Well, I hate doing the last post of the year, so consequently, it's late in coming. I hate it because it signals another fishing season coming to an end. I like fishing with you guys and gals, and the season goes by much to quickly. So, on with final blog of 2017.
We did something we haven't done on the WFC: fish out of a landing other than Lower Hay. We put in on West Shore Drive and fished the Cross Lake end of the chain. The point totals were pretty impressive for never having done that. I don't know how many of you headed for familiar water on Whitefish, but I saw plenty of you in Cross Lake, so I think most stayed close.
Speaking of close, Sam and Mike made an epic run at the end of the year. They went on a four week tear scoring 102 points, and almost pulled out a championship. They blew away the rest of us, scoring 112 points in the second half, but that wasn't quite enough to catch our 2017 champions, Mark and Luther! Congratulations guys. M & L almost lead wire to wire, but at our first event, they got beat by 2 points on Pelican way back in May. Part of their success is, they never missed an event. It's a good thing they didn't, because Sam and Mike missed two, and lost the championship by 3 points. Sam and Mike's show points alone would have been enough to win, but I don't want to take away from Mark & Luther, because they beat the rest of us down with their consistency. They only had one nightly win, but they also had two second place finishes, and except for Woman Lake, they never got skunked. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, if you were to tell me the champions only placed first one night, and got skunked on another, I'd tell you to add the points up again, because there is no way they won; except they did, so congratulations again guys. It's hard to be the rabbit all year long, but you kept the rest of us nipping at your heals, so good job!
Ugg...so, that brings me to my final thoughts. First off, I thought the new measuring system of setting up a table and bringing the fish to it worked out well. It was much easier on me physically, not to mention it was easier to keep track of who is who. That will remain the same for next year. There were no major mishaps, and no one was injured, so I'm grateful for that. We're going to have to keep an eye on what the DNR does regarding a state wide Pike slot for next year. If they enact that statewide slot, we're going to be looking at a lot of pictures come measuring time. It's a good thing we all trust each other, because that could leave the door open for cheating. I firmly believe though, that if you do cheat during an event, the fishing gods will sink your boat. I think that's warranted.
I could ramble on for awhile longer, but I'm not going to. I'll just say a big thank you to all of you for being good sports, and great stewards of our lakes; despite what that asshole thought of Sam on Rice lake. I'll see you next year! Plan on meeting at Billy's sometime in April of 2018. Have a good winter!
For the final standings, click HERE.
For the final point breakdown, click HERE.
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
Event #9 - Rice Lake - 8/30/2017
Whoa! This just in folks. There has been a late surge by the team of Sam and Mike. Over the past three events, they have opened up a big can of whupass and outscored the leading team of Mark & Luther by 45 points, 74 to 29! Sam and Mike, while moving into second place overall, have averaged 15 more points a night over the past three events than Mark & Luther. With only one event left, Mark and Luther are only 17 points ahead of Sam and Mike. On Rice Lake alone, the point difference was 23 in favor of the second place up and comers. I think we'd be looking at different leaders if Sam & Mike had not missed two events this year. If it wasn't for this late performance, I'd say 17 points was too much of a deficit to make up, but not anymore...it really is coming down to the last event, and Mark and Luther better bring their "A" game next week, or what was once a sure thing might just slip through their fingers.
So, Sam & Mike won with 30 points on Rice. Brian and Dustyn had the biggest fish with a 30 and 1/8 inch pike. We had 5 no shows last night; more than we've ever had. I'd say it was just about perfect on the water last night. The fishing was tough, for most of us, unless you were fishing for weeds! Holy shit there were a lot of weeds. For those of us casting the shoreline, just about every other cast was ruined by this slimy, smelly green gobbly shit that was harder than hell to get off your hook. I especially hate those weeds that just come up to the surface, and you can't see them until you land right in the middle of them. My net boy came up with a name for these pain in the ass weeds, but it is much to crude of a name to print in a family article like this. I was disgusted and almost asked him to get out of the boat, but then I caught a fish and realized I needed a net boy, so I let him stay.
I mentioned earlier that we fish next week, which isn't a misprint. We fish the Whitefish Chain on the 7th, but this time, we're putting in at the West Shore Drive landing on Cross Lake. So, what do you do? Do you make a long run eating up a lot of your time just to fish familiar water, or do you attack Cross, Daggett, Rush, Island and Loon Lakes? These bodies of water hold a lot of fish, but we don't fish them, so it could be interesting. Fishing times are from 4:00 to 8:00, and after everyone has measured, we'll add everything up and see who came out on top for the year. I'll see you next week!
Oh, I may decide to award an event show point for everyone who show's up to hear my band at the Crosslake Town Square tomorrow night. The concert starts at 6:00, so come on down and listen to Decade 7!
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the point breakdown, click HERE.
