Dry Creek Marine LLC Tournament win goes to Damian Clark and Jeremiah Keen
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of Dry Creek Marine LLC
The predicted inclement weather did not hamper 22 teams from registering for the late December tournament. Fortunately, the weather didn’t materialize as expected.
Dry Creek Marine hosted its 2nd annual catfish tournament on Lake Wheeler. Directed by Chris Sapp the event attracted 22 teams to launch at Ingalls Harbor. Bad weather was predicted for tournament day adding a new challenge to participating anglers.
The $300 entry fee established three categories of competition. Each category was funded with $100 from the entry. Angers competed for the Big Fish, the Heaviest Under (a fish less than 34 inches), and the Total Weight of 2 fish.
When all the weights were tabulated the win in all three categories went to the same team! Anchor fishing proved to be the winning strategy with about 20 pounds separating the top two weights.
Big Fish, Heaviest Under, and Total Weight
Damian Clark and Jeremiah Keen applied the right strategy on tournament day and claimed all three categories in the Dry Creek Marine LLC tournament on Wheeler. The team from Kentucky posted an impressive weight of 80-plus pounds to earn the Big Fish honors, a 22-plus pound weight to take Heaviest Under, and a total weight of 103 pounds in those two fish to claim the Total Weight prize.
Clark and Keen traveled to Decatur on Friday to do some scouting. They had not fished Wheeler since Bama Blues last January so it had been nearly a year and they wanted to reacquaint themselves with the fishery.
“It had been almost a year since we fished Wheeler,” reported Clark. “We looked around Friday and Jeremiah caught an 82-pounder so we knew there were big fish in the area we chose to start in.”
After scouting they returned to the ramp and headed in to rest up for tournament day knowing that some bad weather was predicted. Weather authorities had warned of high winds and stormy weather in the Tennessee Valley area.
“We got up eager and ready to fish,” Clark said. “We were worried about the weather so we knew we needed to fish hard first thing just in case. Predictions were for 40-plus mph wind coming afternoon.”
Thankfully the worst weather did not come and the tournament went on. The team got to their first spot and Keen caught a 63-pounder in the first 5 minutes. Their hopes were lifted with the good early catch. Little did they know they would be culling the 63 for a bigger fish.
“We caught a few more unders but nothing we needed,” informed Clark. “We moved again and caught a better under but again not the one we needed.”
They moved again caught a 48-pounder and threw it back. They move over again and that’s when their big fish hit. With that fish, they had to cull Keen’s 63-pound blue in the two-fish tournament.
“Once we had Big Daddy in the boat we started making our way back to Decatur,” said a happy Clark. “We hit some ledges on the way back and caught several other fish between 10 and 40 pounds. When we got to the ramp I grabbed my oxygen tank and delivered oxygen to the fish.”
The team caught their fish on the rope. They anchor fished all day in 20 to 30 feet deep water using skipjack for bait.
With oxygen on the fish and fishing time remaining the team set up just outside Ingalls Harbor and continued their pattern. They immediately caught a 22-pound under. They took the fish back to the ramp, measured it on the official board, and realized they had the bag they wanted. The team fished about 11 spots on the day and boated 21 fish in a good day of fishing.
“Luckily the weather held off,” concluded Clark. “It was a great day to fish. I really want to encourage Chris Sapp the owner of Dry Creek Marine. He proved to all of us that he is a real Christian. Thank you Chris Sapp for hosting the tournament. You are the real deal.”
Note: To view more photos and see more winners from the event visit the Dry Creek Marine LLC Facebook page.
Final Thoughts 
The foggy start to the morning did not stop the 22 registered teams from launching and competing from Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, Alabama. The Tennessee River destination continues to be a favorite of trophy catfish anglers, even in sketchy weather. The facilities at Ingalls Harbor are outstanding and the fish seem to cooperate more often than not.
Luckily the predicted weather held off long enough to get the tournament in. Only a few hours later, the weather that developed in the area spawned a tornado that caused some serious damage in Athens, Alabama, only a short distance away.
With the tournament successfully completed, Tournament Director Sapp thanked the participating anglers for supporting the 2nd Annual Dry Creek Marine Tournament.
For more information on Dry Creek Marine LLC visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
