Fishers of Men Texas Central kicked off the 2022 season in true Texas winter fashion, starting Friday night with registration at Robertson Avenue Baptist Church in Copperas Cove TX.  Pastor Joshua Morrison and the staff welcomed all the competitors with open arms, they have a motto there "Once inside the door a stranger no more", and they certainly lived up to their slogan. The youth group served the anglers, families and friends grilled hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixings. Pastor Morrison gave a fired-up message, powerful and direct. Our division was blessed to have a few of our sponsors attend the registration, it was a fantastic opportunity for them to see what Fishers of Men was all about, we were incredibly happy to see the owner of Steve’s Reel Service and the owner of Custom Truck and Wheel at the event. We had an amazing raffle where anglers won rods and reels from Ardent Outdoors, and Kistler. Boat Care Products from Pro-Tec Products, Berkley spooling station and various tackle items, Forage Custom Painted Lures, Cornerstone Lures, Coda Jigs, Steve’s Reel Service and Bearing upgrade, Vicious Fishing products and Fish Life Fish Care Products. Melissa Eller put together six give away bags for spouses to show our appreciation for their attendance at registration, always great to see families attending our events. 

The buzz at Friday night registration was centered around the conditions for Saturdays tournament, we were all watching the weather, hoping and praying this would be one of those times where the weather man missed the mark completely, unfortunately the weather forecasters had it right... Saturday morning boat checks were conducted with temps hanging around 36-39 degrees, the rest of the day was consistent to those temperatures. A little rain and wind joined throughout the day which made it miserable for most, everyone was on a level playing field when it came to weather conditions, all of us here in Central Texas know what it is like to fish in windy, rainy and cold conditions for at least one month a year... 

We sent twenty-four teams out in the cold to battle it out on Belton Lake, a lake that can be referred to as the "DEAD SEA" at times and at other times can be referred to as a "GOOD ONE", you just never know. As we all know, regardless of what the body of water is referred to; someone is going to find fish, on the first event of the season that someone was Bryan Cotter and Philip Smith. These two anglers brought in a great sack of fish weighing in at 17lbs on the nose, this sack was anchored by an 8.35lb largemouth which secured Big Bass for the team as well. Bryan said this sack of fish came from one small stretch and when it turned on, it was a blast... Second Place went to the team of Earl and Todd Loggains, this father /son team brought in a sack of 4 small mouth and one large mouth weighing in at 10.77lbs. Third Place was captured by Colton Hill, who fished the event solo. Colton brought 9.57lbs to the scales and was happy to have it on this rough day. Brian and Jacob Washburn, another father / son team held on to claim a fourth-place finish with 9.42lbs. Our Bonus Bucks winners for the event were Bryan Cotter and Philip Smith with first, Earl and Todd Loggains at second and Colton Hill grabbing third place. We also paid back an entry fee to Gus Chavira and Toby Turner for finishing in the LUCKY 13 spot. 

Despite the cold, windy and rainy conditions anglers battled through, caught fish, and enjoyed the day. As a director, the looks on faces, listening to the stories and seeing the atmosphere of anglers gathering and sharing at the weigh-in is always priceless. 

Texas Central CANNOT thank our sponsors enough, we truly appreciate the following companies for your support and involvement: BINGHAM MARINE TEXAS, SIT MEANS SIT DOG TRAINING CENTRAL TEXAS, CUSTOM TRUCK AND WHEEL,KILLEEN TEXAS, FORAGE CUSTOM LURES, CODA LURES, STEVE-O's REEL SERVICE, PRO-TEC PRODUCTS, ARDENT OUTDOORS, KISTLER, FISH LIFE FISH CARE PRODUCTS, CORNERSTONE BAITS, VICIOUS FISHING and BE-ONE PROMOTIONS. 

Special shout out to Jimmy Bennett for adding to our computer operator's heater inventory as she sat there freezing, Melissa appreciates you sir. Thank you to the Loggains team for all your help setting up and selling raffle tickets, Ty Eller, and Paige Hodges for staffing the apparel table, and Melissa Eller for handling registration.

Thank you to all who helped in the set up and tear down of the weigh in equipment, we appreciate each one of you.

We encourage anglers to seek "ONE MORE" for a chance to win a season of entry fees,  paid in full by MLF Pro Andy Montgomery!

Texas Central has four events to go for the 2022 season, we have enough events for anglers to fish and qualify for the Regional Championship, and possibly a slot in the National Event. 

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

Place	Team	Members	# Fish	Big Fish	Gross	Penalty	Net Wt	Points
1	28524	Bryan Cotter Philip Smith	5	8.35	17	0	17	200
2	28154	Earl Loggains Todd Loggains	5	2.53	10.77	0	10.77	199
3	28525	Justin Williams Colton Hill	5	2.72	9.57	0	9.57	198
4	26726	Brian Washburn Jacob Washburn	4	5.18	9.42	0	9.42	197
5	26724	Erik Olson Kory Grelle	4	0	9.2	0	9.2	196
6	26602	Chester Jenke Tyler Jenke	5	0	7.78	0	7.78	195
7	28156	Matthew Mertink Howard Mertink	3	0	5.3	0	5.3	144
8	28158	David Polk Jimmy Bennett	3	0	5	0	5	193
9	28159	Nathan Eller Colton Eller	2	0	3.35	0	3.35	192
10	28527	Jason Carter Jimmy Proctor	2	0	3.18	0	3.18	141
11	26604	Gerald Rabroker Jarrett Rabroker	2	0	2.94	0	2.94	190
12	26725	Bob Reed Christopher Carpenter	2	0	2.85	0	2.85	189
13	26723	Gus Chavira Toby Turner	1	2.82	2.82	0	2.82	188
14	26598	Ron Chance Daryl Branham	2	0	2.63	0.25	2.38	187
15	28526	Russell Truitt Larry Crane	1	1.74	1.74	0	1.74	186
16	28157	James Barnett Michael Smith	1	1.53	1.53	0	1.53	185
17	28160	Mitch Randles Don Schuetze	1	1.49	1.49	0	1.49	184
18	26600	Gary Johnson Tina Johnson	1	1.31	1.31	0	1.31	183
19	27671	Kyler Roberts Austin Talasek	1	1.23	1.23	0	1.23	182
20	26872	William Shelnutt Tyler Eller	1	1.01	1.26	0.25	1.01	181
21	26596	John Baran Michele Baran	0	0	0	0	0	180
22	26599	Michael Kersey Patrick Zangarine II	0	0	0	0	0	180
23	27272	David Titus Daniel Titus	0	0	0	0	0	180
24	28155	David McCann Luke Bingham	0	0	0	0	0	180