So, Sam & Mike won with 30 points on Rice. Brian and Dustyn had the biggest fish with a 30 and 1/8 inch pike. We had 5 no shows last night; more than we've ever had. I'd say it was just about perfect on the water last night. The fishing was tough, for most of us, unless you were fishing for weeds! Holy shit there were a lot of weeds. For those of us casting the shoreline, just about every other cast was ruined by this slimy, smelly green gobbly shit that was harder than hell to get off your hook. I especially hate those weeds that just come up to the surface, and you can't see them until you land right in the middle of them. My net boy came up with a name for these pain in the ass weeds, but it is much to crude of a name to print in a family article like this. I was disgusted and almost asked him to get out of the boat, but then I caught a fish and realized I needed a net boy, so I let him stay.
I mentioned earlier that we fish next week, which isn't a misprint. We fish the Whitefish Chain on the 7th, but this time, we're putting in at the West Shore Drive landing on Cross Lake. So, what do you do? Do you make a long run eating up a lot of your time just to fish familiar water, or do you attack Cross, Daggett, Rush, Island and Loon Lakes? These bodies of water hold a lot of fish, but we don't fish them, so it could be interesting. Fishing times are from 4:00 to 8:00, and after everyone has measured, we'll add everything up and see who came out on top for the year. I'll see you next week!
Oh, I may decide to award an event show point for everyone who show's up to hear my band at the Crosslake Town Square tomorrow night. The concert starts at 6:00, so come on down and listen to Decade 7!
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the point breakdown, click HERE.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Event #8 - North F'n Long Lake - 8/17/2017
Why do we fish this POS body of water? By the looks of it, there are only three productive spots on this shallow weed filled toilet bowl, because everyone at some point in the night, fish these same three friggin spots. And it never fails, that some a-hole in a Crestliner rolls up on one of those spots just as you're headed that way working the reeds, and he pulls a nice bass out of two feet of water and then culls right in front of your face, all the while knowing we don't have even one bass in our livewell! To make matters worse, this same guy and his net boy go on to win the night. You may think he's the Michael Waltrip fun loving guy of the league, but he isn't. He catches way too many bass for my liking, and next time on Rice it will only get worse. Just wait...he'll bring in football after football on the 31st.
Seriously though, for most of us, North Long is a lake most of us only fish once a year, because, well let's face it, we're forced too. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if it would just dry up so we could find another lake to fish. In case you new guys haven't figured it out yet, I hate this stop on our tour, and I'm glad it's over.
What I'm not glad about though, is we've only got two events left. It is simply unbelievable how fast the summer goes as I move into late in the 3rd quarter of my life. On the other hand, it will be April again soon, and we'll be meeting to talk about the summer of 2018 in the smokey filled back room of Billy's in Breezy Point before we even have a chance to winterize our rigs.
Like I said, two events left, and they're both 4 hours long from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. Next up is Rice Lake out of Lum Park on the 31st, followed up on September 7th when we fish the Whitefish Chain out of the landing on Cross Lake's West Shore Drive; that should be interesting. Unless we break all of their rods and sabotage their boat, I'd say Mark and Luther, with their 19 point lead over Troy and Ryan, are pretty much a lock to win it all this year, but maybe the fishing gods will slam the door in their face, opening a window for someone else. We'll know in just a matter of a couple of weeks. I'll see you a week from Thursday on Rice.
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the points breakdown, click HERE.
Seriously though, for most of us, North Long is a lake most of us only fish once a year, because, well let's face it, we're forced too. It wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if it would just dry up so we could find another lake to fish. In case you new guys haven't figured it out yet, I hate this stop on our tour, and I'm glad it's over.
What I'm not glad about though, is we've only got two events left. It is simply unbelievable how fast the summer goes as I move into late in the 3rd quarter of my life. On the other hand, it will be April again soon, and we'll be meeting to talk about the summer of 2018 in the smokey filled back room of Billy's in Breezy Point before we even have a chance to winterize our rigs.
Like I said, two events left, and they're both 4 hours long from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. Next up is Rice Lake out of Lum Park on the 31st, followed up on September 7th when we fish the Whitefish Chain out of the landing on Cross Lake's West Shore Drive; that should be interesting. Unless we break all of their rods and sabotage their boat, I'd say Mark and Luther, with their 19 point lead over Troy and Ryan, are pretty much a lock to win it all this year, but maybe the fishing gods will slam the door in their face, opening a window for someone else. We'll know in just a matter of a couple of weeks. I'll see you a week from Thursday on Rice.
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the points breakdown, click HERE.
