Fishing tournament results announced Saturday
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 10, 2016 1:45 AM
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Keith Lane
E-Z Bait and Tackle announced the winners of its two month long first annual catfish tournament Saturday evening.
The tournament, officially called the "EZ3 Catfish Tournament," took place in Lenoir, Johnston and Wayne counties, and was what is considered a "rod and reel only" tournament.
Dwayne Bevell, the owner of E-Z Bait and Tackle, said limb lining and other methods outside of using a rod and reel were not allowed.
"It was basically using a cricket and a cane pole," Bevell said.
All fish brought in to be weighed for the tournament had to be alive.
"It was a catch and release tournament," Bevell said. "We tagged the fish and released them at the wildlife ramp right here by the shop."
Bevell said he wanted to tag the fish to track how many catfish were in the Neuse River, and to map the travel of catfish in the river.
One fish caught by second place winner Chad Linder on May 29 was caught again on July 4. Bevell knew it was the same fish because of the tag.
"He made it a point to release it a good 10 or 15 miles away from where he caught it, but when it was caught the second time it was maybe 100 yards away from where it was first caught," Bevell said. "It showed us that fish are territorial. He came back home after he was already caught once."
A total of 16 fish were tagged during the tournament, after a total of 59 fish were caught.
In all, 28 blue catfish, 30 flathead catfish and one channel catfish were caught, totaling more than 900 pounds of fish.
Fish were weighed constantly throughout the tournament, seven days a week until it ended. The fish that were caught were displayed in a live well in front of the store, Bevell said.
And when it was all said and done, the men that turned in the winning fish had to pass one last test -- a polygraph test, to prove they were not lying about the circumstances under which they caught the catfish.
Polygraph tests took place Thursday and Friday, in order for the winners to be announced Saturday.
The winner of the first annual EZ3 Catfish Tournament was Keith Lane, who usually fishes salt water but changed his mind to compete in the local catfish tournament.
Lane said he is on a mission to collect fishing citations -- not citations in the legal sense, but citations that are awards of recognition for catching various types of fish and handed out by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Lane said he caught his fish in the lowgrounds of Johnston County at the Mill Creek Hunting Club. Saturday's catfish win will warrant him another citation from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Lane said he had to borrow a friend's horse trough to bring the 61.4 pound catfish in to be weighed at the shop, and kept it alive in a ditch until it could be weighed and released back into the river.
Winners of the tournament received cash prizes and various gear from the E-Z Bait and Tackle shop.
The winners of the first annual EZ3 Catfish tournament are:
* First place: Keith Lane, winning $992.25, a Truth fishing reel and a Tiger Lite road.
* Second place: Chad Linder, winning $727.65, an Abu Catfish Special and a Big Cat Rod.
* Third place: Eric Fletcher, winning $485.10 and a Catfish Special.
* Fourth place: Travis Bradshaw, winning a T200, Catfish Commando, Berkley Power Bait Tackle Box, 60 Leader, Berkley Catfish Bait, two packs of hooks and Sea Striker Beads.
* Fifth place:, Johnny Penny, T100, Abu SX and a Berkley Precision Plier Combo.
* Wildcat category for May: David Hamilton, winning an Abu Catfish Special.
* Wildcat Category for June: James Powell, winning an Ugly Stick Catfish Combo.
The first annual EZ3 Catfish Tournament was sponsored by Truth Fishing Reels, Big Cat Fever Rods and PENN.