Team Trout Tournament 2009 Results

[Phil Lilley]

It was a tough morning for everyone. The first place team had only 2 trout in the boat at noon. Some called it quits because of the poor fishing and conditions but those who stuck it out had a good afternoon of catching.

Snow early and some wind even kept a few teams from starting until after 9 am! But 34 teams showed up and fished our little tournament.

Stopped snowing about 9:30 am but started again about 1 pm and that's when the trout started to bite.

Gerry and Bob Dwiggins of St Charles have proven once again that they are the guys to beat here on Taneycomo. Gerry is a 4 or 5 time winner of the Masters including this year with his partner Bruce Wucher. At the RAW a few weeks ago, Bob won with his partner Bill. This weekend is was all Dwiggins- both Gerry and Bob teamed up to win.

They are jig fisherman- period. No bait-- no never. Even in the RAW where bait was allowed they stuck with their jigs and caught good trout.

"If it wasn't on the bottom, you didn't get bit", Gerry told me after the weigh in.

Two more jig fisherman who have shared the podium are JD and Jerry Dudley of Fayetteville, Ar. They took 2nd place with Jerry catching the big rainbow- 1.48 pounds. I was sweating the finish after weighing in 3 rainbows at 1.30 pounds, fearing a tie would cause a stir. No tie break rules were in place for a 3-way tie so when Jerry brought his 1.48 lb rainbow up I was relieved.

Chris Tettrick and Tony Weldele, both area guides, took third place.

Gerry Dwiggins, Bob Dwiggins, JD Dudley, Jerry Dudley

Behind the scenes... lots of smoked chickens!

Jerry and Carolyn Lilley look on from a dry place.