DALE HOLLOW-Local angler Michael “Smiley” Savage took back-to-back ‘smallmouth-only’ victories this past weekend by carrying a big smallmouth to the scales here Thursday night at Dale Hollow Marina and Saturday night at Star Point Resort.

He captured the first win with his son Colby and the second to top off the weekend with his partner Brandon Cross.

With the two fish from this past weekend, Savage has weighed in three fish over the 21-inch mark in the last four smallmouth tournaments over the past two weeks.  The third handed him second place in last week’s Thursday night event.

 

Savage tops field with a 4-pounder Thursday night

CELINA-Michael “Smiley” Savage started his run of consecutive “smallmouth-only’ wins last Thursday night here at Dale Hollow Marina when he and his son Colby produced the heaviest of four fish over 21 inches long brought to the scales by the 27-boat field.

They won the $216 first-place prize by the slimmest of margins with a trophy smallmouth weighing in at 4.08 pounds.

Claiming the runner-up spot was the team of Terry Torbett and Thomas Weaver.  They pocketed $162 with a big fish weighing 4.00 pounds.

Just behind them, Shane Roberts and Rick Copas finished third with another over 21 inches long weighing 3.97 pounds.  They won $108.

The final paid position worth $54 went to Danny Stone and Jay Halfacre.  They jumped into money-winning position with two good fish under 16 inches long weighing a total of 3.77 pounds. The final fish over the top side of the limit was caught by Ronnie “Beartrack” and Matt Poindexter, but only tipping the scales at around 3.5 pounds–it didn’t have the weight to put them in the top four.

The series continues this week and the Smiths welcome anybody interested to come fish.

The tournaments start at 7 p.m. and participants return to a 11 p.m. weigh-in.  The entry fee is $20 per boat.

The series also features a ‘big fish of the year’ pot that has begun this year with a $10 one-time fee.  Currently there are 56 individuals participating and Savage’s 4.23-pound fish is now in the lead.

For more information about the competitions, call Steve Smith at 823-5746 or Jeff Smith at 823-4233.

 

Savage finishes weekend with Star Point win

BYRDSTOWN-Making it back-to-back ‘smallmouth-only’ wins, Michael “Smiley” Savage took the top spot with his partner Brandon Cross here Saturday night at Star Point Resort with another smallmouth over 21 inches long carrying him to the victory.

He and Cross paired a fish under 16 inches long with the 3.99-pound top-side keeper to win the first-place prize of $272 after finishing with a total of 5.30 pounds.

Second place and $204 went to Miles and Dale Choate, who weighed in a big fish for the second week in a row.

Like last week, they were unable to come up with a small kicker to put them over the top.  Their trophy smallmouth weighed in at 4.36 pounds.

Making a return to the list of money-winners, Benny McBride and Jim Gunter took the third spot and $136 with two small fish weighing 2.79 pounds.

Blake Smith and Daniel Abbot followed suit with another small pair tipping the scales at 2.75 pounds to take fourth and $68.

The tournament series is one of the biggest smallmouth-only weekly competitions held on the lake and it features a $40 entry fee and 100% payback.

For more information, contact Roysden at 879-0555.

 

2nd Star Point ‘major’event set for August 1st

BYRDSTOWN-The second Star Point “Major” night tournament will be held here two Saturdays from now on August 1, tournament director Randy Roysden announced Monday.

The big tournaments are held three times a year during the season and feature a bigger pot and longer fishing hours.

The entry fee is $100 per boat and participants will fish from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m.

Roysden said he was hoping to draw 20-plus boats, which would make for some substantial purses for the top finishers.

For more information, contact Roysden at 879-0555.

 

Garrison and Scott win on Friday night

CELINA-Ernest Garrison and Jerry Scott teamed up to win the Friday night ‘any species’ tournament held here this past weekend at Dale Hollow Marina with a good pair of largemouth.

They took home $200 for first place and an additional $50 for their big fish topping the 3.5-pound mark.

The events are held from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., follow the ‘any species’ format, and feature a two-fish limit, a $40 entry fee, and 100% payback.  There is also an optional $10 big-fish pot each night.

For more information about the Friday night tournaments, contact Luke Sherrell after 6 p.m. at 258-3706.

 

August 5-fish event set for second Friday

CELINA-The third of a monthly series of five-fish-limit tournaments hosted by Friday night tournament director Luke Sherrell to compliment his regular weekly series will be held here at Dale Hollow Marina the second weekend in August.

“It will be on Friday night the 14th of next month,” Sherrell announced Monday.  “We have two good ones and are looking forward to this one.”

The tournament will follow the ‘any species’ format, where largemouth, smallmouth, and Kentucky spotted bass are eligible for the weigh-in.  Fishing hours will be from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. and there is a $10 big fish pot.

For more information about the Friday night tournaments, contact Sherrell after 6 p.m. at 258-3706.

 

Saturday night 3-fish tourneys done for year

CELINA-After a low turnout canceled last weekend’s Saturday night three-fish-limit event, tournament director Derrick Anderson announced Monday the series was coming to an end for the year.

“We’re going to call it quits for now, but hopefully we can get it started back next year,” he explained.  “We had good participation at times and still think it could be a good series.”

He also said he hoped to host a two-night event in the coming weeks in cooperation with one of the other weekly tournaments.

See a future edition of the HORIZON for more details.

•

If you have something you would like to see discussed in the Outdoor Notebook or have a picture of your trophy for publication, please contact Thomas Weaver at 243-4710 or email:  [email protected], or drop them by the HORIZON office on the square.  Pictures will be returned.