Friday, August 4, 2017
Event #7 - Rabbit Lake - 8/3/2017
Whoa! And WTF? Two weeks ago on Woman Lake, we had haze/steam coming off the water because there was no wind and it was hot. Tonight on Rabbit, we had steam coming out of our fricken mouths, because our breath was 45 degrees warmer than the air! Not only that, the water temp was 20 degrees warmer as well. It's 53 degrees on August 3rd, which was bad enough, but then God said, rain on these idiots and show them who's boss. Well, I got my ass wet, but we didn't quit and neither did anyone else. At least God kept the wind in His back pocket for the night. Yep, we lasted three hours on a wet, dank, dark, cold, rainy, muddy miserable night, so God...thanks for another day on the water. I'll tell you who didn't show up last night...the pleasure boaters and jet skiers...pussy's.
Two point records were set last night; well maybe three if you count the amount of shrinkage from the cold rain. (yes ladies, they really are like turtles) I looked back on the points since I've been keeping the books, which has been ten years already. The most anyone had scored in a single night as a team, was 38. (Brian and Dustyn) That was broken by Brandon and Steve, with an insane 40 points! They made up for not being on Woman [Lake]. The other record that was broken was our nightly league total of 197 points on Serpent several years ago. The new record now stands at 227 points. So much for the fish shutting down after a cold front. Brandon and Steve scored the one and only tri-fecta catching a 18.75 inch walleye on a crank bait while fishing for dogfish. Since that was the only walleye measured, it turned out to be an eleven point fish. Not bad guys. Speaking of dogfish, there were two caught last night. Chris, of Chris and Shelly fame, had the guts to put his in the boat and throw it on the board. Derrick, of Derrick and Bart fame, pussied out and took a picture of his, which technically shouldn't count. The only fish we were to take pictures of were pike outside of the slot, but since I'm a nice guy I gave them both a point.
Brandon and Steve obviously ran away with the night, but everyone except lowly Jim and I, had a double digit night. Adding insult to injury, Chris, of Chris and Shelly fame, beat my pike by 1/4 of an inch for big fish with a 29.75 inch picture of a pike...ouch. I should have checked my board against his for comparison purposes. It just goes to show you that a quarter of an inch really does matter.
We're on North Long in two weeks, which has always been one of the lowest point lakes of the year. Simply put, that lake sucks, and before you say you always do well on that piss ass body of water, I say bullshit. Looking back over the last five years, the highest point night as a league was 137 points. One of those years we had 10 boats and managed to score 109 points. I rest my case; that lake sucks. It's 5:30-8:30; three hours of fishing hell on the 17th, followed by Rice from 4:00-8:00 on the 31st. We finish up on the Whitefish Chain from 4:00-8:00 on 9/7 using the landing on West Shore Drive this time. Three events left my friends, with Mark & Luther holding on to a 19 point lead over Troy & Ryan. I'm hesitant to say that Mark & Luther have it in the bag, but Troy & Ryan, and Jamie & Chuck will need to score 7/8 more points a night than Mark & Luther just to catch them. Doesn't sound like much, but on Rabbit, Troy & Ryan were only a +3, and Jamie & Chuck were a -1. The fat lady is warming up.
For updated standings click HERE.
For event totals click Here.
Two point records were set last night; well maybe three if you count the amount of shrinkage from the cold rain. (yes ladies, they really are like turtles) I looked back on the points since I've been keeping the books, which has been ten years already. The most anyone had scored in a single night as a team, was 38. (Brian and Dustyn) That was broken by Brandon and Steve, with an insane 40 points! They made up for not being on Woman [Lake]. The other record that was broken was our nightly league total of 197 points on Serpent several years ago. The new record now stands at 227 points. So much for the fish shutting down after a cold front. Brandon and Steve scored the one and only tri-fecta catching a 18.75 inch walleye on a crank bait while fishing for dogfish. Since that was the only walleye measured, it turned out to be an eleven point fish. Not bad guys. Speaking of dogfish, there were two caught last night. Chris, of Chris and Shelly fame, had the guts to put his in the boat and throw it on the board. Derrick, of Derrick and Bart fame, pussied out and took a picture of his, which technically shouldn't count. The only fish we were to take pictures of were pike outside of the slot, but since I'm a nice guy I gave them both a point.
Brandon and Steve obviously ran away with the night, but everyone except lowly Jim and I, had a double digit night. Adding insult to injury, Chris, of Chris and Shelly fame, beat my pike by 1/4 of an inch for big fish with a 29.75 inch picture of a pike...ouch. I should have checked my board against his for comparison purposes. It just goes to show you that a quarter of an inch really does matter.
We're on North Long in two weeks, which has always been one of the lowest point lakes of the year. Simply put, that lake sucks, and before you say you always do well on that piss ass body of water, I say bullshit. Looking back over the last five years, the highest point night as a league was 137 points. One of those years we had 10 boats and managed to score 109 points. I rest my case; that lake sucks. It's 5:30-8:30; three hours of fishing hell on the 17th, followed by Rice from 4:00-8:00 on the 31st. We finish up on the Whitefish Chain from 4:00-8:00 on 9/7 using the landing on West Shore Drive this time. Three events left my friends, with Mark & Luther holding on to a 19 point lead over Troy & Ryan. I'm hesitant to say that Mark & Luther have it in the bag, but Troy & Ryan, and Jamie & Chuck will need to score 7/8 more points a night than Mark & Luther just to catch them. Doesn't sound like much, but on Rabbit, Troy & Ryan were only a +3, and Jamie & Chuck were a -1. The fat lady is warming up.
