David Kirk and Wes Parrish captured the top prize in our season ending Tournament of Champions by overcoming tremendous adversity and withstanding a breathtakingly close weigh-in on the final day. The two-day tournament held at Liberty Reservoir on Sunday October 22 and 29, 2000 saw the continuation of a yearlong pattern of difficult fishing. The eighteen boats that competed in this years’ event combined for a meager total of seventy-nine fish weighing slightly less than one hundred and twelve pounds.

David and Wes have historically been very strong at Liberty Reservoir. Their vast experience on the lake compensated for a balky motor that forced them to scuttle their initial plans for the tournament. Instead, they fished in an area that they used to frequent, but recently had bypassed. It paid-off for the pair, as they narrowly edged the team of Scott Erisman and Kim Rutley for this seasons top honors.

The first day of competition, October 22, 2000 greeted our qualifiers with a spectacular autumn day. Clear, sunny skies and a modest breeze set the table for a comfortable day of fishing. However, it did not take long for the beauty of the day to be lost for some.

Only a minute or two into the tournament, the homemade motor of Kirk and Parrish failed as they made their way up the lake towards the northwest arm of the reservoir known as Morgan Run. Trying to make that lengthy run on their bow mounted motor would certainly take them an hour and a half or more. So they decided to go to an area around Pawnee Point, located much closer to the boat dock area. Once in position, David and Wes quickly caught a couple of largemouth’s on a white spinnerbait and the frustration over the disabled motor quickly disappeared. They added three more fish to the livewell through the day, and finished the first day in second place with 8.47 pounds of fish.

Meanwhile the team of Scott Erisman (pictured above left) and Kim Rutley made the long journey to the Cold Saturday region of Liberty Reservoir where the two finished in second place during a tournament earlier in the season. Powered by a Ray Electric Outboard motor, Scott and Kim patiently fished their pattern of points and foundations and ended the day with a tournament leading 11.86 pounds of bass. They landed six fish for the day, and had another four bites that they failed to convert.

Our most consistent team of the season, Larry Bertholdt and George Wilder went into Morgan Run and tied Erisman and Rutley for the most fish weighed-in on day one. The six fish that Larry and George caught only weighed 7.42 pounds. Still, that was enough for a third place standing, and well within striking distance for the following Sunday.

Last seasons T.O.C. Champions, Tom Brown and Walt Miciche began their bid to defend the title by fishing Foundation Row in Bollingers Run. The four fish they coaxed to the boat on this first day totaled 6.84 pounds and left them slightly more than five pounds behind our leaders Erisman and Rutley.

Rounding out the top five from Day One was the team of Randy Hill and Mike Gamber. Mike and Randy qualified together at Prettyboy Reservoir in September. They fished a main channel pattern around the Nicodemus Road Bridge area and caught five fish weighing 6.65 pounds.

The first day of competition saw fifty-two fish brought to the scales. The official weight of 74.98 pounds, while still below expectations, was approximately 22 pounds heavier than weighed in during our first visit to Liberty Reservoir this year. The largest fish of the day belonged to the team of Bill Constantine and Dale Davis. The 4.74-pound largemouth ranked as one of the largest caught this season, however it proved to be their only fish of the day.

The second day of competition dawned with dramatic contrast to Day One. Freezing temperatures and a steady northwest wind made contestants long for the previous weeks’ weather. Cool nights preceding the event dropped water temperatures approximately three degrees in seven days. And while the clear blue sky did let air temperatures warm to near 60 degrees by the end of the day, the fishing remained cool.

Following the success they enjoyed in the first round, the team of Kirk and Parrish made the tough decision to fish the same pattern on the second day. With their motor repaired, David and Wes fought the temptation to fish in Morgan Run as they had originally planned. Instead, they returned to the Pawnee Point area and managed to catch an equal number of fish as the previous round. However, these five fish were much smaller and only weighed 5.15 pounds. Their combined two-day weight was 13.62 pounds and edged them into first place 1.76 pounds ahead of first round leaders Erisman and Rutley. Now they had to sit and watch as the other teams presented fish to be weighed.

Larry Bertholdt and George Wilder started the day in third place just one pound behind Kirk and Parrish. They too announced that they had five fish to weigh in. Astonishingly, their five fish weighed less than five pounds. With 4.90 pounds, Larry and George lost ground to Kirk and Parrish and finished with 12.32 pounds of bass.

The team of Jim Lark and Gary Stahler were able to move up a couple of notches by adding two fish and 3.26 pounds to their first round total. They concluded the event with seven fish totaling 8.57 pounds. The team of Mike Farrell and Paul Koontz also made a move up. They nearly eclipsed the Lark and Stahler pairing by weighing in 3.57 pounds of fish for a two-day total of 8.55 pounds.

