Entry 160-4

Dr. Joe Tanner and the Fishers of Men Tournament

Tournament Times

Editor’s Note: This year Mossy Oak Fishing Line will be a state sponsor for the Fishers of Men tournaments. What is the Fishers of Men tournament trail? Why and how was it started? Why did Mossy Oak Fishing Line become involved? We interviewed Dr. Joe Tanner of Atlanta, Georgia, to learn more about this bass fishing tournament circuit.

Question: What are the hours of your tournaments?

Tanner: Our Friday night pre-tournament meeting is usually from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. On Saturday our tournaments begin from first safe light, as determined by the tournament director, until 3:00 pm. We use the term safe light to allow us to delay the start if the tournament day has a fog, bad storm or, a strong wind that may endanger our fishermen. We feel that the safety of the fishermen is far more important than what time our tournament starts.

Question: Where are the Friday night meetings usually held?

Tanner: We look for a location where we can feed a lot of people. This will usually be a church, an outside park or some other building suitable to host a pre-tournament event. Another unique feature of our pre-tournament meeting is that we encourage our fishermen to bring their families. There is no charge for the families, or the fishermen to eat. Plus, we want our families and fishermen to hear an inspirational speaker.

Even if the partners who are fishing together in the tournament aren’t in the same family, both partners are encouraged to bring their family members to the dinner. Besides this being a time for food, fellowship and listening to a great speaker, the contestants draw their blast-off numbers for the next day’s competition. There are many door prizes awarded as well. After the tournament, the prizes and checks are then awarded. I write the prize checks immediately after the final tabulations are done when the winner is determined, and the places and the amount of money each contestant has won is decided.

Question: What does your national champion angler win?

Tanner: The national champion angler wins a brand-new Triton TR20 bass boat with a 200 HP Mercury motor. The value of this boat is $35,000. In the regional tournament, anglers have the opportunity to win a Triton 186 with a 150 HP Mercury motor.

Question: Why do you think Mossy Oak Fishing Line decided to sponsor the Fishers of Men tournament circuit?

Tanner: Mossy Oak Fishing Line heard about us and knows we run a quality tournament. They know we promote many of the same values in which they believe. They wanted a vehicle to allow fishermen to not only test their line, but also to report on how the line performs under tournament conditions.

Question: Why did your fishermen agree to use the Mossy Oak Fishing Line?

Tanner: Mossy Oak Fishing Line is a new line on the market, and our fishermen are willing to try new products to better determine what products are best to use when they’re competing. We often have lure makers ask us to test their products so they can get a better read on how the lures perform under tournament conditions. Tournament fishermen are pretty tough on tackle. To see what works best in competitions, several companies have chosen to allow their products to be tested by our anglers. Mossy Oak Fishing Line is one of those companies.

One of the advantages of having our fishermen use Mossy Oak Fishing Line is that most of them fish other club tournaments and other tournament trails. With what they learn here, and the products they use when fishing with us, they tell other fishermen on other circuits how those products performed. We even have anglers who fish the FLW tournaments fishing our circuit. We have a good cross-section of competitive anglers who also fish with us. If a product is good and proves itself on our circuit, then there are an awful lot of other fishermen who’ll learn about that product.

Question: How many states are you in now?
TANNER: We are in 25 states and growing every year.

Question: How old does a person have to be to join the Fishers of Men?

Tanner: If a person is under the age of 18, they have to have the permission of their parents to join. We’ve had competitive fishermen as young as 12-years old that have joined our organization. These fishermen usually fish with their mothers and fathers or their grandparents. I think the most-unusual pairing we’ve ever had was a son-in-law fishing with his mother-in-law. I say that’s unusual, but I guess it really isn’t. I think it’s really neat that this same team also won a couple of tournaments. We have fishermen as old as 70-years old who are also part of our tournament program. We are very family-oriented and encourage family fishing.

Question: What are some of the benefits you’ve seen from the Fishers of Men tournament circuit?

Tanner: I think it helps families get to know each other better and also participate in a sport that they can enjoy. We want the families to enjoy being together and see that as Christians we can have a good time on the water in God’s outdoors. I know that the tournaments I’ve been to, it seems to be one big family.

For more information on how to join the Fishers of Men organization, you can go to www.fomntt.com. It contains all the information about the Fishers of Men Tournament Trails. You will also find the schedule of all the tournaments in the states where the Fishers of Men tournaments are held and a downloadable entry form.

The Fishers of Men Organization also has a TV show that began October 6, 2005, and currently airs on Fox South at 6:30 am on Sundays and 2:00 pm on Thursdays.

To learn more about the Fellowship of Christian Anglers Society, visit www.focas.org.

Dr. Joe Tanner and the Fishers of Men Tournament

Tournament Times

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