Hi gang, Rick Ostler here from Used Pontoon Boats. While the sun was still sleeping at Jordan Lake, 174 bass boats, each decorated with a yellow ribbon and an American flag and arranged in flights of red, white, and blue, held fast as their occupants eagerly awaited the 7:30 a.m. take-off from the New Hope Landing to begin the third Warriors on the Water event, a bass tournament celebrating the efforts of the men and women who have served our country.
Each boat carried a volunteer boater who was taking a soldier fishing for the day. Some boaters came from as far away as Texas, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania to participate in the military appreciation event conceived four years ago by three Desert Storm veterans, Hal Abshire, Greg Lahr and Bob Cunningham.
At 6:45 a.m., a JROTC Color Guard marched along the elongated walkway to the dock. An invocation followed and then the singing of the National Anthem by Chief Warrant Officer 5 Charles King.
About 7 a.m., some raucous music and the cry of "Let's get ready to rumble!" thundered over the loudspeakers as three female members of the Golden Knights, a demonstration and competition parachute team of 90 men and women stationed at Fort Bragg, dropped out of the sky from an airplane. Each member slowly descended in a banana-colored parachute and landing safely at the back of a designated bass boat to the amazement of onlookers.
Soon, the first flight of boats took off, followed by subsequent flights. On their way out of the landing, the high-powered machines roared by a pontoon boat where media members scrambled to take photos of the passing boats, some shrink-wrapped in bright colors by fishing sponsors. Several occupants waved their caps at the cameras.
The bass fishing at Jordan may not have been as tough as the soldiers' military training, but it certainly was challenging as the fish were bedding and not biting. The participants tried to entice strikes with jigs, spinnerbaits and plastic baits by pitching and casting them at shallow-water shrubbery.
For some soldiers who hadn't wet a hook since childhood or who had never fished at all, their on-the-water experience resembled a boot camp in bass fishing as they discovered that flipping baits required as much manual dexterity as some military maneuvers.
At 2:30 p.m., the march to the weigh-in stand began with many contestants displaying more smiles than fish.
Sanford's Cory Williams, attired in a red, white and blue shirt, and his military partner, George Frank of Fayetteville, took top honors with 23 pounds, 6 ounces. They each received a trophy with the replica of an eagle mounted upon it. They also won a trip to the FLW Championship where they will be given VIP treatment.
Completing the top five teams were boater Richard Szczerbala of New Hope and Bobby Mathis of Claxton, Ga., second, with 15-09; boater Steve Gardner of Pinehurst and Kacey Peoples, third, with 13-06; boater James Wade of Fayetteville and Robert Drakes, fourth, with 13-00; and boater Kelby Waldrip of Bloomington, Ind., and Abey Torrez, fifth, with 11-08.
The second- through fifth-place teams received merchandise and/or free tickets to car racing events.
Boater Jerry Clay of Asheboro and Roger Adkins of Fort Bragg took the big-fish award of $300 with an 8-pound, 2-ounce bass. Boater Ronald Barker of Carthage and Ralph Sanchez of Fort Bragg claimed the second-biggest fish prize of $200 with a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass.
At the weigh-in, Rodolfo "Rudy" Hernandez, a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroics in the Korean War, was recognized.
After the event, many boaters and soldiers were ready to sign up for next year's tournament. Wow!
Steve Sink of Winston-Salem and Jack Pendergrass of Kernersville won Saturday's National Bass Circuit Tour event at High Rock Lake with 20.57 pounds and shared $1,500. They edged out the Salisbury team of Rodney Bell and Tommy Jones who had 20.45 pounds and earned $775.
The Lexington team of Orlando Giles and Tony Waterhouse took the big-fish prize of $70 with a 6.81-pound bass.
Lexington's Terry Wien won the co-angler big-fish award of $420 with a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass at the April 12 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Piedmont Division tournament at Kerr Lake. Tony Garitta is the fishing columnist for the-dispatch.com
Used Pontoon Boats, By Rick Ostler
Pontoon Enclosures-North American Waterway
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