Tom Brown and Walt Miciche, in fourth place after the first day, and Randy Hill and Mike Gamber in fifth place, failed to weigh a single fish on the concluding day.

The team of Betty and Joe Markowski was unable to make the first round of the Tournament of Champions after Joe had a bad reaction to some new medication that was prescribed for him. Showing great determination and perseverance, they came to fish the second round if for no other reason than "to maybe catch a lunker". And when they presented their only fish of the day, a 3.95-pound largemouth, that is exactly what they had accomplished.

With only one team left to weigh fish, David and Wes felt that they had probably come up just a bit short in their effort to capture the crown. Scott Erisman and Kim Rutley needed only 1.77 pounds of fish to claim the championship. All eyes were on Scott and Kim as they retrieved their fish from the livewell.

Scott pulled one fish from the livewell and added it to the bag. Another fish would certainly put them over the top. Incredibly, there were no more fish in the boat. Kim had hooked a second fish of approximately two pounds late in the afternoon. The fish escaped when it jumped and spit the crankbait it had hit. Their lone fish weighed a mere 0.81 pounds. The total weight of 12.67 pounds left Scott and Kim in second place for the event.

As it always seems to work, when it is meant to be, it is meant to be. A motor breakdown during the first round actually provided the spark of genius that led to the victory for David and Wes. Scott and Kim will look forward to next season, as will the rest of us, with hopes of earning the top spot in our season ending event.

A. & S. Trucking Service, Inc. kindly sponsored the handsome plaques that were presented to our first, second and third place teams. In addition, David and Wes will be presented with their Champions jackets at our annual meeting in February.

As always we wish to acknowledge the generous contributions of our season sponsors Ray Electric Outboards, Inc. and Joseph Bertazon & Sons, Inc. In the background of the picture above is our new mobile Weigh-In trailer that the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. was fortunate to obtain thanks to our season sponsors. Thirteen of our eighteen teams in this event power their boats with Ray Motors. Ray is the leading producer of electric outboard motors in the world and we are very grateful for their continued support of our organization.

A great deal of the success the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. has enjoyed in the past two seasons is due to the wonderful support of our sponsors. It is only fitting that in our final newsletter of the season, we take time to thank all of our sponsors again.

Ray Electric Outboards, Inc. has been our season sponsor for each of the last two years. The new equipment / weigh-in trailer that we were able to obtain this season is a direct reflection of the contributions that Ray has made to our organization. We are greatly appreciative to have the largest manufacturer of electric outboard motors in the world as the headline sponsor of our organization. The Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. is also a great living advertisement for Ray Electric, as our membership shows an approximate 3 to 1 preference for Ray Motors over all other manufacturers combined!

We also wish to thank Joseph Bertazon & Sons, Inc. for joining us as a season sponsor this year. The addition of Joseph Bertazon & Sons, Inc. this season allowed us to receive our trailer a full year in advance.

This season we were fortunate to have five companies step forward as tournament sponsors. Our tournament sponsors are vital to our group as they offset the expenses that are directly attributable to each tournament. For the second season in a row Hunt Valley Motor Coach and Limousine Service has kindly served as a tournament sponsor. New tournament sponsors included J.B.J. Electric, Inc., Ashland Café – Best Breakfast, The Finishing Touch and Warwick Supply & Equipment Co., Inc.

Likewise, trophy sponsors for the 2000 season were a mix of new and old friends. Precision Tune Auto Care, Inc., Washington Homes Inc., the Girod Family and Modernized Plumbing and Heating, Inc continued their support this season as they had done last year. Also, for the second straight season, A. & S. Trucking, Inc. sponsored our Tournament of Champions trophies. First time trophy sponsors in 2000 included Chesapeake Towing, Phoenix Drywall Inc. and J.M. Barron Inc.

We also wish to thank all of the companies and individuals that provided us with refreshments for the season. D. & S. Body & Fender Shop, Inc., Hebbville Auto Repair, Inc. and Walt Miciche sponsored our first three events of the season. Dana Seipp, and Wooden Brothers, Inc sponsored the second half of the season.

A very special thanks goes to The Fishin’ Shop for being a prize sponsor in all six of our qualifying tournaments. In addition, they also let us draw our starting positions in their shop through the course of the season. Thanks too, to Old Reisterstown Bait and Tackle for the donation of a gift certificate in our first event.

The Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. wished to express our gratitude for all our sponsors’ generosity this season. We wish each and every one of our friends a Happy Holiday and a wonderful New Year!

Even though this year is not quite over, we are already working on the plans for next season. Ballots for the Board of Directors elections and our annual survey will be sent out in conjunction with this newsletter. We will begin to line up sponsors for next season and will apply for our Right of Entries for the tournaments.

