The Fishers of Men Maryland Division held tournament #5 out of the Dorsey Park Ramp on the Conowingo Reservoir. Our tournament followed a week of hot weather with daily temps in the 90’s and heat indexes over 100. All 15 teams brought in a 5 fish limit. First place was taken by Randy Gabel and son Joel Gabel filling in for his Mom Debra Gabel with an amazing 16.31 lbs. Rob Hager fished solo and placed second with a strong limit of 13.83 lbs. Third place went to Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht with 13.45 lbs. and the big fish of 4.47 lbs. Fourth place went to Paul Wiley and Jon Crans with 12.02 lbs. Jeff Pelkey and Ian Godwin had another strong showing with 11.84 lbs. Mike and brother Ray Saganich weighed in 11.42 lbs for 6^th place. Jody and Jonathan Werner came in 7^th with a limit weighing 11.17 lbs. We would like to extend our warmest welcome to the team of Jake Messer and Arnie Cooper who fished their first tournament ever and weighed in a limit for 6.76 lbs. on a tough fishery.

              This was the final event for the Maryland season. Tom and Jimmy Rufenacht were the Maryland State Points Champions with a three-point victory over the super consistent team of Paul Wiley and Jon Crans. The team of Jeff Pelkey and Ian Godwin had a great season and placed 3^rd. Long time faithful FOM competitors Bob Wolf and John Dell had a 4^th place season including a second place finish on the Upper Bay. 5^th place went to Joey Johnson and Brady Hobbs. New to the Maryland division this year was the team of Shawn Ramey and Evan Roache with one tournament win this year and a 6^th overall placement. 7^th place was Sean and son Rory Peddicord. 8^th place was Jacob VanDevander and Dylan Otte. The Maryland division qualified 12 teams for the District Championship which will be held on Smith Mountain Lake in Roanoke, Virginia on September 13^th and 14^th. See below for the list.

              Evan and Shawn who placed 8^th in our first tournament and Sean and Rorey who placed 8^th in the second tournament both received a beautiful $300.00 Lews rod and reel combo provided by our long time partner Fishermens-Heaven.store.

              Victorious Faith Fellowship provided the facility for our Friday night meeting. Buzz and Marie Billings provided an amazing meal and provided what seemed like an effortless preparation for our event. There were 30 in attendance at the meeting. Our division chaplain Paul Wiley provided the message. His inspirational message compared the specialized preparation of the tournament fisherman with the preparation needed to be fishers of men. The Word, regular fellowship with a local body of believers, and a regular consistent pattern of prayer equip and sustain the child of God to be fruitful. I would like to thank each one who helped with the tournament operation. From tournament weigh in set up (Ted Quatman), to publicity (Jon Crans), to our Chaplain (Paul Wiley), to family and fellow anglers who pitched in to help, we thank you for your service.

               The Maryland Division would like to thank Fishermens-Heaven.store, Stanford Baits and Bigtime baits for their support for our division. Nathan Hess has designed and built our plaques for the winning teams and a big fish plaque for each tournament this year. Fish 4:19 eyewear has an interesting promotion for Fishers of Men this year. Missile baits has also provided a 30% off code for FOM-MD members.

               Fishers of Men would like to thank all our National Sponsors Berkley , BassCat Boats, Abu Garcia, Mercury, Fenwick, Realtree Fishing, FireFly Outdoor & Marine, Power-Pole,  T&H Marine, Frogg Toggs, X2 Power and Jacobs Glass.

2024 District Championship Qualifiers:

Tom Rufenacht/Jimmy Rufenacht

Paul Wiley/Jon Crans

Rob Hager/Mason Hager

Sean Peddicord/Rory Peddicord  

Jacob VanDevander/Dylan Otte

Jeff Pelkey/Ian Godwin

Mike Saganich/Ray Saganich

Mick McCleary/Roland Bosely

Joey Johnson/Brady Hobb

Bob Wolf/John Dell

Jonathan Werner/Jody Werner

James Roache/Shawn Ramey

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	32689	Randy Gabel Deb Gabel	5	4.26	16.31	0	16.31	200
2	32280	Rob Hager Mason Hager	5	3.5	13.83	0	13.83	199
3	30388	Tom Rufenacht James Rufenacht	5	4.47	13.45	0	13.45	198
4	30396	Paul Wiley Jon Crans	5	3.66	12.02	0	12.02	197
5	32091	Jeffrey Pelkey Ian Godwin	5	3.64	11.84	0	11.84	196
6	31006	Michael Saganich Raymond Saganich	5	3.17	11.42	0	11.42	195
7	30405	Jonathan Werner Jody Werner	5	0	11.17	0	11.17	194
8	32128	Shawn Ramey James Roache	5	0	9.73	0	9.73	193
9	32093	William Johnson III Brady Hobbs	5	2.2	9.82	0.5	9.32	192
10	30392	Jacob VanDeVander Dylan Otte	5	3.48	8.96	0	8.96	191
11	30390	Robert Wolf John Dell	5	3.35	7.2	0	7.2	190
12	32067	Jacob Messer Arnold Cooper	5	1.7	7.01	0.25	6.76	189
13	32066	Sean Peddicord Rory Peddicord	5	0	6.6	0	6.6	188
14	30387	Michael Malamphy Thomas Waters	5	0	6.47	0	6.47	187
15	32065	Mickey McCleary Roland Bosley	5	0	6.38	0	6.38	186
Randy and Joel Gabel for the win with 16.31 lbs! Rob Hager (right) finished second solo with 13.83! Tom and Jimmy with 3rd place for 13.45lbs. and big fish of 4.47 lbs. Paul and Jon had 12.02lbs. for 4th place. Jeff Pelkey and Ian Godwin placed 5th with 11.84lbs. Mike (pictured) and Ray Saganich with 11.42 lbs for 6th place Jonathan and Jody Werner with 7th place and 11.17lbs. Randy and Joel with their first-place plaques Fishermens-Heaven.store provided 2) $300.00 combos which went to the teams of Evan/Shawn and Sean/Rory. Mike Malamphy showing off his Fin-X rod and Lews Reel that he won in our raffles this year! Special thanks to Ted Quatman and the family support that makes this go smoothly!