Napier and Keaton Nail a Win on Norris
April 19, 2025-LaFollette, TN: The Morristown Marine Team Trail traveled across Clinch Mountain and through Powell Valley for stop #4 of the 2025 season Saturday on Norris Lake in beautiful Campbell County. 225 teams registered for the event and 198 went through blast off at Indian River Marina to compete for a share of the $46,655.00 payout across 38 places and all contingencies. The weather had been cold at night and unseasonably warm throughout the days, with a steady wind all week. Saturday morning arrived with some cloud cover and warmer overnight temps and a steady 10-15 mph breeze. Temps stayed hovering around 60 at blast off and, as the day progressed, the sun peaked out and it warmed to 80 degrees. We had heard mixed reports on the fishing throughout the week, with the consensus being that keeper sized fish weren’t very hard to catch, but finding the better fish was proving to be difficult. This remained true for Saturday as 121 teams weighed a 5 fish limit and 140 teams weighed at least one fish. A total of 669 fish hit the scales Saturday for 1511.20 lbs for a 2.25 lb average catch. Of the 669 fish brought to the scales, all 669 went back into Norris Lake for future fishermen to enjoy catching. I still say this group of fishermen is the absolute best in the area at taking care of our fish. Thank you guys and please continue to practice good fish care practices. Blast off started at 6:42 and ended at 7:28, taking 46 minutes and averaging 4.3 boats per minute. The weigh-in scales opened early to weigh a team that was having livewell problems, so the scales officially opened at 2:38 and officially closed at 4:35 taking an hour and 57 minutes and averaged weighing 1.19 bags per minute. 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.
John Napier and Jason Keaton took home the win with a good bag of mostly smallmouth and weighing 17.31 lbs. John and Jason said they caught fish all day off spawning flats in the Clinch River area and were able to upgrade with a big largemouth later in the day on a floating worm. John and Jason will cash checks for 1st Place ($10,000.00), Highest Finishing Skeeter ($3,000.00), Highest Finishing Humminbird/MinnKota ($250) for a total of $13,250.00. Additionally, John’s new Skeeter will pay him $10,000.00 for Skeeter Real Money. This pushes their payday out to almost $24,000.00!! Way to go guys! Click LINK to see the post-tourney interview with John and Jason.
Following up in 2nd place was the team of Cole Russel and Ty Trentham with a bag weighing 15.28lbs. Cole and Ty will cash a check for $3,000 for second place. Great bag of fish on a really tough day, guys. Great job!
3rd place went to Jeremy Gordon and Philip Gordon with 14.91 lbs. Jeremy and Philip will get $2,500.00 for their overall 3rd place finish. Nice work, men!
In 4th place was Brad Barton and Jacob Barton with a 14.62 lb limit. Brad and Jacob won a total of $2,000 for 2nd place overall and an additional $1,500.00 for 2nd Highest Finishing Skeeter. Congrats, guys!
Rounding out the top 5 was David McAdams and Jason Lake with a limit weighing 14.61 lbs. David ad Jason will take home $1,500.00 for 5th Place. Congrats on a great finish!
Check out the full results here: LINK
The Citizens Bank Big Largemouth went to Josh Boone and Clay Reece with a big ol green fish tipping the scales at 4.81 lbs. They will get a check for $1,090.00 for catching that one! Congrats!
The Citizens Bank Big Smallmouth payout went to Terrell Hendren and Benny Roberts weighing a brown fish at 3.90 lb. 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/Keaton 17.31 lbs. $250 Humminbird/MinnKota Bonus
2nd: Russell/Trentham 15.28 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 McDeerman/Dilbeck with 14.25 lbs for $250.00. 2nd Highest Finishing Gray Fox Insurance payout went to Hendren/Roberts with 13.13 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: Barton/Barton, 14.25 lbs. $1,000.00 Bonus.
2nd: Hendren/Roberts, 13.13 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, 7.63 lbs. $500 Bonus
2nd: Meade/Meade, 1.49 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/Keaton: 17.31lbs, $3,000.00
- Barton/Barton: 14.62 lbs, $1,500.00
- Adams/Phillips: 14.58 lbs, $1,000.00
- Woods/Rankin: 14.55bs, $800.00
- Barton/Barton: 14.25 lbs, $700.00
- Roark/Price: 14.24 lbs, $500.00
- Wilson/Bailey: 13.88 lbs, $250.00
- Batts/Trentham: 13.86 lbs, $200.00
- Lee/Dimauro: 13.60 lbs, $150.00
- Hamilton/Ball: 13.47 lbs, $100.00
Morristown Marine would like to give a special thanks to: Campbell County Chamber of Commerce, Campbell County Mayor Lynch, Jay Munsey and the Park crew for parking, Campbell County Volunteer Fire Department, 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: Watts Bar Lake in Rockwood, TN (Roane County) on May 10, 2025 at Dr .Tom Fuller Park. See you then!
Be sure to complete the Economic Impact Survey: LINK