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By Don Smith
For
several years as a director, I have wanted to do an article with nothing more
than an interview with the winners of some of our events. Most of the time,
anglers are tight lipped and don't want to share information. Luckily, one of my
very dear friends won the last Central Kentucky Tournament held on Laruel Lake
on March 17th, 2007.
I hope you enjoy this short article, and possibly a few more in the future if
the winners are willing to shed a little light on that one question that most of
us ask ourself, and know very well.
I wonder how they caught them...
Q: How long have you been fishing with Fishers of Men?
Dacker: I have been with the fishers of men for 3 years now.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Fishers of Men, as a ministry, and as a
Tournament Trail?
Dacker: What are my thoughts about the Fishers of Men Organization? My thoughts
on the fishers of men organization is that it's a very well ran organization and
it is very well structured. I enjoy this trail and what it stands for more then
anything. All the people that are associated with the trail from the director to
all the other fishermen are very nice. I also enjoy the pre-tournament meetings
and fellowship that we all have on each Friday evening.
The most important thing is that it is about spreading the word of Jesus and
that is what FOM is all about.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your official practice day on Friday? And
what patterns did you find?
Dacker: Friday morning as soon as it got daylight we launched our boat and
heading out to a spot that we have caught some good brown fish over the winter
on the F-N-F. Right off the start we hooked up with a nice one so we didn’t make
another cast and headed to another area. We also threw a jerkbait and they were
hitting it really well also. We had heard that the bite was in the river the
week before flipping so we ran up to a couple of banks that we have done well on
in the past just to make sure that the big largemouth hadn’t moved up.
Q: Can you give us a detailed report on how you caught fish during the
tournament?
Dacker: The day of the Tournament we went straight back to one of our spots and
we had 3 keepers in the first 30 minutes. We knew since the water was right at
47 degrees that they would still bit the F-N-F. We decided to leave and let our
spot rest so we went to another spot and caught a keeper largemouth on the first
throw on a jerkbait.
That gave us 4 keepers. By 8:30 we went back to our spot and we caught 2 more
smallies on the Fly which started us culling and it was just around 9:00. We
decided to stay close all day and work that spot on and off the entire
tournament. We ended up catching 2 more fish that we culled with and only lost
one fish the entire day which didn’t really hurt us at all.
Q: We all know the warm weather we had the week prior to this tournament helped
the fishing, but how did the cold front affect your fish, did it help?
Dacker: There was no doubt that the cold front helped us. We knew that the cold
front would most likely move the fish back off the bank and that is exactly what
we found out.
Q: Your winning pattern is a technique that many consider boring, how do you
feel about it?
Dacker: Some people say that the Float-n-Fly technique is a boring way to fish
and they just don’t like it. Well we have been doing it for several years now,
and we have been pretty successful at it especially when the conditions are
tough. And there is nothing boring about catching big smallmouth on light line.
Q: This win will move you up in the points standings, and possibly a shot at
winning the points race. What are your thoughts on the last 2 events?
Dacker: We know that we have moved up in points, and have a shot, but I know
that our division has some of the best fisherman in Kentucky, so we are in no
way getting to excited about that just yet. And the next 2 tournaments are on a
lake that anybody could have over 20 pounds of fish at the drop of a hat.
Q: I know you have several sponsors who you would like to thank, including
several who sponsor the Fishers of Men Trail.
Dacker: I have several sponsors who I would likt to thank. Keelshield Inc. has
been great to me over the last 5 years. I am also sponsored by the Sevierville,
Tennessee Bass Pro Shops. Manager Chris Vaden and all the people down there have
been very good to me. I have been using the Bass Pro line of products
exclusively for 2 years now with a lot of success.
T.J and Ron Stallings from Daiichi and Tru-Turn have also helped me out for the
last couple of years. I also want to thank Dura-Safe for all their support.
And my best sponsor of all would have to be my wife and family.
Dacker Combs lives in the eastern coal fields of Kentucky, and has been a
great help to the Central Kentucky Division for several years. Thanks for your
support of this ministry, and God Bless!
