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Page 8 the valley star June 28, 2012
OUTDOORS with Danny Johnson
Fishers of Men Tournament on Wheeler Lake
Danny
Johnson
With the
dog days
of summer
well underway
the river water is
reaching the low
90’s. This summer
occurrence will
ush the bass into deep water.
ish will go as deep as possible to
scape the hot surface temperatures
and clear water. The most
important factor in determining
the depths in which big bass
school is oxygen concentration.
The bass will seek a comfort zone
to hold up that has baitfish and a
avorable therocline. Using side
cans or down scans found on
ome of the latest electronics help
nglers pin point the exact depth
t which to present their lure. The
ey is to fish the bait through the
epth the fish are holding in.
he participants of the Fishers of
en trail competed June 22,
012 on the 67,000 acres lake
e call Wheeler. This trail has a
ery competitive group of anglers.
he trail allows fishermen to fish a
hoice of different lakes. Wilson,
ickwick, Wheeler, and Guntersville.
Each lake takes on its
own identity and requires a different
fishing technique and lures to
be successful.
The tournament on Wheeler Lake
was the last tournament of the
2012 season and won by the
team of Marty Duncan of
Lawrenceburg, Tn. and local business
owner, Jerry Lawler, of
Athens. The team brought a bag of
bucketmouths that rocked the
scales at 19.26 pounds. The Duncan
& Lawler team also won the
Fishers of Men May tournament
that was held on Wheeler. These
boys have got the Wheeler fish figured
out. The second place team
of Lynch & Hogue were nipping at
the first place team with 18.80
pounds. Battles and Moody finished
third place with 18.05
pounds. These were some big
bags for late June.
Ernie and Ryan Darracott
This last tournament was sad for
many by the retiring of Carl Darracott,
tournament director. Darracott
and his family have been
running the trail for the past seven
years. I have made friends with
Carl and his family by covering the
tournaments for The Valley Star.
The participants of the tournament
respect each other and Carl
did a great job with the Friday
night meetings and running of the
tournaments. We will sure miss
you and may God bless you and
your family.
Soap box voice: Local bass tournaments
have chosen not to allow a
dead fish to be weighed. This rule
is bad for the fishermen and the
lake resource - the bass. This
practice will cause fishermen to
discharge their dead fish back into
the lake and never bring them to
Jerry Lawler and Marty Duncan have another First Place finish on Wheeler Lake.
Team Chambers and Crow with
some nice largemouth.
the scales. This is a waste of good
edible fish. There is always someone
at the weigh in looking for a
mess of fresh fish. I suggest let
dead fish be weighed and dock
the weight with an 8oz. penalty. If
groups are willing to schedule
tournaments in the hot summer
Thanks to Carl Darracott, Fishers of
Men tournament North West director
for his past seven years of dedication.
months, please have a plan to
deal with the dead fish.