Page 3 - Crappie NOW - November 2018

Opening Cast

I admire the competitive old-timers
in crappie fishing. They fish year after
November 2018 EDITOR/ SR. WRITER year chasing top ten finishes and a
shot of the championship. There are
some great fishermen who have never
IN MEMORIAM won a championship or are looking for
another one. However, not winning the
big one is not a requirement to be put

WRITERS in the respected group of seasoned,
tournament fishermen.
Darl Black Then the unexpected comes along. Two young
Vic Attardo fishermen, Mathew Rogers and Baylor Mead, 21 years
Ron Presley old, topped the field of 150 of the best tournament
Vernon Summerlin fishermen in the country at the Crappie Masters
John Phillips championship. The Truman Lake event was a battle of
Greg McCain the jig pole fishermen because fish were pulled tight to
John Felsher cover.
Ron Wong So what’s unique about the young team winning? First,
they don’t have multiple decades of experience. Many
things can go wrong and often do. The more experiences,
good and bad, the better a fisherman becomes.
Rogers and Mead kicked a pole in the water and
struggled to land some fish. They felt the pressure but
didn’t let the small stuff bother them, often laughing at
themselves in the boat. Fortunately, no problem hurt
their chance to win.
What the younger team possesses is a fierce drive
to do well. They also used very advanced electronics
to help them position correctly on submerged wood
they couldn’t see. (Younger fishermen are usually much
better with sophisticated electronics.) The team had
worked hard during the year to learn Truman Lake. They
had also fished local tournaments and a national event

© Copyright 2018 there.

They were fun to watch on the water and they were
gentlemen off the water. I respect the old-timers who
have not won and deserve a victory, but it was refreshing
and exciting seeing the young men take the lead on day
one and hold on to take the title and about $34,000 in
cash. “All we were hoping for was a plaque of some
kind,” says Mead. “We had never won any until today.”

Fishing Funny’s....28 Well their dream came true in the form of plaques for
big fish and two huge championship trophy cups. I give
Cover Photo:
Justin Neuman and Daniel them big congratulations for a great tournament.
Pemberton pull a crappie from Good fishin’ & God Bless,
Missouri’s Truman Lake.
Crappie Calendar....35 Tim Huffman photo. Tim Huffman, editor/ senior writer

3 Crappie NOW November 2018