Howard Greenlee and James Burchfield won the first Tom's Marine tournament of 2013 with a 20.33-pound limit! The Tom's Marine Team Trail is holding its second tournament of the year Saturday on Cherokee Lake. This tournament was originally scheduled on Douglas Lake, said tournament director Richard McMaster, but with the PAA holding its first tournament of 2013 on Douglas Thursday-Saturday,…

Shane Stokes won Big Fish at 7.80 lbs at the Mar 9 Berry's tournament on Lake Oconee “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…

Combs bounces on into the boat. photo courtesy B.A.S.S./Daren Jacobson standings: http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2013-elite-series-falcon-slam/leaderboard Keith Combs brought in another 20-plus pounds today. And he maintained his lead for the 3rd straight day on Falcon Lake. But Rick Clunn showed the young guys how it’s done as he sacked the heaviest limit of the tournament so…

Kota Kiriyama goes to grab a big bass. photo courtesy James Overstreet/B.A.S.S. http://www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2013-elite-series-falcon-slam/leaderboard Keith Combs not only continues to lead the Bassmaster Elite Series Falcon Slam, he widened his lead today with a 28 pound, 1 ounce limit that gives him a 2-day total of 62-14. Edwin Evers brought 28-15 today to run his aggregate to…

Chris Lucas was “tickled to death” with the start of the 2013 Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail under a new two-division format for Virginia and North Carolina anglers last month on Smith Mountain and High Rock Lakes. “We had over 200 entries at Smith Mountain and we started out with 43 on the Carolina side down at High Rock,” said Lucas, tournament director for the Anglers Choice tournament…

Bass fishing on North Carolina's Lake Jordan has been tough recently and it's expected to be just as tough for the second stop on the Carolina Bass Challenge North Carolina Division this Saturday, said tournament director/owner Brett Collins. “Lately, there have been several tournaments on Jordan and a limit has been like gold. Cooler temperatures are moving in for the weekend, so we expect some…

The Denver Marine Monster Bass Invitational Spring Trail was canceled as of Tuesday morning when the tournament director left to pursue other interests. “It's just one of those things,” said Danny McCall at Denver Marine. “We don't have time to get a new director for the spring trail. I hate it – I had a lot of time and money tied up in it, but I have to do what I have to do at this point.”……

Randy Brown & Greg Burrell won the Championship in 2012 The Tom's Marine Team Trail kicks off the 2013 season on Cherokee Lake Saturday with a new wrinkle that is expected to provide additional incentive to the anglers. “I truly believe if it ain't broke don't fix it,” said Richard McMaster, tournament director for the highly successful tournament series, “but next year will be the 10th…

Shane Lineberger (left) and Hank Cherry are past champs of this tournament In the past 26 years the Jim Ledbetter Memorial Team Bass Tournament has become one of the largest charity bass tournaments on the East Coast and has raised more than $770,000 for cancer research in the process. “If cancer doesn't get you it's going to get someone you know and love,” said Curtis Barlowe, tournament…

Tony Jackson and Clint Jackson brought in 24.78lbs to win the first SC Division tourney on Murray The 2013 Carolinas Bass Challenge – SC Division – started out with a bang on Lake Murray Feb. 9 and the roar is only expected to get louder as the division moves to Lake Wylie Saturday for the second tournament of the season. CBC owner/director Brett Collins reported the total purse paid out at…

Hank Cherry at the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. Photo courtesy Bassmaster.com A year ago Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., had his eyes set on finishing high enough in the Southern Opens to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series and, hopefully, earning a shot eventually at making the Bassmaster Classic. He had finished 17th in the first Southern Open of the Year on the Harris Chain of Lakes in…

The winter weather – snow, freezing rain, freezing temperatures – doesn't matter; the fish are still eating in Smith Mountain Lake as the Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail prepares to launch the 2013 season with and expanded schedule to include both a Virginia and North Carolina Division. “The fish are still biting, no matter how cold it gets,” said Chris Lucas, Anglers Choice Marine Tournament…

Ken Ellis of Bowman, SC will be fishing the Everstart on Guntersville. Photo courtesy FLW Outdoors. After three days of practicing for the EverStart Series tournament on Lake Guntersville, Ken Ellis had caught four keeper bass. His practice buddy, Chuck Howard had caught three. On top of that, the Weather Channel was predicting some pretty nasty winter weather for the area this week. “It…

The nasty winter storm that blew across upper South Carolina and western North Carolina last week created havoc with icy roads and power outages across the region, but it also opened the door for more anglers to compete in the Carolina Coach and Marine Winter Trail Fish Off on Lake Norman this weekend. The icy conditions forced cancellation of the final Saturday Trail tournament last…

Kris Wilson of Montgomery, TX. Photo courtesy FLW Outdoors Kris Wilson of Montgomery, Texas, is looking forward to his second full year of fishing the Texas EverStart Series which kicks off Jan. 24 on Lake Amistad. He did pretty well in his first year on the circuit in 2012, claiming Angler of the Year honors with a top 20 finish, a top 10 finish and two top fives. He started off 2012 by…

The doors closed (temporarily) on Oconee Marine in December, but the Oconee Marine Team Trail lives on and the business will be back, at least part of it, by early March. “We closed the sales part for the time being,” said Mark Hannah with Oconee Marine. “We plan to reopen the service department around March 1 and we may even get back into boat sales this year. But our boat service will…

After several days early in the week with record warm temperatures a cold front is moving across the Southeast by this weekend, which should bode well for anglers fishing the North Carolina Bass Trail Spring Series which kicks off Saturday on Lake Norman. “Norman is a little bit odd,” said tournament director Mark Weaver. “When the weather cools down that is when the 18-pound bags come in,…

Bobby Jones and David Ellison won the 1st tournament Dec 8 on Sinclair Pat Fisher and Mark Holloway weighed in a limit of bass at 15.40 pounds to take 5th place in the Dec. 8 Berry's Team Trail tournament on Lake Sinclair by fishing very shallow and they hope to do the same in the second tournament of the series this Saturday, also on Lake Sinclair. “We caught all our fish in 2 to 3 feet of…

The Denver Marine Monster Bass Invitational Winter Trial should just get better and better in the new year, according to Anthony Williams with the Ranger dealership in Denver, N.C., which is hosting the Winter Trail on Lake Wylie. “We had 16 teams competing in the last tournament (Dec. 22). Our crowd is starting to pick up and we are getting a lot of new members starting to fish with us. We…

The weather this weekend may be just what the fishermen on Lake Wylie have been waiting for – cold! All fall, bass anglers have complained that it has not been cold enough to turn the fish on yet. But that could be about to change. It won't be a drastic change, but the forecast is for a nighttime temperature of 27 degrees with clear skies and a high of 56 degrees on Saturday. “It looks like…

Deacon Collins, tournament director for the American Bass Anglers Georgia Eufaula Division 12, is expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 boats for the qualifying tournament Saturday on Eufaula. “Normally we run about 30 boats this time of year and it can go up or down from that, depending on the anglers who show up,” Collins said. “You don't have to have a boat to fish the tournament,…