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Thursday Nites on Tillery
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2009
Thursday Nites on Tillery Kicks Off Big
March 12, 2009
Just when you think the waters of Tillery might be quiet, the Thursday Nites on Tillery gang hit the waters. In just two hours of intense and fast-paced fishing, seven boats competed for over $150 in prize money off Swift Island Landing.
Organizer, Bill Sowards has been bringing this crash course on bass fishing to Tillery for about five years now and the small entry fee is bound to attract many this year with times so tough. “We all just enjoy fishing,” he stated. “Some one always wins and it's pretty intense, but we just enjoy the weekly get-together.” Anglers pay just $22 to enter and $5 of that goes toward the Big Fish pot.
The first event of the season saw plenty of action as six of the seven boats competing weighed in. It seems like the fishermen who think they've “got it in the bag” always weigh in at the end and such was the case March 12th. Corey Gibson and Robin Parker knew they had a great chance and wandered up next to last out of the darkness around the weigh in station. Gibson, of Norwood, carefully lifted out his biggest catch, an 8 pound 2 ounce haul that eventually won Big Fish for him. Fishing partner Robin Parker was all smiles.
The final crew to step up won the event. Rodney Gooch and Brad Humphrey, both of Troy, dropped 14 pounds 2 ounces of bass into the basket for weighing. Their efforts lead to the $120 pay off for the night. “We went where we thought they'd be and where they have been lately, but all we got were small ones,” said Gooch. “That wasn't going to do it, so we moved.” That decision turned out to be the best idea of the night.
The Thursday Nites on Tillery is an open competition with no more than two people per boat. A three fish limit is in force.
According to co-organizer, Sam Lemons, the weekly tour is worth the small fee and effort. “This is for anyone who just wants to do some fishing on a Thursday evening. Nothing complicated... just fun.”
For more information on the series, contact Bill Sowards at 910-439-4280. The weekly event always blasts off from Swift Island and end times adjust with the light throughout the season.
Tillery Plays Well With Lemons X 2
April 2, 2009
It's Thursday night. It's raining and you only have $11 in your pocket. What to do? Sam Lemons knows as co-organizer of the Thursday Nites on Tillery group. Find a buddy who has at least $11 and convince him to enter the weekly bass competition off Swift Island, Tillery, with you. Lemons convinced Moody Lemons to go along and the two won their own tournament on the first Thursday night in April.
Right up until weigh in time, rain squalls hammered boats in the open competition, which all happens in a brief and intense two hours. Blast off happens at 6 PM and Weigh In is at 8. The group uses a three-fish limit. As boats lined up just off the docks, the final storm passed for the evening.
Team Lemons captured first with 9.45 pounds of bass. Second place winners were Robin Collins and Andrew Byrd who netted 7.75 pounds. Jerry Williams brought the biggest catch in for the evening with a 5.85 pounder.
For more information on the series, contact Bill Sowards at 910-439-4280. The weekly event always blasts off from Swift Island and end times adjust with the light throughout the season.
Gibson Team Wins 3.5 Hour Shoot Out
May 21, 2009
Three-and-a-half hours of intense evening bass fishing and two Gibsons... put them together and you end up with an over-three pound average, a victory, and Big Fish honors just to top it all off. The Thursday Evenings on Tillery group blasted of from the Swift Island Landing at their usual 6:30 PM with 19 boats searching for the ones that got away last time, but it was the Gibson Team that found green gold.
Ray and Brandon Gibson, both from the southern end of the lake (Norwood), pulled 10 pounds 9 ounces of bass from the waters and swept aside the early leaders, Dane Morris and John Blake, both of Albemarle. That team brought 10 pounds even to the scales early on and, until the Gibsons hauled their bag out of the darkness, it looked like they would wrap things up for the night.
Morris and Blake also brought in a 5 pound 1 ounce fish that lead for Big Fish, but, again, the Gibsons snatched that title away with a 5 pound 4 ounce fin. Morris and Blake settled for second place on the night.
Third place went to Rodney Gooch and Tammi Thompson who stuck 8 pounds 6.5 ounces in their livewell during the brief outing. The group has a 3 fish limit.
For more information on the weekly series, contact organizer Sam Lemons at 910-439-9004. The weekly event blasts off from Swift Island and end times adjust with the light throughout the season. Cost to join in is $22, which includes Big Fish Pot.
Gooch and Morris Walk Away With Thursday Brag Rights
June 25, 2009
Another picture-perfect evening to go bass fishing and the Thursday Nights on Tillery gang took advantage of the waning daylight on Tillery as fourteen boats turned out June 25th. The open competition is a weekly series where either one or two anglers are allowed per boat.
Blasting off from the Swift Island Access area at 6 PM, the crew hunts bass for three short hours, then returns to the scales. This week, a familiar team rose to the top, finding big fish in familiar haunts on the lake. Bill Gooch and Pete Morris were one of the last bags to come to the scales, narrowly edging out their closest rivals.
Gooch and Morris found two special fish that evening, the first given a complimentary weight check. That one touched the 5.2.5 mark, while a second found the 5.3.5 pound spot on the scales. Having that second big weight was enough to up their total bag weight to 14 pound 15 ounces. “Just another ounce,” laughed Gooch. “One more ounce and we would have had the fifteen pound mark.” Still, he seemed more than happy to accept first place for the night. The fishing partners nailed the $160 first prize payout as well as the Big Fish $70.
