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Raystown Lake Pennsylvania Fishers of Men Tournament

PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:27 pm
by JackSprat
Contests separate the winner from all the other participants [notice I didn’t say losers.]

Participating in contests teaches us how to be a gracious winner and how to accept “not winning” with the right spirit.

Fishing contests are just plain fun. Sure someone wins, but the real loser in a fishing contest is the fish.

Fishing contestant/angler is on one side and the target fish is on the other side.

Everyone wants to catch the biggest fish or the most fish for sure, but everyone wants a big fish to be caught too and there is nothing worse than a fishing tournament with no fish “weighed in.” The anglers are tired and frustrated and the spectators are disappointed. If that happens, the fish win!

The Fishers of Men Legacy Tournament at Raystown Lake began Friday with a cookout at the Seven Points Recreation Area Pine Shelter, moved to the James Creek Boat Launch at daybreak the next morning, and also ended there at noon on Saturday for the fish “weigh in.”

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Participating angling teams were Ryan Brown & John Greene from Hollsopple, Dennis and Benjamin Tawney from Stoystown, Sean and Dylan Trovato from Summerhill, Jamie and Hayden Ferdarko from Dubois, and Stephen Grasser of Johnstown and Jason Porter from Morrisdale. All are central Pennsylvania towns.

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Overall, I can tell you that the fish lost and the anglers won. The anglers had a picture perfect cookout with weather that most people only dream about – good food, great fellowship, clear skies, 70’s, and low humidity. The morning start began with great weather and an enthusiastic field of anglers. Safety ruled the day and all boats returned to the dock as planned. The five participating teams caught 8 bass weighing 12.67 pounds of total weight.

Anyone who fishes Raystown Lake on the backside of a cold front knows these anglers worked hard and did well. The bite was tough, not all hooked fish were landed, and the lake was packed with pleasure boaters. No excuses - just the facts.

As per the rules, they recognized one angling team [Dennis & Benjamin] for catching the greatest weight and one individual angler [Benjamin] for catching the biggest fish - a little shy of 3#. And everyone, anglers and spectators alike, enjoyed the outing.

All losing fish were safely returned to the lake.

I invite you to visit my story blog at http://www.storytrax.com/node/822 to see many more images and view several videos taken during the event at the evening picnic, morning boat check and weigh-in.

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