Kevin Watson Memorial Results

Garrison and Scott use 5-fish limit to win Kevin Watson Memorial bass tournament; event raises over $2,000 for family

CELINA-Nearly 50 anglers arrived here at Horse Creek Resort early last Saturday morning to honor a fallen friend and show their support to the family by taking part in the Kevin Watson Memorial Bass Tournament.

The 41-year-old Watson lost a long battle with cancer earlier this month, leaving behind his wife and three young daughters. The event was organized by Watson's close friends to help ease some of the financial burden the loss placed on the family.

Through entry fees and other donations from local businesses and residents, the event raised over $2,000 for the Watson family.

Leon Watson, the father of the honoree, was on hand to accept the donation and he expressed his overwhelming gratitude to all who participated and to those who helped make the event happen.

"Leon wanted me to let you guys know the Watson family really appreciates this," tournament director Stephen Headrick said before he presented him with the donation. "He said you guys will never know how much having this tournament in Kevin's honor means to the them."

Besides featuring good will, the tournament also produced a good weigh-in from the 22-boat field of participants.

Ernest Garrison and Jerry "Red" Scott came out on top with a nice five-fish limit weighing 10.88 pounds. Their mixed bag of bass was the only limit brought to the scales and it put them over the top for the victory.

Headrick, Cobby Hayes, and Preston Moore combined their efforts to produce 9.44 pounds and take the runner-up spot. Their bag of three fish included a smallmouth over 21 inches long weighing 4.53 pounds.

Third place went to Joe Donald Boles and Ted Tucker. They caught a pair of nice largemouth to total 7.92 pounds.

Kenny Meadows and Powell Walden also had three fish to finish fourth with 7.90 pounds, including a goliath smallmouth weighing 5.59 pounds.

Chris and Derek Hix placed fifth with a pair of largemouth weighing 6.28 pounds, and Brandon Cross and Steve Smith took sixth place with a total of 6.18 pounds-including another big smallmouth weighing 5.38 pounds.

The top three finishing teams were presented with plaques donated by Jeff Short of Tompkinsville, KY and laminated GPS maps donated by Dalehollowfishing.com.

All of the fishermen were treated to dinner prepared on site by Alan West, Dennis McClain, Randall McClain, and Donald Collins. It featured fresh Dale Hollow catfish caught and donated by Dewayne McClerran.

Organizers offered special thanks to those men and all who helped make the event a success. The possibility of making the tournament and annual event was also discussed.

2ND PLACE-Stephen Headrick, Cobby Hayes (not pictured), and Preston Moore (pictured below) took the runner-up spot with 9.44 pounds.	Preston Moore, part of the second-place team with another nice smallmouth from this tournament.
3RD PLACE-Joe Donald Boles and Ted Tucker used these two good largemouth to total 7.92 pounds.	4TH PLACE-Kenny Meadows and Powell Walden finished with 7.90 pounds, including this big 5.59-pound smallmouth.
5TH PLACE-Chris and Derek Hix placed fifth with this pair of largemouth weighing 6.28 pounds.	6TH PLACE-Brandon Cross and Steve Smith had a total of 6.18 pounds--including another big smallmouth weighing 5.38 pounds.

For information and pictures about other events, visit www.dalehollowhorizon.com.