For updated standings click HERE.
For event totals click Here.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Event #6 - Woman Lake - 7/20/2017
For a lot of us, it was our first time on Woman Lake, and for most of us, it kicked our ass. With tons of structure, and water temps reaching 78 degrees, it was hard to find fish; let me rephrase that; it wasn't hard to find fish, cause we could see them on our screens; getting them to hit was the hard part. Everywhere one looked, you could see fish, but probably more importantly, there were balls of bait fish everywhere as well, so I can certainly understand why the fish are picky right now. Speaking for Jim and I, we didn't have a fish in the boat until after 8:00 when we caught a pike using the kitchen sink we brought with us tonight. It was tough. No walleyes, only 1 fill on bass, and no fills on pike. I'd go back to Woman though. I'll bet once you learned how to fish it, and when to fish it, you'd pretty much catch all of the fish you'd want. The landing was very nice, although I'd like to see a second ramp, but I guess you can't have everything.
For the first time this year, we had a repeat winner. Jamie and Chuck took top honors with 22 points. Joey had the biggest fish with a picture of a pike measuring 28.5 inches. There were a lot of big bass caught, with 6 being over 18 inches. We were lucky enough to have the biggest bass at 18.75 inches, but 6 over 18 inches is pretty damn good.
The points at the top have officially tightened up. Despite their 2 point meltdown, Mark and Luther still own the top spot at 108 points, but Bryan and Dustyn only trail by 12 instead of 20 now. There are also only 9 points separating 2nd and 5th, with some tough fishing coming up. The dog days are upon us, so who has the know how to move up the leader board? Do Mark and Luther have a big enough lead to keep everyone at bay over the 4 events? Will I have all three gears still at the end of the year? Will Sasha really have Nate's baby? Like sand through the hour glass, only time will tell, but it's been fun so far; well, except for being towed in two weeks ago.
We'll be fishing Rabbit in two weeks on August 3rd (can you believe it's August already...gracious sakes!!!) It has the same slot that Woman did with pike, so we'll be taking pictures again of anything between 24 and 36 inches. We're also done with the 9:30 end time, as we'll be fishing Rabbit from 6:00 to 9:00. I'll see you then!
For the updated standings, click HERE.
For the points breakdown, click THERE.
For the first time this year, we had a repeat winner. Jamie and Chuck took top honors with 22 points. Joey had the biggest fish with a picture of a pike measuring 28.5 inches. There were a lot of big bass caught, with 6 being over 18 inches. We were lucky enough to have the biggest bass at 18.75 inches, but 6 over 18 inches is pretty damn good.
The points at the top have officially tightened up. Despite their 2 point meltdown, Mark and Luther still own the top spot at 108 points, but Bryan and Dustyn only trail by 12 instead of 20 now. There are also only 9 points separating 2nd and 5th, with some tough fishing coming up. The dog days are upon us, so who has the know how to move up the leader board? Do Mark and Luther have a big enough lead to keep everyone at bay over the 4 events? Will I have all three gears still at the end of the year? Will Sasha really have Nate's baby? Like sand through the hour glass, only time will tell, but it's been fun so far; well, except for being towed in two weeks ago.
We'll be fishing Rabbit in two weeks on August 3rd (can you believe it's August already...gracious sakes!!!) It has the same slot that Woman did with pike, so we'll be taking pictures again of anything between 24 and 36 inches. We're also done with the 9:30 end time, as we'll be fishing Rabbit from 6:00 to 9:00. I'll see you then!
For the updated standings, click HERE.
For the points breakdown, click THERE.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Event #5 - Whitefish Chain - 7/6/2017
I could start out by bitching about having to be towed in because my $750 repair bill on fixing reverse made things worse; or because when I started the motor to head in at the end of the night, all of a sudden reverse I had (for the first time in a year and a half) but not forward (which I've had forever); or I could bitch about how windy it was, which you've heard me rant about in the past. I could start out that way, but instead, I'd like to thank Bart & Derrick, and everyone else that was headed my to help, for towing us in. If that was going to happen, I'm glad it happened on a league night, because I knew I'd be well taken care of. Thanks again guys!
So, about last night. First of all, like I said it was windier than the last time I bitched about the wind, but it does force us to make some interesting decisions. Do we fish the windward side like all of the experts tell us to to and get the shit kicked out of us, or do we take the wuss approach and head to the safety of the opposite shoreline? It looked like there were only 2 wusses, leaving 11 that decided to get the shit kicked out of them when the horn sounded starting the event.
