1st - Mike Goesman from Sesser and Stan Tyner

It was a cloudy, dreary, wet day at Smithland Pool and the fish did not seem to be in a cooperative mood as low weights were brought to the scales. The divisional tournaments are restricted to the pool itself with no locking allowed for the events and on this day 6.76lbs was enough to take home a check. Smithland water levels have been on a roller coaster ride most of the summer and most blame this for the unusually tough conditions.

The first place team of Mike Goesman from Sesser, Illinois and Stan Tyner of St. Louis, Missouri found an early morning bite as they culled through eight keepers during the morning hours. They used chartreuse and blue Dunn’s Big Bite crank baits, ten-inch worms and Lunker Lure rattle back jig’s to catch their fish. The team had a total weight of 10.50lbs and received checks totaling $1,590.00 for the tough day on the water. The team is sponsored by: Nameoki Marine, Mercury, Wayne’s Props, Dunn’s Sporting Goods and Big M Spinner baits. Great Job Guy’s!!

Second Place goes to the father and son team of Tony Dowdy Sr. from Murphysboro, Illinois and Tony Dowdy Jr. of Elkville, Illinois. The team fished the main river concentrating on stump fields with water depths of three to five feet. The team used spinner baits for the most part to catch their fish but also had a couple on plastics. It took the entire day to boat the teams’ five keeper fish that weighed nine pounds even. Their hard work and persistence paid off with checks totaling $914.00 for the day. Sponsors include: Ranger Boats, Marlow-Hill Drilling and 14th St. Liquor and Bass Pro in Murphysboro.

Third place goes to the team of Harlin Barnett and Carl Johnson both of Murphysboro, Illinois. They fished the main river and also hit some flats located in creeks. They reported the bite to be much tougher than it had been during the week. The team used mainly plastics fished along the many lay downs and stumps within the areas they were fishing. They brought a five fish limit to the scales anchored with the Dunn’s “Big Bite” of the day weighing 3.80lbs. The team had a total weight of 7.40lbs and with all checks totaled the team earned $916.00 for the day.

Please visit our divisional web site www.actournaments.com for divisional news and more!

Angler's Choice would like to thank all those who came out and fished and we hope to see you at our 100% Payback Semi Open, August 15th at Smithland Pool. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors for making this possible. National sponsors include Bass Cat Boats, Mercury Outboards, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, Lowrance, Eagle, Competitive Edge Fishing, Solar Bat, Bass West Magazine and Bass Medics. Also a big thanks to our divisional sponsors: Lunker Lure, Dunn’s Sporting Goods, Falcon Rods, Harrison's Sport Shop, Rend Lake Sporting Goods, Great Net, Lucky Craft, Solar Bat, Wayne's Prop shop, Pyramid Acres, Adventure Sports Outdoors, Foothills Marine and Bobs Marine in Hillsboro, Illinois