James Ferrell, and Jim Ferrell WIN!
Clinton Lake, May 26, 2007, by Carl Parks

The May 25^th Friday night meeting was held at the Weldon, Village Hall in Weldon, Illinois where the anglers were treated to a spaghetti dinner with garlic bread and lots of pie for dessert. Thanks to the Spaghetti shop in Champaign for helping us out and to the village of Weldon for letting us use their facilities Friday and for the next three Friday night meetings. There were thirty five people there Friday that heard our director Carl Parks give a message from the Word of God about the “Parable of the Sower” and the “Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” that is out of the book of Matthew chapter 13:1-30. In  this chapter it talks about the ground of a person’s heart and how tillable it is. When the seed is planted does it get taken immediately? Does it spring up and then get scorched by the sun? Does it get choked by the worries of this life? Does it produce a crop? Does your heart have good soil for the seed to fall on? Afterward there was a young man who gave his life to Christ and eight people who rededicated their lives to Christ. PRAISE THE LORD!

Saturday Morning there were twenty teams who took to the water with the hopes of coming back with the winning limit of Bass to take the first place prize money. The conditions Saturday morning were calm, but the forecast called for thunderstorms throughout the day. After all the boats’ live wells were checked, we had a word of prayer to our Lord for safety and a bountiful catch for all of our anglers. God heard our prayer and blessed us with an awesome day of fishing. Not only did He keep the storms at bay but He also blessed us with a bountiful catch. Who says God doesn’t answer prayer? God hears the prayers of His people. Out of the twenty teams that were competing, fifteen teams brought a limit of Bass to the scales. It was an exciting time at the weigh-in with team after team stepping up onto the stage to see if their limit was good enough o take first place. 

After all was said and done, the father and son team of James Ferrell, and Jim Ferrell took home the win with five Bass weighing 17.77 lbs. They caught 3 keepers on black neon tubes in 2 to 8 feet of water and 2 were taken on black power worms. They were fishing main lake wood and also in the back ends of coves. Also taking second Big Bass with a Largemouth that weighed 5.40 lbs. Their total winnings for Saturday were $1,115.00 and First place plaques. They also received two Esox rod coupons valued at $150.00 each for the purchase of an Esox fishing rod. 

Second place was awarded to the husband and wife team of Marlan and Debbie Brown from the Joliet , Illinois area with five Bass that weighed 16.59 lbs. With their biggest fish weighing 4.51 lbs. Their total prize money was $585.00. 

Third place goes to the team of Bryan Thrasher from Mansfield and Jeff Henson from Bloomington with five fish weighing 16.30 lbs. They received $414.00 for their efforts. 

Fourth place and our final money spot went to the team of Bryan Williams of Mahomet and Michael Sanders of Monticello with five fish that weighed in at 15.75 lbs. And also taking the Big Bass prize with a Largemouth Bass that weighed 5.61 lbs. For their efforts they received Fourth place prize money and the Big Bass prize money totaling $336.00. Bryan Williams also received the Big Bass plaque. 

Fifth place was the team of  Tim Potts of Clinton and Justin Williams from Wapella with another limit weighing 15.66 lbs. 

Sixth place was the team of Billy Caudill from Oakwood and Rod Caudill from Collison with a limit of five Bass weighing 14.39 lbs. 

Seventh place was the team of Terry Potts of Clinton and Ian Estes from Mahomet with yet another limit of Bass weighing 14.07 lbs. 

Eighth place goes to the team of Troy Boley of  Seymour and Terry Adair of Farmer City with yet another limit of  Bass weighing 13.88 lbs. 

Ninth place was the team of Travis Boley of Weldon and John McKinney of Mahomet with a limit of Bass weighing 12.90 lbs. 

Tenth place was the team of Mark Busch and Dee Hobbs both from Yorkville, Illinois with a limit of five Bass weighing in at 12.47 lbs. 

Eleventh place was the team of Mike Barnes of Mackinaw and Jay Peterson of Clinton with five fish weighing 12.33 lbs. 

Twelfth place was the team of Bob Nelson and Jack (Bass) Peplow both from Danville with five fish weighing in at 12.26 lbs. 

Thirteenth place was the team of Bobby Hawes and Tom Followell both from Clinton with five fish weighing 12.18 lbs. 

Fourteenth place goes to the team of Kevin Cupp  of Mansfield and Brent Sporleder from Fisher with five fish weighing 11.60 lbs. 

Fifteenth place was the team of Jason Waldschmidt  from Pontiac and Chris Hall of Mattoon with our final limit of fish weighing 10.80 lbs. 

Sixteenth place Jeff Cooley of Clinton and Brandon Baker of Bloomington with four fish weighing 10.48 lbs. 

Seventeenth place was the team of Art Griggs from Pontiac and Dave Blume from Bloomington with three fish weighing 8.51 lbs. 

Eighteenth place was the team of Lester Brown and Darlene Eaton both from Barry, Illinois with three fish weighing 4.80 lbs. 

Nineteenth place was the Team of Kyle Hess from St. Joseph and  William Fields with one fish weighing 2.87 lbs. 

Twentieth place was the team of Dan Reynolds of Weldon and Ryan Kopp  of Farmer City.

Our next tournament will be a Legacy Series ( Adult/Junior ) tournament on June 9^th at Clinton Lake and the Friday night meeting June 8^th at the Weldon Village Hall at 6:30 PM. Membership for the Legacy Series is $25 per team and $75 entry fee per team. Pay out is one place per every three boats entered.

Our next Team Series event will be June 23^rd at Clinton Lake and the Friday night meeting June 22^nd at the Weldon Village Hall 6:30 PM. Annual membership for the Team Series is $35 per angler or $70 per team and an entry fee of $150 per team per event. Pay out is one place per every five boats entered.

For more information on any of our events please contact the Central Illinois Director Carl Parks at 217-621-1386 or e-mail carlparksy@aol.com or visit the national web-site at www.fomntt.com

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our local sponsors for their support and donations to our ministry. Clinton Walmart, Victory Christian Center in Urbana, The City of Clinton, The Clinton IGA Food liner,  Peterson Insurance, Kathy Look with American Home Loans. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to our ministry please make checks payable to “Fishers of Men” 204 Wilsey Ln. Sidney , Illinois 61877 . Thank you and God bless.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fine companies that make Fishers of Men possible; Triton Boats, Mercury, Shakespeare, All Star Rods, Pflueger, Strike King Lure Company,  XTools, Solar Bat, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Keelshield, MotorGuide, SOSPENDERS,Marshall’s Marine Lake City SC, Kistler,  All-Terrain Tackle, Dual Pro Charger,  Lowrance, Buckeye Lures,  Stanley Jigs,  Deka Marine Master Batteries, Spike-It, Jacobs Glass, Hooah Energy Bars, Poor Boys Baits, T&H Marine BASS Rx, and Keep Alive