“The fish have turned on down here,” said Bobby Berry who will bring his popular Berry’s Team Tournament Trail to Lake Sinclair Saturday for the fifth tournament of the series. The Berry’s Trail holds eight tournaments on Oconee and Sinclair Lakes.

“They have been wearing the fish out on both lakes,” Berry said. “It took over 20 pounds to win the last tournament on Oconee March 9. There was a bass club tournament on Sinclair this past weekend, the Georgia Youth Tournament, and it took over 22 pounds to win it.”

Berry noted that the top three in the March 9 tournament on Oconee weighed in 20.25 pounds, 20.24 pounds and 19.23 pounds respectively.

“They’ve been catching some good fish, some up to 7 pounds,” said Berry, who added that the Berry’s Trail is more popular than ever.

“Things have been going great for us and we seem to be growing good. We had 150 boats at the last tournament and we have been averaging about 138 boats a tournament. We are bigger than last year,” he said.

“Most of the people who fish our tournaments live within driving distance. They don’t want to travel any more. They can’t afford the gas so they are staying close to home,” he said. “They don’t have to pay motel fees to fish with us. They can leave out at 4 o’clock in the morning and just show up.”

Founded in 2003 by Bobby Berry and his two sons, the Berry’s Tournament Trail is unique in that all eight of the tournaments, plus the season-ending classic, are held on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair. Four regular season tournaments are held on Oconee and four are held on Sinclair, with anglers having to fish at least five tournaments to qualify for the classic, which means they have to fish both lakes at least once.

Anglers pay a $160 entry fee per boat with 75 percent paid back in cash the day of the tournament, while 12.5 percent is held for the Angler of the Year team award and the Classic.

The 2013 Classic will b held June 1-2, with the first day of competition held on Oconee out of Sugar Creek and the second day on Sinclair, out of Little River.

Berry’s Team Tournament Trail

Sat, Mar 30, 2013

Lake Sinclair

Little River Marina

Call 770-787-6179

www.berrysbass.com