courtesy 
T&H Marine Takes Day two lead.....
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Alabama’s T-H Marine Takes over at PAA Corporate Cup presented by OPTIMA® Batteries
Florence, Ala. – When a major bass tournament arrives in town, the angler with
the most experience on the lake is often greeted with what is known as a “hometown curse.”
That statement does not seem to apply to the PAA Corporate Cup
presented by OPTIMA® Batteries, as the T-H Marine team of Steve Kennedy,
Brent Crow, Bill Huntley and Charles Perkins Jr. grabbed the day two lead of the PAA
Corporate Cup presented by OPTIMA®
Batteries.
The team of the Huntsville, Ala. based firm; a sponsor of the event, featuring their
ATLAS jack plate as the official jack plate of the PAA, smashed a 32.13-pound
limit of Pickwick Lake bass to bring their two day total to 60.39 pounds. Their
consistent quality gives them an advantage heading into the final day of the PAA
Corporate Cup presented by OPTIMA® Batteries, and at grabbing the $100,000
1st place prize.
Not to be outdone, the Haynes Hardwood team of Mark Rose, Greg
Hackney,
Randy Haynes and Tony Browning also posted their second consecutive solid
limit to give them 2nd place. The Haynes Hardwood team has proven to be as
steady as their namesake company, as they kept pace with the leaders by hefting a
31.33-pound limit of their own on the scales; bringing their two day total to 59.27;
little more than a pound out of the lead.
In 3rd place following day two were the opening round’s leaders, Team Longhorn.
Led by Jeff Kriet and Derek Remitz, along with Bill and Warren Jackson, the
foursome’s limit of 24.18 pounds was slightly off of their first day performance,
but kept
them solidly in position to challenge for the championship with 55.73
pounds.
Rounding out the top five were the Orange County Choppers team of Fred Contaoi,
Craig Powers, Jim Campbell and Jamie Clovis. The gang of bikers placed their
27.43 on the scales; which brought their two day total to 54.02, good enough to
hold down 4th place.
Team Timberghost, led by Andy Morgan and Luke Clausen placed 23.04 on the
scales, bringing their total to 52.27 pounds; good for 5th
place.
The final 12 teams will launch on the water of Pickwick Lake at McFarland Park
at 9:00 AM Saturday in hopes of claiming the $100,000 top prize. Along with the
crowning of champions and the presentation of the PAA Corporate Cup presented
by OPTIMA® Batteries trophy, designed by MTM Recognitions, Saturday’s final
round will also include a full day of vendor displays, a Kids Fun Zone and much
more at Florence, Alabama’s McFarland Park, the site of the PAA Corporate Cup
presented by OPTIMA® Batteries.
Local Pro Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., wins the Stren Seriesevent on
Pickwick Lake with a four-day total of 73-13. (Photo by Rob Newell)
Local pro rules at home with Stren Series win on Pickwick
07.Jun.2008 by Rob Newell
FLORENCE, Ala. – Local pro Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., saved the best for last on the fourth and final day of the Stren Series Southeast event on Pickwick Lake.
Before many of his friends and family who attended the weigh-in at the Wal-Mart in Florence, Ala., Haynes hoisted up an astonishing 22 pounds, 11 ounces of Pickwick bass – by far the biggest limit of the week – to come from fourth place and win with a four-day total of 73 pounds, 13 ounces worth $25,000.
“This feels great, it really does, because many of the best fishermen on this lake were here this week – that’s what makes this special to me,” Haynes said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the money, but that’s not why I do this; I do this for the competition. I love the competition.”
All week Haynes played out a carefully crafted strategy that involved saving one of his best spots for today.
“I never went to it all week,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to see me on it during the week. I drove by it several times and never saw anyone on it, so I decided to save it until today.
“I did make a cast there in practice and caught a 5 ½-pounder, and that’s all I needed to see. I pulled up on that spot this afternoon and it was on fire. My partner and I caught what we needed to win off that spot.”
As a side note, Haynes’ co-angler – Greg Hamblin – won the Co-angler Division as well (click here to read the article).
During the week, Haynes relied on a variety of lures including a jig, a Carolina rig and a grub.
The jig was a ¾-ounce football head in green-pumpkin trailed by a Net Bait Paca craw fished on 17-pound fluorocarbon. The Carolina rig was sweetened with a Zoom Brush Hog, and the pearl grub was fished on ¼- and 3/8-ounce heads on 8-pound line.
