State Park. We have twelve cabins reserved which means we have room for around seventy participants. Mark your calendars now and invite others to attend.
 This was one of several eagles sighted during this year's tournament. |
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The boater division was incredibly competitive this year. 
The weights in the non-boater division were equally impressive. Barry Elkins weighed in five fish at 13.49 pounds. The winner of the division was Dylan Raney. Dylan, who fished with Troy, Sam and Wesley weighed in 14.66 pounds. Jordan Wheeler was third with 11.34 pounds.