With the Whitefish Chain in our review mirror for now, it marks the middle of our season. Five down; five to go as we've reached the halfway point. And, keeping with the trend this year, we've had our fifth winner as Bart & Derrick scored 27 points without any bonus points for big fish...that doesn't happen very often. They did score a tri-fecta because of a 22.25 inch pike, so good for them. Without the tri-fecta and that pike, they would have been tied for 4th last night. We do have a repeat winner for biggest fish of the night though; me! (and my net men) We caught a 27.25 inch pike, which for Whitefish, is pretty big these days: unfortunately!
We're headed to Woman in two weeks. Should be interesting. I know there are a few of us than haven't fished it, and probably won't get the chance to do so until that night. It will be a bit of a haul for all of us, because you just can't get to Longville very easily. Woman will be our last 3.5 hour event for the year; they'll be 3 hours starting with Rabbit.
See you on Woman! (that sounds kinda cave man like)
For updated standings click HERE.
For event detail click HERE.
So, about last night. First of all, like I said it was windier than the last time I bitched about the wind, but it does force us to make some interesting decisions. Do we fish the windward side like all of the experts tell us to to and get the shit kicked out of us, or do we take the wuss approach and head to the safety of the opposite shoreline? It looked like there were only 2 wusses, leaving 11 that decided to get the shit kicked out of them when the horn sounded starting the event.
With the Whitefish Chain in our review mirror for now, it marks the middle of our season. Five down; five to go as we've reached the halfway point. And, keeping with the trend this year, we've had our fifth winner as Bart & Derrick scored 27 points without any bonus points for big fish...that doesn't happen very often. They did score a tri-fecta because of a 22.25 inch pike, so good for them. Without the tri-fecta and that pike, they would have been tied for 4th last night. We do have a repeat winner for biggest fish of the night though; me! (and my net men) We caught a 27.25 inch pike, which for Whitefish, is pretty big these days: unfortunately!
We're headed to Woman in two weeks. Should be interesting. I know there are a few of us than haven't fished it, and probably won't get the chance to do so until that night. It will be a bit of a haul for all of us, because you just can't get to Longville very easily. Woman will be our last 3.5 hour event for the year; they'll be 3 hours starting with Rabbit.
See you on Woman! (that sounds kinda cave man like)
For updated standings click HERE.
For event detail click HERE.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Event #4 - Roosevelt Lake - 6/22/2017
It was a beautiful night to be outside on Roosevelt Lake. Then; throw in the fact that I was fishing, and BAM...you have one of those nights that reminds me why I moved to Minnesota all of those years ago. Even if I wouldn't have caught a fish, I would still love that fact that I lived here...right Jim/net boy? Sorry I keep giving my partner so much shit, but it's kind of fun. He is a very good net man though, he brings good snacks, and he helps me get around a lot: that is very much appreciated. BUT, and I'm still not sure I believe him, the night we fished Gull, he claims he wore a KILT! Despite the fact that no one noticed he wore a KILT, (including me) he maintains he actually wore something called a "tactical" KILT. He even went so far to send me a link to where I could buy one of these skirts in hopes that we would sew some patches on them, "you know, like the Bassmasters do", and fish together in them. I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't need to see another guys junk while enjoying a night in the boat. You can bet your ass that the first thing I looked for after he got in my car last night, wasn't what kind of hat he was wearing.
I don't know anyone in our league that doesn't enjoy fishing Roosevelt, and even though we had 3 no shows and one team that didn't catch a fish, it was a big points night, despite the fact that Lonnie and Stacy didn't do a thing to redeem themselves. Last year, we had 10 teams that fished Roosevelt, and we had an accumulative total of 100 points. This year we had 10 teams and together we scored 144 points. That is a big difference, and I think it's very encouraging. The big winners were Brian and Dustyn, minus Dustyn last night, with 31 points. We've had four events, and we've had four different winners this year...that's pretty cool. Brian and minus Dustyn had a 25.5 inch walleye, which almost turned out to be the biggest fish, but thankfully my partner and I (with KILT boy on the net) had a 25.75 inch pike, so we won the big fish pot. Surprisingly, we've had four different winners there too.
So, the halfway point of the season is already coming up on July 6th when we fish the Whitefish Chain for the first time this year. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we have a better chance of catching a 25.75 foot ski boat, than we do of catching a 25.75 inch anything that swims that evening. Let's just hope we have weather like we did on Roosevelt. With that, I'll say I'll see you then, unless I see you Saturday night in Pequot when you come to see Decade 7 play in the park starting at 7:00!
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the event points breakdown, click HERE.
