SMITH AND NORRIS NET ONE FOR THE WIN!
March 15, 2025-Bristol, TN: The Morristown Marine Team Trail completed stop #2 of the 2025 edition Saturday on beautiful South Holston Lake out of Sullivan County Observation Knob Park. 227 teams registered for the event and 209 went through blast off just outside of Painter Creek Marina to compete for a share of the $46,980.00 payout across 38 places and all contingencies. The weather had been unbelievably good all week, but a risk of severe storms was set to move through Saturday afternoon. The day started off great with temps in the mid 50’s and no wind with some good cloud cover. As the day moved on the clouds became intermittent and the wind really picked up about 1pm. We heard the fish had been eating all week and the reports were spot on for most anglers. At the end of the day, 94 teams weighed a 5 fish limit, and 129 teams weighed at least 1 fish. A total of 567 fish hit the scales weighing 1,662.66 lbs. Thats a 2.93 lb average fish! All fish went back into the water alive and well. (Thank you to all our anglers for their continued support of proper fish care and preservation of our natural resources.) Blast off started at 7:35 am and boat 250 blasted off at 8:28 am, taking 53 minutes and averaging 3.9 boats per minute. The scales opened at 2:40 and closed at 4:25, taking an hour and 45 minutes, averaging 1.23 bags per minute weighed. We appreciate you guys following the protocols we have put in place to make weigh-ins and blast offs run smooth and efficiently. As a reminder, if you want to weigh a big fish, please leave a cull tag on that fish and let us know as soon as you get to the scales that you want to weigh a big fish. This makes that process SO much faster and easier.
Cory Smith and Keegan Norris took home the win with a GIANT bag weighing 24.20 lbs anchored by not 1, but 2 massive fish! A behemoth smallmouth at 5.37 lbs. AND an absolute toad Largemouth weighing 5.07 lbs. Cory and Keegan said they caught fish all day with their keeper fish coming from one area within about an hour and a half. They’ll cash a check for $10,000.00 for their efforts. Congrats on a great bag! Click here to see the post-tourney interview with Cory and Keegan.
Following up in 2nd place was the team of John Napier and Steven Barnett with a bag weighing 21.34 lbs. John and Steven will cash checks for $3,000.00 for second place and $3,000.00 for 1st Highest Finishing Skeeter and another $250.00 for Highest Finishing Humminbird/MinnKota. Good job!
3rd place went to Adam Williams with 20.78 lbs. Adam will get $2,500.00 for his day of fishing. Way to go!
In 4th place was Riley Faulkner and Jim Edmonds with a 20.75 lb limit. Riley and Jim won a total of $2,000.00 for their efforts. Congrats, guys!
Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Eric Rasnake and Derek Ray with a limit weighing 20.29lbs. Eric and Derek will take home $1,000.00 for 5th Place and $150 for 2nd Highest Finishing Humminbird/MinnKota. Way to go, guys!
Check out the full results here: LINK
The Citizens Bank Big Largemouth went to Luke Kerstetter and Alexander Strueder with a giant green fish tipping the scales at 6.08 lbs. They will get a check for $1,090.00 for catching that one! Congrats!
The Citizens Bank Big Smallmouth payout went to Casey and Eric Majni weighing an absolute tank of a brown fish at 5.60 lb smallie. Nice catch, and way to put $1,090.00 on top of your winnings!
Highest Finishing Minn Kota and Humminbird Bonus paid out this weekend as follows:
1st: Napier/Barnett, 21.34 lbs. $250 Humminbird/MinnKota Bonus
2nd: Rasnake/Ray 20.29 lbs. $150 Humminbird/MinnKota Bonus
Humminbird: Simply. Clearly. Better. Check out how to get in on the One Boat Network at https://www.minnkotamotors.com/ and get paid for running the best equipment on the water.
Highest Finishing Gray Fox Insurance payout went to Roark/Price with 19.14 lbs for $250.00. 2nd Highest Finishing Gray Fox Insurance payout went to Elliott/Elliott with 13.69 lbs. Their choice to insure with Gray Fox Insurance paid them back $250.00 Saturday. Get in touch with Randy Heatherly and the gang at Gray Fox Insurance in LaFollette, TN and get in on the payback!
The Morristown Marine Bucks Programs
Morristown Marine New Bucks:
1st: Williams/Everett, 15.77 lbs. $1,000.00 Bonus.
2nd: Smith/Lewis, 13.48 lbs. $750 Bonus.
The Morristown Marine New Bucks pays back those who purchased a brand-new boat from us in 2022, 2023 or 2024. This is just our way of saying “Thank You” for choosing your new boat from us.
Morristown Marine Pre-Owned Bucks:
1st: Kennedy/Zajac, 8.02 lbs. $500 Bonus
2nd: Meade/Meade, 4.12 lbs. $250 Bonus
Thank you both for choosing to spend your hard-earned dollars at Morristown Marine. All you have to do is purchase a certified pre-owned boat from Morristown Marine to qualify for this payout. As you guys can see, there is money to be won on the #mmtt in a pre-owned boat!
Highest Finishing Skeeter Bonus:
- Napier/Barnette: 21.34lbs, $3,000.00
- Roark/Price: 19.14lbs, $1,500.00
- Dewees/Napier: 18.46 lbs, $1,000.00
- Carmack/Barton: 17.62 lbs, $900.00
- Wacker/Dyer: 17.49 lbs, $700.00
- Osborne/Brown: 17.30 lbs, $500.00
- Sexton/Sexton: 16.52 lbs, $250.00
- Woods/Rankin: 16.32 lbs, $200.00
- Majni/Majni: 16.2 lbs, $150.00
- Williams/Everett: 15.77 lbs, $100.00
Morristown Marine would like to give a special thanks to: Sullivan County Observation Knob Park, 421 Area Volunteer Fire Department, Brooke Tittle at Citizens Bank, The Slagle family at Lake View Dock, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha, Humminbird, MinnKota, Gray Fox Insurance, Dick’s House of Sport-Knoxville, Rainey Battery Company, Old Stage Printing, Volunteer Trenching, Visit Morristown, Cumberland Gap Spring Water, Jerry’s Bait Shop, for sponsoring this event and the 2025 Morristown Marine Team Trail. If not for the help of these sponsors, this tournament trail could not exist. Thank you all so much for your support of our anglers.
We want to thank our staff and crew for another great tournament. Most people don’t realize the behind-the-scenes work that goes on to create and operate a tournament of this size. From several hours before blast-off until several hours after weigh-in closes, the crew is working tirelessly to bring it all together. Lastly, we want to thank you, the anglers, for coming out to fish with us. There are a number of tournament trails these days and we sincerely appreciate you choosing to fish with us.
Next stop: Douglas Lake, Jefferson County, TN on April 5, 2025 at Dandridge Free Launch (Bridge). See you then!
Be sure to complete the Economic Impact Survey: LINK