CELINA-The Kevin Watson Memorial Fishing Tournament will blast off here at Horse Creek Resort Saturday morning, April 11 to benefit the late honoree’s family.

The 41-year-old Watson recently lost a long battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife and three young daughters.

“A few of Kevin’s close friends have asked us to help organize a tournament in his honor to help ease some of the financial burden put on the family through this tough time,” Preston Moore of dalehollowfishing.com said on the website.  “We hope all local anglers will answer the call to help out and come fish this benefit tourney.”

Moore explained the entry fee will consist of $50 per boat, all of which will be donated to the Watson family.

“The top three finishing teams will get a plaque and a waterproof GPS map of Dale Hollow,” he said, “and all who participate will receive free BBQ after the weigh-in.”

The tournament will follow the ‘any species’ format, where largemouth, smallmouth, and Kentucky spotted bass will be eligible for the weigh-in.

The event will blast off at approximately 7 a.m. and the weigh-in will be held at 3 p.m.  For more information about this event, visit www.dalehollowfishing.com or call Dale Hollow 1-Stop at 243-2636.

First DHF Copeland Classic set for last weekend in April

CELINA-The First Annual Dalehollowfishing.com (DHF) Copeland Classic will be held here Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25 at the Pleasant Grove Recreation Area on Dale Hollow Lake and event organizers hope to see 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 now and help us make this one of the biggest tournaments this lake has ever seen!”

He 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.  Also, watch the HORIZON for more about the event in the coming weeks.

East Clay Fire Department tourney set for next Saturday

WILLOW GROVE-A five-fish limit tournament will be hosted here at Willow Grove Resort Saturday, April 18 by the East Clay Voluteer Fire Department.

The entry fee will be $50 per boat and the payback will consist of $300 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place.  All other proceeds will go to the department.

Registration for the event will begin at 6 a.m., blast-off will follow at 7 a.m., and participants will return to a 3 p.m. weigh-in.  For more information about this tournament, call 823-0102 or 397-1827.

Netminders tourney won with just under 9 pounds

CORDELL HULL-Bobby Richardson and Terry Jared won last Saturday’s Netminders fishing tournament held here at Granville Marina with a total weight of 8.97 pounds.

They took home the victory from the 28-boat field, but only did so by a slim margin.  Second-place finishers Joe and Ryan Harp, who had 8.46 pounds, fell just shy of the victory.  

Third place went to James Harris and Matt Julian, who weren’t far behind with 8.40 pounds.

The big fish award went to Ausin and Mike Allen for their 5.95-pound lunker largemouth.

Netminders will continue their series Saturday, April 18 at Martin’s Creek Ramp on Cordell Hull Lake.  For more information about the tournaments, visit trinitynetminders.com.

Dale Hollow BFL and Center Hill event results next week

UPPER CUMBERLAND-Results from both the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Dale Hollow and the State Bass Championship on Center Hill will be found in next week’s Outdoor Notebook.

The BFL event featured well over 100 boats and several area fishermen fared well in the tournament held at Star Point Resort on the upper end of Dale Hollow.

Many other anglers were seen at Ragland Bottom on Center Hill for the Fourth Annual Bank of Putnam County Tennessee State Bass Championship.

Both events followed the ‘any species’ format and paid out big sums of money to the top finishers.

For more information about the BFL tourney visit www.flwoutdoors.com and for details about the Center Hill competition go to www.tnbasschampionship.com.

TWRA reports fishing to be fair here on lake

DALE HOLLOW-The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency’s (TWRA) fishing report of April 2 showed fishing to be fair here for the second week in a row.

The agency said the lake level was on the rise, and reported the water temperature to be in the mid-to-lower 50’s.

It showed a few good smallmouth were being caught while using live bait, jerkbaits, and crankbaits on gravel banks in 5 to 15 feet of water.

It said largemouth fishing was good while flipping bushes with soft plastics and spinnerbaits.

The information explained crappie fishing was slow, but showed several shellcrackers and bluegill coming on nightcrawlers near bushes in 4 to 8 feet of water.

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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.

TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS-Derek Houser and Josh Luther Young of Livingston are pictured with the winning catch of a recent Triple Crown fishing touney held at Sunset Dock in the Obey River of Dale Hollow Lake. Young and Houser fished near the Obey bridge to boat their catch of largemouth and a spotted bass to secure their prize. According to Houser, the fish were taking crankbaits on secondary points. (Photos submitted)

LUNKER LARGEMOUTH-Tim Emerton of Livingston recently caught this 6.1-pound largemouth on a chatter-bait while practicing for the BFL tournament on Old Hickory Lake. He said he landed and released it in the Cedar Creek area of the lake.