I don't know anyone in our league that doesn't enjoy fishing Roosevelt, and even though we had 3 no shows and one team that didn't catch a fish, it was a big points night, despite the fact that Lonnie and Stacy didn't do a thing to redeem themselves. Last year, we had 10 teams that fished Roosevelt, and we had an accumulative total of 100 points. This year we had 10 teams and together we scored 144 points. That is a big difference, and I think it's very encouraging. The big winners were Brian and Dustyn, minus Dustyn last night, with 31 points. We've had four events, and we've had four different winners this year...that's pretty cool. Brian and minus Dustyn had a 25.5 inch walleye, which almost turned out to be the biggest fish, but thankfully my partner and I (with KILT boy on the net) had a 25.75 inch pike, so we won the big fish pot. Surprisingly, we've had four different winners there too.
So, the halfway point of the season is already coming up on July 6th when we fish the Whitefish Chain for the first time this year. I'm going to go out on a limb and say we have a better chance of catching a 25.75 foot ski boat, than we do of catching a 25.75 inch anything that swims that evening. Let's just hope we have weather like we did on Roosevelt. With that, I'll say I'll see you then, unless I see you Saturday night in Pequot when you come to see Decade 7 play in the park starting at 7:00!
For updated standings, click HERE.
For the event points breakdown, click HERE.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Event #3 - Edward Lake - 6/13/2017
Edward may be a mans name, but that lake was a BITCH last night. The good Lord saw fit to give us sustained winds of 15-20 MPH (13-17.4 knots) with gusts up to 30 MPH (26 knots), and I for one did not appreciate it...especially since I still don't have reverse. On top of that, we got wet, but He did see fit to hold off on the hard stuff until after we left. Looking on the bright side though, there were no bugs. They were all blown to California, which is a good place for them to be. We had 11 boats last night, and did you happen to notice we had the whole lake to ourselves? I wonder why? Did you also notice the surface temperature dropped 3 degrees while we were fishing? One of the bad things about Edward, excluding that there is only one landing, is you can't get out of the wind when it's blowing like that. The lake is so shallow, so even if you went to the east side of the lake, you'd still be in the wind if you wanted to fish water deeper than 3-6 feet. I like the lake though, because we've figured out where to catch some walleye's, and the rest of you haven't! I hope to keep it that way.
Like I said, we had 11 out of 13 boats fishing last night. Night one's winning team of Lonnie and Stacy weren't there, making their fall from first the hardest I've ever seen. 1st after week one, and they are now tied for 7th after three events. That may be hard to recover from, but they also had big fish on Pelican, so they walked away with $175, which means they're fishing for free the rest of the year. Last night Jamie and Chuck won with a total of 17 hard earned points. Big fish went to Chris and Shelly with a whopping 22 3/4 inch pike. I'd almost be embarrassed to take the $50 for a fish like that...no I wouldn't.
I think the way we're measuring fish is working out well this year. I'ts going quite a bit faster, but I do have one thing I need from you. I need to know if both team members fished. Since it's dark, and I've got my head down writing measurements, I have no idea if you're both there or not. I found out last night that Stacy didn't fish Pelican this year; 1 point may not seem like a lot, but after I deducted that point from their score on Pelican, it almost threw them into a tie with Mark and Luther (this years points leader thus far) who ended up only 1 point behind. So, when you come to the table to have your fish measured, someone take the time to make sure I know who you are, and if both of you were there.
Out next event is on the 22nd, and we'll be fishing on beautiful Roosevelt Lake. See you there!
Updated standings HERE
Point breakdown by teams HERE
Like I said, we had 11 out of 13 boats fishing last night. Night one's winning team of Lonnie and Stacy weren't there, making their fall from first the hardest I've ever seen. 1st after week one, and they are now tied for 7th after three events. That may be hard to recover from, but they also had big fish on Pelican, so they walked away with $175, which means they're fishing for free the rest of the year. Last night Jamie and Chuck won with a total of 17 hard earned points. Big fish went to Chris and Shelly with a whopping 22 3/4 inch pike. I'd almost be embarrassed to take the $50 for a fish like that...no I wouldn't.
I think the way we're measuring fish is working out well this year. I'ts going quite a bit faster, but I do have one thing I need from you. I need to know if both team members fished. Since it's dark, and I've got my head down writing measurements, I have no idea if you're both there or not. I found out last night that Stacy didn't fish Pelican this year; 1 point may not seem like a lot, but after I deducted that point from their score on Pelican, it almost threw them into a tie with Mark and Luther (this years points leader thus far) who ended up only 1 point behind. So, when you come to the table to have your fish measured, someone take the time to make sure I know who you are, and if both of you were there.
Out next event is on the 22nd, and we'll be fishing on beautiful Roosevelt Lake. See you there!
