County fishermen fare well
Big boats, big fish, big dreams ... Bill Stewart and Paul Cypher have a lot in common these days.
They're sharing plenty of success, too.
Residents of Prospect and Cabot, respectively, Stewart and Cypher are both 38. They met at a fishing tournament a few years ago and have been competing together as anglers in events in numerous states ever since .
“We're pretty busy with our jobs,” Cypher said, both running their own businesses. “We don't have time to just go out and fish leisurely.
“We pack up the boat, drive to a competition on a Friday, fish, come back home and be back at work Monday.”
And they've gotten pretty good at it.
The pair teamed to place second at the Cabela's King Kat tournament March 14 on Wheeler Lake off the Tennessee River in Decatur, Ala . There were 33 teams representing 13 states in the competition.
The one-day fishing event is all about weighing in five catfish at the end of the competition.“We both have big boats of similar size,” Cypher said. “We'll take mine one week, Bill's the next, it doesn't matter. We're fully equipped.”Stewart estimates he has $50,000 to $60,000 invested in his boat. The boats are packed with coolers, live wells to store the fish, rods, etc.Their catfish weighed in at 135.1 pounds at the Alabama event — including the third-largest catfish caught at 61 pounds — in taking second behind Willie Smith and Nick Anderson of Frankfort, Ohio. The winning weight total was 140.40 pounds.“You have to have three fish under 34 inches long,” Stewart said. “We kept catching the big ones. We didn't find the smaller fish and that's why we didn't win the thing.“The live wells keep the fish alive once you catch them. We end up throwing them back in the water unharmed. We had to throw two big fish away because we had our limit that way.”The competition got under way at 6:30 a.m. Anglers had to be at the weigh-in line by 4 p.m.Stewart and Cypher scouted the lake the day before the event and “didn't get one bite,” Stewart said.“The next day, we couldn't keep the fish out of the boat. We got a good tip from a buddy,” Stewart added.The pair has had success in other Cabela's events while fishing with different partners. Stewart and Edward Duplantis of Monaca won a Cabela's King Kat tournament last May in Gallipolis, Ohio. Cypher and Denver Zinn placed seventh at Cabela's national championship event in Jeffersonville, Ind. two years ago.Now Stewart and Cypher are chasing the brass ring together.“The ultimate goal is to win the national championship,” Cypher said. “We want to win a championship every time we go out.“There's anywhere from 40 to 60 teams at a regular Cabela's event. The national championships have anywhere from 80 to 120. We're fishing against the biggest names in the sport. It's challenging.”They fish local events as well. At least every other weekend, from March through September, Stewart and Cypher head to a tournament somewhere in South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, or elsewhere.Fishing tournaments are presently on hold because of the coronavirus.“This is what we do,” Stewart said of competitive angling. “We share the same goals and passion for this. We're just into it.”