Along those lines, please mark Sunday February 25, 2001 on your calendar as the date of our next Annual Meeting. You will receive further information regarding this meeting in late January or early February.

As President of the M.R.A.I. Board of Directors I wish to thank the other Board members for their work during the past season. As our organization has grown, so have the duties of the board. This past season presented more challenges than in any year in the past.

First, let me thank our other officers, Vice President Dana Seipp and Secretary Kim Rutley. Dana and Kim have served on the Board for the past three years, and are up for re-election this year. I am very pleased that they decided to run for another term.

Bruce Corbin was serving in his second year of a three-year term when he resigned from the Board of Directors in September of this year. Thanks Bruce, for your dedication and insight that you gave to the Board. I wish you well.

Waino Anderson, Tom Brown and Randy Hill completed the first year of their three-year term this season. In addition to their normal duties, these three members worked particularly hard to secure sponsors for our organization.

There is another list of members that need to be recognized for their support of this organization. These are people that either dedicate their time to assist in putting on the tournaments, secure sponsors for us or own companies that have sponsored the M.R.A.I. Let us thank John Baker, Kern Ducote, Walt Miciche, and Jim Belcher. Also included on that list are Bobby Standiford, Emory Standiford, John Barron and Craig Gordon. In addition, thank you to everyone who helped in setting up the equipment and then taking it down at our tournaments on one or more occasions. I also wish to express my gratitude to the many people that have saved or collected the film canisters that are used for the livewell additive distribution. On behalf of the club, I wish to thank everyone for your contributions in making this season such a great success.

Looking back at our 2000 season, we would have to admit that the fishing left a great deal to be desired. With the exception of the August 6 tournament at Loch Raven, we probably experienced the toughest overall tournament season in recent history. Clearly, this affected our tournament turnouts.

The second half of the season saw us average almost a boat and a half less per event than in the first half. After all, everybody gets tired of going out and not catching fish sooner or later! For the year, we averaged thirty-six boats per event. That is the exact same number of boats we averaged in 1998 although it is a drop from thirty-eight and a third boats per event last year.

Even so, the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. arguably had its best season yet. Our sponsors enabled us to maintain and even enhance our tournament presentation this season.

As done last season, we have continued to provide refreshments at each of the qualifying tournaments. Also, everyone was supplied with livewell additive at all the events. We have continued the tradition of awarding plaques to our top three finishers at each event, as well as our special season accomplishment awards. In addition we publish this newsletter that is filled with the latest information on our organization.

Further, we were able to increase the amount of consolation prizes awarded at the end of each event from the previous season. The website continues its’ development, with an ever increasing amount of traffic checking out the site. In September, the latest month we have statistics for, our site had 3,988 hits for the period. Then, of course, there was the addition of our weigh-in trailer. This will be a valuable asset we will enjoy for many years to come.

Let’s not forget about the tournament prize money either. In addition to all the other benefits previously listed that are not included in this computation, the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. for the third straight year paid out more than 100% of the entry fees that we received! That’s right, even after the cost of running the corporation (accounting fees and supplies), postage, insurances, tournament fees, signs for our sponsors and the cost of renting the hall for our annual meeting, we paid out more money to our tournament winners than we took in from entry fees.

In fact, if you were to take the prize money awarded, and just add in the money spent for the refreshments, livewell additive, trophies and consolation prizes awarded (all giveaways that go directly to our members), we distributed over $500.00 more than we received in dues and entry fees combined!

In conclusion, while the fishing season may have been less than an overwhelming success, the organization, and its’ members flourished. Remember, your support of the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. is vital to our continued success.

As we get ready to head into our winter hibernation, take a minute to check out the fun and rewards to be had at our first "event" of each season. Since 1996 we have had anglers provide their knowledge and expertise at the Lutherville-Timonium Recreation Council Fishing Rodeo.

Each year the event is held at the County Home Park in Timonium, a week or two before the opening of the bass season. We help teach the kids how to tie a basic rig, give some assistance with casting, and offer any other knowledge or advice they require. We also keep track of the catches in order to award prizes, and we conduct a casting accuracy contest. It lasts from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and many of the volunteers bring their rigs along and go to Loch Raven afterwards.

Keep this in mind for the coming season. We will take all the volunteers that wish to help out. This is always a great day, and one of the most important things we can do as a group. In this day and age when there are protest groups trying to discourage people from fishing, we need to encourage and teach the young children the virtues and benefits of fishing. Also, if you have any old fishing trophies or plaques that you no longer want, the Rec. Council will gladly accept any donation. They will have new name plaques put on the trophies and award them to the children.

Here are a few more pictures from the Metro Reservoir Anglers, Inc. 2000 Tournament of Champions.