Updated standings HERE
Point breakdown by teams HERE
Friday, June 9, 2017
Event #2 - Gull Lake Chain - 6/8/2017
Gull Lake can be sooooooo frustrating. It was a great night to be on the water amongst friends, but Gull has so much shit floating in the water, that it's hard to make a cast without pulling in a bunch of shit on your line. I think the amount of shit in the water is directly correlated to pontoons with twin 300 hp motors on them. I mean c'mon man...what's the point? I don't care how much money you have, putting twin 300's on your pontoon is like putting a big block 454 hemi with a scoop sticking out of your hood, in a mini van. It's STUPID! A pontoon isn't even a boat, because it doesn't have a live well and trolling motor, which is a prerequisite to determining if you're in a boat, or just something that floats and goes fast.
So anyway, at the time of year we fish Gull, water temps are in the mid 70's. Fish are like where the hell do we go? Do we stay shallow and soak up some rays, do we park ourselves among the weeds, do we hang out just outside of those weeds, or do we go deep and just float around in 80 feet of water about 20 feet down? So us fisherpeople are like where the hell are all of the fish? (In my partners case, he thinks the fish are on the docks...not under the docks, but ON the docks.) In other words, the fish could be, and are anywhere. They're also not in a much of a mood to chomp down on whatever it is you've decided to throw at them, even though you've invested thousands of dollars to try and do just that. Fish are assholes.
For some, it was actually a pretty good points night. Mark and Luther came out on top with 32 points, thanks to a 12 point walleye. A 12 point walleye you may ask? Well, it was the only walleye caught, so they got 3 big fish points, it gave them a bonus of 5 points for a tri-fecta (the first and only one of the year), and the fish itself was a 4 pointer. They would have finished third, and Troy and Ryan would have won with 26 points without that lucky walleye. Troy & Ryan did have the biggest fish of the night with a 27 inch pike, so they walked away with the $50 big fish pot.
It turns out we have 13 teams this year, instead of 12. It was good to see Joey again...I wasn't sure if he was going to make it this year, so with his entry fee, the nightly payout will now be $125 instead of $110. Lonnie and Stacy took off before collecting their money from Pelican Lake, so by league rules, those of us left standing around after they left, were able to take that money and go party at Zorbaz. We closed that place down, so thanks guys!
The next event is on Edward, this coming Tuesday from 6-9:30. Bring your bug goop, cause you're gonna need it. I'll bring my fogger for the measuring area, so that will help. See you there!
For event detail, click HERE.
For updated standings, click HERE.
So anyway, at the time of year we fish Gull, water temps are in the mid 70's. Fish are like where the hell do we go? Do we stay shallow and soak up some rays, do we park ourselves among the weeds, do we hang out just outside of those weeds, or do we go deep and just float around in 80 feet of water about 20 feet down? So us fisherpeople are like where the hell are all of the fish? (In my partners case, he thinks the fish are on the docks...not under the docks, but ON the docks.) In other words, the fish could be, and are anywhere. They're also not in a much of a mood to chomp down on whatever it is you've decided to throw at them, even though you've invested thousands of dollars to try and do just that. Fish are assholes.
For some, it was actually a pretty good points night. Mark and Luther came out on top with 32 points, thanks to a 12 point walleye. A 12 point walleye you may ask? Well, it was the only walleye caught, so they got 3 big fish points, it gave them a bonus of 5 points for a tri-fecta (the first and only one of the year), and the fish itself was a 4 pointer. They would have finished third, and Troy and Ryan would have won with 26 points without that lucky walleye. Troy & Ryan did have the biggest fish of the night with a 27 inch pike, so they walked away with the $50 big fish pot.
It turns out we have 13 teams this year, instead of 12. It was good to see Joey again...I wasn't sure if he was going to make it this year, so with his entry fee, the nightly payout will now be $125 instead of $110. Lonnie and Stacy took off before collecting their money from Pelican Lake, so by league rules, those of us left standing around after they left, were able to take that money and go party at Zorbaz. We closed that place down, so thanks guys!
The next event is on Edward, this coming Tuesday from 6-9:30. Bring your bug goop, cause you're gonna need it. I'll bring my fogger for the measuring area, so that will help. See you there!
For event detail, click HERE.
For updated standings, click HERE.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Event #1 - Pelican Lake - 5/25/2017
Week one is in the books, and it was a good one. Except for a few raindrops, it was a nice night to be on Pelican Lake. There were quite a few fish caught, but between 11 boats and 22 fisher-people, no walleyes were caught on a lake that is known for walleyes...go figure. Instead, there were a lot of bass caught, and quite a few pike. (Hey DNR peeps...in case you're wondering, we knew it was catch and release only on bass, so we took a picture on the water and then immediately released the critter back into the lake) The only problem I see thus far, is that one of the new teams that joined us this year, came away with the win. I mean WTF! Can't Lonnie and Stacy at least have the decency to wait until week two to kick our ass? They scored a nightly high of 28 points, followed by Mark and Luther with 26, and coming in third was Bart and Derrick with 22. So Lonnie and Stacy are new, Luther is new, and Bart is new. Sounds like mandatory pre-tournament live well checks are in order to me! Big fish of the night also went to Lonnie and Stacy with a 28.75 inch pike. What assholes.
