We are a
group of Christian men, women and children gathering together
from different local churches to participate in a Bass
Fishing Tournament once a month at one of many local South
Carolina lakes.
Clarks Hill Lake at Thurmond Dam is our home lake with an
occasional trip to Lakes Murray, Russell, Wateree, Greenwood
or Santee Cooper.
Our normal tournament attendance ranges between 15 to 25
boats with 30 and 50 members fishing. We have two divisions,
adult and youth. Many of our adult members fish with their
children to instill a sense of competition while maintaining
a supportive and Christian atmosphere.
The tournaments provide an avenue to witness and share our
faith with others.
We do not fish for money, but only for a small tag to be
mounted on a plaque that is earned after
obtaining three tags. The enjoyment of bragging rights is
reward enough.
The club was
founded in 1992 by a small group of men who had the desire to
fish in a friendly wholesome competitive atmosphere where
people felt comfortable bringing their wives and children to
club functions.
The original founding members are Ray Feaster, Marice Peace,
Elzie Peals, Mike Roushar, Mike Suggs and Larry Young.
After some informal discussion a vision was developed. We
wanted the support of the church for a meeting place because
we wanted to set the atmosphere that this was a Christian
organization and hopefully develop into an outreach ministry.
Since all of the members were from Millbrook Baptist Church,
Paster Jim Rivers was approached about the idea of sponsoring
the group function by allowing us to meet in the church.
Without hesitation Pastor Rivers asked how soon could we
start.
Thanks to Pastor Jim Rivers for his help and support.
The first tournament was held June, 1992 on Clarks Hill Lake
at the Hamiltion Branch State Park Landing where Mike Roushar
had first place.
The second tournament drew about 8 people and within the
first 6 months we had a steady core group of about 13 people.
The first Awards Banquet was held in October of 1993 which
included the first 15 months. We decided the running year
would run from October to September because of the conflicts
with Church functions around the holidays and the difficulty
in finding suitable banquet facilities.
The core group grew to about 25 by the first year and
stablized there until about 1997 when the group was challeged
by a new tournament trail called the Fishers of Men to be
more of an outreach ministry than just a fishing club. A few
of our members attended the first tournament of the Fishers
of Men and were impressed by their commitment to outreach and
presenting the gosple. This commitment inspired a challege to
the group to begin to develop a new purpose. This new purpose
was to become an outreach ministry by providing a Christian
fellowship atmosphere. The group began looking at the basic
format and practices and decided to begin having a devotion
at each meeting, taking prayer requests, inviting more people
to attend functions, group prayer before and after
tournaments and providing the church a tithe from our dues.
The new format has proven to be a blessing to all members and
has helped the club to grow to the core group of 40 to 50
members.
We continually strive to improve by looking for new ways of
serving our members and community. One member, Don Shelley
and his wife Patty have asked us to help support their
efforts to sponsor a charity fishing tournament for The
American Cancer Society. Don has provided the club with yet
another opportunity to have a positive presence in the
community.