CELINA-The First Annual Dalehollowfishing.com (DHF) Copeland Classic will be held here this Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25 at the Pleasant Grove Recreation Area on Dale Hollow Lake and event organizers expect to see a good field of competitors and some big money up for grabs.

“If we hit our goal, we’ll have $15,000 in prize money, as well as some great door prizes,” DHF administrator and co-owner Preston Moore said on the website.  “We encourage everyone to get the word out and help us make this one of the biggest tournaments this lake has ever seen!” (CONTINUED BELOW)

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Photo above right: LUNKER LARGEMOUTH-Fishermen taking to the water in this weekend’s DHF Copeland Classic will be looking to land a fish like this one David Thompson of Moss caught earlier this month.  The goliath largemouth tipped the scales at 10 pounds, 8 ounces.  For more about how Thompson caught the fish and additional photos, visit www.dalehollowfishing.com.

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(CONTINUED FROM ABOVE) Moore explained Copeland Real Estate and Auction had recently committed to becoming the event’s overall sponsor, therefore the tournament would bear the name “Copeland Classic.”

“We are excited about having Copeland as our sponsor and we are looking forward to a great first event,” Moore said.

The format will be “any species,” allowing largemouth, Kentucky spots, and smallmouth to be eligible for the weigh-in and the entry fee will be $150 per boat.  All of the entry money will go towards the purse with the exception of a portion to be used for the polygraph.

“We are going to pay up to 10 places and offer two big-fish awards to be given away each day,” DHF co-owner and tournament director Steve Headrick explained.  “The winners will each get $250 per day per award.”

The big largemouth/spot awards will be sponsored by Harris Oil and the big smallmouth awards are being given by Punisher Lures and local author Darren Shell, who recently penned “The Big Ones”–a book about Dale Hollow’s top three world-record smallmouth.

For more information about the upcoming tournament and fishing Dale Hollow Lake, visit www.dalehollowfishing.com.

Results from a recent Triple Crown tourney

BYRDSTOWN-The overall winner from a recent Triple Crown tournament held here at Sunset Resort was the duo of Larry Allen and Johnny Phillips.

In the event, each team is allowed to weigh in one of each of the three species of bass which roam here in Dale Hollow Lake–smallmouth, largemouth, and Kentucky spotted bass.

Allen and Phillips took home money for the largest smallmouth–a fish under 16 inches long weighing 2.06 pounds, and the biggest Kentucky spot weighing 2.01 pounds.  Those two fish combined together also gave them the top total weight for the event with 4.07 pounds.

The heaviest largemouth prize went to Randy Loftis and Billy Gardner for their 2.69-pound bass.

See a future Outdoor Notebook for more information about these events as it comes available.

TWRA shows fishing to be “good” on lake

DALE HOLLOW-The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency’s (TWRA) fishing report of April 15 showed fishing to be good here.

The agency said the lake level was on the rise, and reported the water temperature to be 59 degrees on the surface.

It showed bass fishing to be good on spinnerbaits and jerkbaits around shallow cover.

It said several good smallmouth were being caught on live bait on flats in 10 to 15 feet of water.

The information explained crappie fishing was fair in the bushes on minnows in the rivers and also said many redear were being caught on nightcrawlers in five feet of water around bushes.

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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.