Faulkner and Phillips Conquered Stop 1 of the 2026 Season
March 7, 2026– Morristown, TN: The Morristown Marine Team Trail kicked off the first stop of the 2026 season on Cherokee Lake. 226 teams registered for the tournament and 214 boats were in the water for blast-off looking to claim a share of the $53,715.00 pay out across 38 places, and contingencies. It would be hard to custom order any better weather for the first week of March. The unseasonably warm weather and sunshine had the fish up and eating, taking advantage of the warming temperatures. Overnight lows in the upper 50s and daytime highs Saturday north of 75 and abundant sunshine gave everybody spring fever. The only negative was a rough, 15 mph wind that kicked up around noon and increased in speed and intensity as the afternoon wore on.
For most anglers, the catching part wasn’t too difficult. It was finding quality fish that eluded most. Average weight per fish for this tournament was 2.24 lbs. Average bag weight was 10.29 lbs. Of the 226 registered teams, 164 teams weighed at least 1 fish for a total of 754 fish weighed with all of them being released alive and well for someone else to catch on Cherokee Lake. A total of 131 teams weighed a 5 fish limit, with a grand total of 1,687.45 lbs of fish brought to the scales. Blast off started at 6:45 on the dot and boat 250 was called at 7:24, a total of 39 minutes and averaging 5.4 boats per minute. Weigh in scales opened at 2:55 and officially closed at 4:45, taking 1 hour and 50 minutes, averaging 1.5 bags per minute weighed. We appreciate all you guys for making that run so smoothly. By far the best group of fishermen in the sport!
The team of Riley Faulkner and Mason Phillips conquered Stop 1 of the 2026 MMTT Season. Riley told us they fished a variety of baits, depths and structure to put together a 16.80 bag with the majority of their fish being caught in the last hour of the tournament on a crankbait and jerkbait once the wind picked up. They said they fished very clean and were very thankful to take home a big win, promising to take their girlfriends(who were in the audience) out for a nice dinner! Riley and Mason took home a check for $10,000.00 for 1st place overall. Congrats on a big payday and a great weekend of fishing!
Following in second place is the team of Matt Burgess and Larry Kelley bringing in a bag weighing 16.77lbs. This cashed them a check for $3,500.00 for 2nd place. Great job guys!
3rd place went to the team of Donovan Carson and Landon Lawson with a total weight of 16.46 lbs. Donovan and Landon earned a check for 3rd Place — $2,000.00. Their bag was anchored by a toad 6.08lb largemouth which earned them the Big Largemouth pot coming in at $1,120.00 as well as 1st in Highest Finishing Humminbird/MinnKota earning $250.00. A total payday of $3,370.00. Way to go, guys! Congrats on a great finish!
4th place goes to John Napier and Jason Keaton with a total of 16.08 lbs. John and Jason will cash a check for $1,600.00 for 4th place overall. They also qualify for the 2nd Highest Finishing Humminbird and MinnKota payout for $150.00, and $1,120.00 for Big Smallmouth weighing a tank brownie at 4.43lbs. Their total payday comes in at $7,870.00 Congratulations on a great day of fishing, guys!
Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Corey Williams and Buddy Baker with a total weight of 15.50 lbs. Corey and Buddy had a great day on Cherokee and will cash a check for $1,500.00 for 5th place. Great job, guys!
Check out the full results here: Stop 1_Cherokee Lake Results 3.7.2026
The Citizens Bank Big Largemouth went to the 3rd place team, Donovan Carson and Landon Lawson with a stud green fish weighing 6.08 lbs. They will receive a check for $1,120.00 for catching this toad! Congrats!
The Citizens Bank Big Smallmouth payout went to the team of John Napier and Jason Keaton with a monster 3.72 lb brownie. These guys will get a check for $1,120.00 for their big fish. Way to go, guys!
Highest Finishing Minn Kota and Humminbird Bonus paid out this weekend as follows:
1st: Donovan Carson and Landon Lawson, 16.46 lbs. $250 Humminbird/MinnKota Bonus
2nd: John Napier and Jason Keaton, 16.08 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 goes to Brian Harvey and Mark Mauldin with 15.31 lbs for $250.00. 2nd Highest Finishing Gray Fox Insurance payout goes to Stephen Vick and Mark Pappas with 14.65 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 program paid out as follows:
Morristown Marine New Bucks:
1st: Philip Gordon and Jeremy Gordon, 14.60 lbs. $1,000.00 Bonus.
2nd: Terrell Hendren and Benny Roberts, 13.95 lbs. $750 Bonus.
The Morristown Marine New Bucks pays back those who purchased a brand-new boat from us in 2024, 2025 or 2026. This is just our way of saying “Thank You” for choosing your new boat from us.
Morristown Marine Pre-Owned Bucks:
1st: Dennis Oxendine and Kyle Stanifer, 10.32 lbs. $500 Bonus.
2nd: No qualifiers Want to get in on the winnings? We have several pre-owned boats that are tournament ready! Don’t leave money on the table!
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.
Highest Finishing Skeeter Bonus:
- Napier/Keaton: 16.08 lbs, $5,000.00
- Vick/Pappas: 14.65 lbs, $2,000.00
- Gordon/Gordon: 14.60 lbs, $1,500.00
- Ledford/Merida: 14.55 lbs, $800.00
- Morgan/Frost: 14.26 lbs, $700.00
- Osborne/Brown: 14.24 lbs, $500.00
- Woods/Rankin: 13.98 lbs, $250.00
- Hendren/Roberts: 13.95 lbs, $200.00
- Everett/Trent: 13.84 lbs, $150.00
- Gibson/Moseley: 13.80 lbs, $100.00
Morristown Marine would like to give a special thanks to Skeeter Boats, Yamaha, Humminbird, MinnKota, Gray Fox Insurance, Morristown Chamber/Visit Morristown, West Hamblen Volunteer Fire Dept, Hamblen Co Sherrif’s Office and Morristown PD, Old Stage Printing, Volunteer Trenching, Lake View Dock, Citizens Bank, Cumberland Gap Spring Water, Jerry’s Bait Shop, AZ Rags, Pulse Fish Lures and Smoky Mountain Fiberglass for sponsoring the 2026 Morristown Marine Team Trail. If not for the help of these sponsors, this tournament trail could not function at the level it does. Thank you all so much for your support of our anglers.
We want to thank our staff and crew for another great event. The time, effort, long hours, early mornings, and late nights aren’t often recognized, but we want you guys to know how much we appreciate all the sacrifices you make to help us with this trail. Thank you so much!
We also want to thank all of the anglers for coming out to fish out trail. If not for your participation, this trail would not exist. We love putting these tournaments on and want each of you to know that we appreciate you spending your hard earned money and time to fish our trail. Thank you so very much.
We are looking forward to bringing the MMTT back to Claiborne County. It has been several years since we have fished Norris Lake out of Claiborne County- Brogan’s Ramp and we are excited to have Claiborne on board to sponsor the trail and host the 2nd stop of the 2026 season. We will see everyone on Saturday, March 21st there. Registration will begin on Monday, March 16th.
Are you attending the Bassmaster Classic this coming weekend in Knoxville? Be sure to stop in and see us at the Classic Expo. We will be in the Skeeter/Yamaha booth and the Xpress Boats booth. It will be a great time!
Please take a moment to complete the Economic Impact Report for the Classic: Cherokee Economic Impact Report