Burnsville WV- The Cline’s once again pulled through for their second Team of The Year Title on the Marshall Bass Trail. Making it back-to-back wins for the duo who scored 482 out of a possible 500 points in route to winning the title again.
Tough fishing was the name of the game for Sunday and with the points so close going into the last event it was sure to be a close one. Tim and Tyler trailed the leaders of Mike Samples and Lloyd Coleman by 3 points going into the last event. They would need to finish at least 4 spots or better to claim their second TOY title.
The Cline’s would weigh in four fish that would weigh 4.59 and finish in the fifth position. Samples and alternate partner Luke Stewart would weigh 2.12 and finish in the sixteenth position. Ultimately giving the Clines the Team of The Year Title.We caught up for an interview with the winners of the Team of The Year Title.
DockTalkWV: Going into the event you are second in points, obviously not as much pressure as being in first, but would you have been more nervous sitting in the lead?
Tyler: Yes, I believe we would’ve been nervous sitting in the lead and not having any fish to go to but being in second allowed us to go out and just fish and have fun.
Tim: I prefer to not be in the lead the pressure would have been much more intense
DockTalkWV: Winning this title back-to-back against that competition is not an easy feat. What does it mean to you all to win it again?
Tyler: To win it back-to-back fishing with my dad means the world to me. It feels good to have that kind of season, to be competitive all season, and be able to finish the job in very tough conditions against the best anglers in the state.
Tim: Winning back-to-back is still hard to believe. The competition was tough we had to stay focused and minimize mistakes to do as well as we did.
DockTalkWV: Living so far away from each other, how often do you guys fish together?
Tyler: I travel back just about every weekend in the spring to fish either the Marshall Trail or our club tournaments. We usually take a spring trip somewhere together as well to different lakes in the southeast as well as an annual trip up to Erie in May and October/November.
Tim: We get to fish together two or three times per month but we do not get to pre-fish as much together as we would like due to the distance we live apart.
DockTalkWV: After watching guys for half the day on Sunday, you guys have a unique style of fishing by really slowing down and breaking down everything. Can you kind of elaborate on that and how key that has been for you all the entire year?
Tyler: Specifically, for this tournament, we didn’t find fish or much of a pattern pre-fishing so I think we both figured if we caught one in a spot we could slow down and work it thoroughly to see if it produced more fish.
Tim: Sunday we figured our best option was to slow down and pick apart every inch of the cover we were on.
DockTalkWV: You guys have a lot of momentum going into the Cup, what is a good goal for you guys in that tournament? Can we see a 3 peat on Summersville?
Tyler: Our goal for The Cup will be to make it to day two. Not having a good history with Summersville, we won’t go into that event thinking it will be easy. We know we’ll have our work cut out for us to do good. As far as a 3 peat I’m not going to add that kind of pressure on us.
Tim: The past Cups we have fished were just tough for us. Last year we blanked. This year our goal is to not blank first and the second is to just have the opportunity to make it to day two. We have learned so much about Summersville over the past couple of years, but the late fall/early winter bite is something we still need to put a lot more time into learning at Summersville.
DockTalkWV: Anything extra you want to say or include?
Tyler: I’d just like to thank the entire Marshall Fishing Team for putting together such a great trail. They all make each event a good time. I look forward to hopefully getting to fish the trail again next season. I’d also like to congratulate Mike Samples and Lloyd Coleman as well as Luke Stewart. They had a great season as well winning the first event and holding the points lead all year. It’s pretty impressive for the points battle to come down to one day on a tough fishery on a very tough day and be as close as it was.
Tim: This season on the Marshall Trail has been something special and we might never have this type of success again, but I am beyond blessed to have had the opportunity to make all the memories with Tyler.