By Dave Ford
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
The overused cliche’ couldn’t have been a better fit if it had been planned for the father-son winner of the 6th Annual Tuesday Night Thunder Classic.
On July 12 at Louisville Point Park, Earl and Brad Poplin defeated the opposing field of 44 boats with a total winning weight of 14 lbs. Considering the pair finished in the top five of the weekly tournament just once in 2008 (third place on July 1), it was an upset of sorts. Doug Younce and Troy Dyer, the only pair to win three times this season, finished fifth with a total weight of 10.72 lbs.
The following is the official list of winners:
First: Earl and Brad Poplin, 14.0 lbs.
Second: Andrew Fleisch, 13.76 lbs.
Third: Carl Post and Rick Robinson, 11.98 lbs.
Fourth: John Dunn, 11.92 lbs.
Fifth: Doug Younce and Troy Dyer, 10.72 lbs.
Largemouth Lunker: The Poplins, 6.72 lbs.
Smallmouth Lunker: Charlie Millsaps and Drew Osborn, 2.80 lbs.
The weekly fishing tournament’s version of its Super Bowl blasted off at 6:30 a.m. and concluded nearly nine hours later. Afterwards, the contestants gathered around as TNT directors Frankie Woody and Junior Dover handed out door prizes to the remaining fishermen that didn’t place in the top five.
One by one the men handed out vouchers for free gallons of oil, free haircuts, fishing poles, fish nets, $10 gift certificates to Tennessee Outdoors and Pure Poison jigs. And while Woody and Dover made sure everyone walked away with at least one prize, some of the contestants could be seen reverting back to their grade school days of negotiating for different prizes they wanted instead of what they received.
Woody and Dover said they wanted to give a special thanks to Madisonville Marine for letting 15 of the 45 boats in the competition advance to the Skeeter Championship to fish for a free Skeeter SX190 boat. Both men also wanted to thank everyone that competed for another great year.
Tuesday Night Thunder will return in April 2009, and for more information about getting involved visit www.tuesdaynightthunder.com.