Second placers, Bernie Crump and, son, Brandon Crump had a limit of three fish all weighing in at or near the four pound mark. They settled for second place, winning $50. The competition uses a three-fish limit.
Neil and Josh Preslar gave Gooch and Morris a real run for the Big Fish award for the night. They bagged and netted a 5.1 hawg and everyone thought they had the honors wrapped up until the eventual winners chimed in.
For more information on the weekly series, contact organizer Sam Lemons at 910-439-9004. The weekly event blasts off from Swift Island and end times adjust with the light throughout the season. Cost to join in is $22, which includes Big Fish Pot.
Tillery Thursday Anglers Find Bass On Vacation
July 2, 2009
So now we know the bass of Tillery began their Fourth of July Holiday break before the weekend rather than after. The Thursday Nights on Tillery Open Series found it tough going two days before the holiday, as sixteen boats joined one of the last events before the long weekend.
Only a handful of anglers brought bass to the scales and all agreed... it wasn't an evening to remember. Few fish were caught and weights were low. The three fish limit saw a couple teams bring in that amount, but all were in the one-and-a-half to two pound range. Nothing seemed to work for the crew who knows the evening waters of Tillery so well. Even perennial favorites, Bill Gooch and Pete Morris couldn't find any size or numbers in their secret holes.
Seven pounds seven ounces ended up winning the brief run at the scales. Dwayne Saunders and partner, Robert, filed that bag into the records. Bill Brady's Big Fish weighed in at only 3.85 pounds.
For more information on the weekly series, contact organizer Sam Lemons at 910-439-9004. The weekly event blasts off from Swift Island and end times adjust with the light throughout the season. Cost to join in is $22, which includes Big Fish Pot.
Horne and Deberry Win Thursday Night Gathering
August 6, 2009
It wasn't a stellar bass performance, but the fourteen boat teams in the weekly Thursday Nights on Tillery Open have gotten use to traditional summertime results. While nine and ten pound bag weights are the usual winners in July and August, all competitors look for the night and week when things will turn around.
Last Thursday's results were at par with previous weeks as Jeff Horne and Kevin (Scott) Deberry walked home with 9.25 pounds of winning bass to capture the $160 first place prize. They also landed the Big Fish crown for the evening with Deberry's 5.15 pound solo catch. That purse paid the team another $70.
Second place went to a team that has been ever-present in the winning column this season. Greg Gooch and partner, Gary Abbott, added to their long list of wins and placements in area tournaments with a second place, 7.15 pound, bag total. Their take for the night was $50.
“We fished on the north end of the lake,” stated Deberry, “ and caught all three fish on plastic.” The pair noted that bite came late in the competition, well after the sun had set for the day. “It was a nice summer evening out there,” noted Horne. “I just wish we'd seen a little bit more action.”
The open series meets on a weekly basis on Tillery's Swift Island Access area, costs only $22 which includes Big Fish, and begins at 6 PM and fishes until 9 PM. Times adjust slightly with seasonal light. The intense three hours of fishing uses a three-fish limit. For more information about the group and to check start times, contact Sam Lemons at 910-439-9004. Bill Sowards co-directs the series with Lemons.
“Pete And Bill” Win Thursday Evening Tillery Event
September 3, 2009
There's one phrase spoken on the Yadkin Chain that strikes fear into the hearts of bass and, at the same time, identifies who fellow anglers will be donating their entry fees to at a competition. The words are synonymous with fishing skills and winning, and they carry a lot of respect. Everyone speaks the phrase, even the best fishermen in the area. The words, “Pete and Bill” are always uttered with some level of awe.
Pete Morris and Bill Gooch, a longtime bass angling team in the region, combined 120 years of fishing skills last Thursday evening at Lake Tillery to, once again, walk away with the grand prize of the event. The two, both in their seventies, have not lost an ounce of fishing fever nor skill as they make the local bass a life-long quest. On the first Thursday in September, they gave notice to the Tillery greenbacks that they'd be around for fall fishing.
The weekly Thursday evening series, run by Sam Lemons and Bill Sowards, uses the Swift Island Access, blasting off at 6 PM. A number of the Gooch family members usually fish the event, making it one of the toughest to win in the region. Anglers will continue to meet into fall months until interest wanes. “We usually stop when the guys hang up their gear for the year,” stated Sowards. “We'll keep going until we're done,” he laughed. Numbers are still strong for the group as ten boat teams turned out this week.
“Pete and Bill” worked the stingy waters for 9.6 pounds of bass that evening to grab first place. Morris also caught the solo bighawg, hauling a 4.7 pounder to the boat for Big Fish. Morris stated he caught the big one using a plastic worm on the north end of the pond. Much to the delight of those within earshot, that's about all the information he ever provides.
Proving good fishing runs in the blood, Rodney Gooch, son to Bill, captured second place with 6.75 pounds. “I have to work awful hard to beat Dad,” laughed Rodney after the scales closed. “Those two together are about impossible to beat.”
As scales and weigh in equipment were being stowed for another week, competitors stood around handing out some friendly barbs at the winners. From grins about 120 years, to using Geritol as bass sauce, the two took the jabs with a laugh. Everyone there knew and respected “Pete and Bill” and it was their way of saying so.
Registration for the “open” competition is done at the landing each week just prior to blast. A ticket to join in costs just $22 per boat. Times adjust slightly with seasonal light. The intense three hours of fishing uses a three-fish limit. For more information about the group and to check start times, contact Sam Lemons at 910-439-9004.