Dodd and Harkness Win Charity Tournament
Tournament anglers share their love of the outdoors to benefit others.
Hope Outdoors is a Christian Ministry that takes individuals with special needs hunting and fishing. Tennessee River Productions staged their 2nd Annual Trophy Belt Tournament on August 14, 2021, out of Savannah, Tennessee.
Proceeds from the tournament went to Hope Outdoors. The mission of Hope Outdoors is explained well in a recent flyer.
“Hope Outdoors stops at nothing to restore a sense of hope in children and adults with special needs. When the world says “No,” we say “Yes!” When the world says, “can’t” we find a way. Our volunteers share Christ’s love by taking our friends with special needs to the lake shores, game trails, turkey blinds, boats, and deer stands they’ve been told they couldn’t reach before.”
Teams could be up to 3 anglers for the $100 registration fee. First-place received trophy belts and second and third-place received trophies. Anglers were allowed to trailer to any ramp in Hardin County with legal fishing being in Tennessee only.
First Place and Big Fish
The top spot in the tournament went to Jeff “Big Daddy” Dodd and Roy Harkness. Dodd also served as the auctioneer in the fundraising auction. They teamed up to bring a limit of 5 fish to the scales that weighed 106.6 pounds. They had a big fish of 46.8 pounds to give them Big Fish of the tournament too.
A lack of current caused Dodd and Harkness to suspend fish most of the day from their SeaArk Dynasty. They were grinding it out when late in the day they got the big bite they were working for. It took them straight to the top of the leaderboard.
“The fishing was really tough,” reported Dodd. “Roy and I came up with a game plan the day before and just stuck to it. We had to suspend fish from our Driftmaster Rod Holders almost all day which is not our normal game. Finally, we got a little current and pulled out the B’n’M Bumping Rods.”
“We kept baits in the water all day looking for that one bite,” recalled Harkness. “It came with only a few minutes left to fish. Big Daddy looked up and said, ‘Here he is!’ I had a blast, we had lots of laughs, and we fished hard!”
“We caught the 46 with around 12 minutes left,” concluded Dodd. “It put us in first place with 106 pounds total. The SeaArk Dynasty performed flawlessly. Congratulations to the other winners and JR Sweat for holding the tournament.
Second Place
The runner-up spot went to Larry Muse, Dino Meador, and Doug Price. They had a weight of 81.1 pounds in only 2 fish. Their big fish was 40.6 pounds.
Their fishing was better than the 2-fish weigh-in would indicate. As luck would have it they never got the unders they needed. If they had gotten the under bites it could have put them much closer to or even exceed the weight that Dodd and Harkness posted.
“We went downriver and suspended,” reported Muse. “We caught one of the 40 pounders while suspended. Doug Price reeled that one in from his wheelchair.”
The team never got another bite until the current picked up. It allowed them to start bumping.
“About 1:30 pm we got a little bit of current,” explained Muse. “So we geared up the SeaArk Dynasty and started bumping. We caught three more blues. Another 40 pounder, a 35, and a 30. We had to cull the last two because they were over 34 inches.”
“We were leading until Jeff Dodd and Roy Harkness weighed,” continued Muse. “The bite was tough because Pickwick Dam is running very little water after midnight and don’t crank it up until noon. The difference in our weights is that Jeff got his three slot fish and we never got a good small fish bite.”
Muse had Anthony Landreth with Southern Woods and Waters on the boat. Landreth films fishing tournaments and other events for Hope Outdoors. All of these episodes are aired on SOUTHERN WOODS AND WATERS TELEVISION, channel 5+ CBS affiliate in Nashville. Expect this event to be aired sometime in the future.
“I had an AWESOME day,” stated Landreth. “I was with them until 11:00. I did get to film them catching a 40-plus pound blue cat. It’s so good to see the fishing world come together for a common cause. Kudos to JR Sweat for putting on these tournaments. He does an excellent job in this task!”
Third Place
The father/son team of Danny and Donnie Gray brought home the third-place hardware with a limit of 5 fish that weighed 28.2 pounds.
“My dad and I had a good time fishing,” reported Donnie Gray. “We caught some good fish. I wish they could have been bigger but we had a blast.”
The father/son team caught their fish dragging bottom in about 50 feet of water. They were using cut bait.
“We were fishing with cut shad,” said Donnie. “The bite started slow, but picked up and we finished strong. I would like to thank JR Sweat, Tennessee River Productions, and Hope Outdoors for putting on the tournament. We did good and are glad we won third place. Can’t wait till next year.”
Smallest Fish
The smallest fish award went to the team of Heathcock and Heathcock. They had a 6-pound catfish to earn the honor and were awarded a $20 gift certificate from a local food truck.
Final Thoughts
“I would like to thank everyone that fished with us,” concluded tournament director JR Sweat. “I would also like to thank all of our sponsors, Dales Tackle, Parks Planer Boards, and B’n’M Poles for their sponsorship and all they do for us. My sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone that had a hand in this event, especially Jeff Dodd for his auctioneer skills that help raise funds for Hope Outdoors.”