Haynes described his best places on Pickwick as river-channel points and ledges that featured gravely chunk rock and shells.
Playing with his new 'toys': Stren Series leader Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., says new electronics are like toys to
him when spending hours scouring the bottom of Pickwick Lake in search of hidden green gold. (Photo by Rob Newell)
Leading local pro opens up about Pickwick, deep-water ledges and his new ‘toys’
05.Jun.2008 by Rob Newell
FLORENCE, Ala. – Having a conversation with Randy Haynes about fishing Pickwick Lake’s mysterious ledges for illusive schools of bass is probably a lot like having a conversation with Mel Fisher about treasure hunting off Florida’s coast.
Haynes, who lives on Yellow Creek in Counce, Tenn., has an undeniable passion for hunting large schools of fish on Pickwick, which helps explain why he is currently leading the Stren Series event on his home lake.
As day two of the Stren Series Southeast event began this morning, Haynes was rather candid about his love affair with Pickwick’s deep ledges.
“I’ve been fishing here for about 12 years, and I absolutely love this place,” Haynes said. “It’s not about catching fish for me; it’s the thrill of finding one of those overlooked ledges that’s loaded with 5-pounders. Discovering a new place where you can catch 20 pounds in five minutes is what it’s all about – that’s why I do this. And on any given day, there are still untapped places like that out there.”
Haynes noted that due to years of tournaments, many of Pickwick’s “community holes” have been found and picked over, but there are still plenty of undiscovered treasures lying along the flooded Tennessee River channel at the bottom of Pickwick Lake.
“I’m just totally consumed with how bass relate and feed along these ledges,” continued Haynes, who installs hardwood floors for a living. “I spend every spare minute out here idling around looking for new places that have not been fished.
“This is my time of year out here. I get my tail whipped in March and April when the fish are shallow, but when they retreat out to their summer spots, that’s what I live for. I don’t have any confidence fishing behind another guy in shallow water, but I have no problem fishing behind other boats out deep. I just feel like I know how to get those fish fired up when they’re inactive.”
To do that, Haynes is relying on about 10 different lures of all shapes and sizes.
“There’s not just one bait that works on all ledges,” he revealed. “Certain ledges have certain baits that work much better than others, so I carry the buffet with me at all times. To me, that’s part of the fun: figuring out exactly what they want on each different ledge. And that’s where us local guys have such an advantage. A lot of these touring pros know some of the traditional community holes out here. But us local guys know the secondary and tertiary spots that those fish use, which are adjacent to those community holes, and we know how to make them bite and get them going.”
Behind Haynes on the leaderboard are a host of his fellow deep-water local friends, whom he competes against on a regular basis, including Curt McGuire, Todd Rasberry, Bob Garrison and Shawn Perrigo.
“All those guys are great deep-water fishermen,” Haynes said. “And they’re all part of an ongoing friendly rivalry between the Florence guys (upper end of Pickwick) and Counce guys (lower end of Pickwick). So it’s a lot of fun to see who’s going to come out on top.
“Watch out for Rasberry,” he added. “That guy knows his stuff out here – he’s going to catch them every day.”
In terms of the technical aspects of mining green gold off the bottom of Lake Pickwick, Haynes admits there is no substitute for the best electronics money can buy. He has spent thousands of dollars on the best units from Lowrance and Humminbird. He currently uses three different units in his boat.
“These are my toys,” Haynes said while powering up his electronics. “I love buying new depth finders and using them out here. Nothing finds fish like those big Lowrance units, but this new Humminbird Side Imaging technology is pretty neat, too. I use them all just to make sure my competition doesn’t have an edge out here that I don’t.
“When you spend hundreds of hours a year out here idling these ledges like I do, it pays to have the best stuff to see the bottom with.”
As for day two of the Stren Series event, Haynes is excited about his prospects. He has a late boat number today, but with it comes a silver lining.
“Yesterday, I was out early and got first choice on some of the better spots,” he said. “Today, I’m out late and there’s no doubt some of my places will already have boats on them. But the thing I’m most excited about is having another hour to fish late this afternoon. This lake is famous for that late-afternoon bite when they’re really pulling current. They usually start opening the (dam) gates about noon, and by 3 o’ clock the current is really humming – that’s when the dinner bell rings out here.”
The day-two weigh-in of the Stren Series Southeast Division event on Pickwick Lake will begin Thursday at 3 p.m. from McFarland Park in Florence.