I'm basing the money payout on 12 teams. If Joey shows up, we'll use his entry fee for a beer and pizza party at the end of the year. Based on 12, the nightly winner will get $110, big fish will be $50, and the year end champ will receive $150.
Our next event is on the Gull Chain at the Zorbaz landing, on June 8th from 6:00-9:30.
For detailed point break down click HERE.
For yearly standings click HERE.
PS: as always, if you see something that doesn't look right, let me know.
I'm basing the money payout on 12 teams. If Joey shows up, we'll use his entry fee for a beer and pizza party at the end of the year. Based on 12, the nightly winner will get $110, big fish will be $50, and the year end champ will receive $150.
Our next event is on the Gull Chain at the Zorbaz landing, on June 8th from 6:00-9:30.
For detailed point break down click HERE.
For yearly standings click HERE.
PS: as always, if you see something that doesn't look right, let me know.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
League Teams Thus Far
Hello everyone. Our first event is fast approaching
on the 25th, so I wanted to update you on where we are team and payout wise. If
you don’t see your name here, or if it’s spelled wrong, or whatever, text me
and let me know. As of right now, we have 12 confirmed teams, with a possible
13th team yet to verify if they are fishing or not. So, I’m going to
base the following payouts based on 12 teams:
Entry Fees: $1800
Admin Costs: $ 50
Season Champ: $ 150
Sub Total $1600
Nighty Pay Outs
Big Fish $
50 ($500 total)
Points Leader $ 110 ($1100 total)
Note: If we have 13 teams the nightly
payout will be $125
Here are the teams:
Mark
Wallin & Luther Wallin Paid
Chuck
Anderson & Jamie Danhartog Paid
Sam
Hennies & Mike Monahan Paid
Brad
Wallace & Jim Gardner Paid
Brian
Larsen & Dustyn Ackleson Paid
Bart
Taylor & Derrick Johnson Paid
Chris
Teich & Shelly Teich Paid
Simon
Stricker & Paul Reier Paid
Brandon
Anderson & Steve Milner Pay
at First Event
Troy
Friberg & Ryan Rupp Paid
Lonnie
Luce & Stacy Stricker Paid
Chris
Savino & Ben Charron Pay
at First Event
Tentative Teams:
Joey
Georges & ?? Pay
at First Event
Again, let me know if you see any
mistakes of if you have any questions.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Spring Meeting Wrap Up
Good meeting last night at Billy's in Breezy Point. I'd like to give a big thank you to them for allowing us to use their back room.
So, as it stands right now, we have 11 confirmed boats, plus one that is looking for a partner. There is also talk of another boat or two being interested, so potentially we could have 14 boats. 14 boats will be our max, so if you know of someone that does want in, have them contact me by phone, or email at b.wallace@tds.net.
As a result of talk at the meeting, we will do the following this year:
1. The TBD lake on the schedule will be Woman Lake in Longville.
2. We will have a makeup date if an event gets rained out. That date will be September 14th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM on the lake that was rained out. IF we have more than one rain out, all monies will be combined at/for this make up date. Let's hope we don't have any rain outs period.
3. We will use the West Shore Drive landing on Cross Lake for the September 7th event on the Whitefish Chain.
4. We will have a central measuring station this year rather than go from boat to boat. Everyone will be expected to have their own fish bag to bring to the measuring station.
5. You must do any culling prior to coming to the measuring station.
The schedule posted prior to this post which was also handed out last night is correct. Again, the TBD lake is Woman Lake in Longville, and the make up date is September 14th. Once I know exactly how many boats we have, I will post the payout schedule.
I'll see you on the water!
Brad
So, as it stands right now, we have 11 confirmed boats, plus one that is looking for a partner. There is also talk of another boat or two being interested, so potentially we could have 14 boats. 14 boats will be our max, so if you know of someone that does want in, have them contact me by phone, or email at b.wallace@tds.net.
As a result of talk at the meeting, we will do the following this year:
1. The TBD lake on the schedule will be Woman Lake in Longville.
2. We will have a makeup date if an event gets rained out. That date will be September 14th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM on the lake that was rained out. IF we have more than one rain out, all monies will be combined at/for this make up date. Let's hope we don't have any rain outs period.
3. We will use the West Shore Drive landing on Cross Lake for the September 7th event on the Whitefish Chain.
4. We will have a central measuring station this year rather than go from boat to boat. Everyone will be expected to have their own fish bag to bring to the measuring station.
5. You must do any culling prior to coming to the measuring station.
The schedule posted prior to this post which was also handed out last night is correct. Again, the TBD lake is Woman Lake in Longville, and the make up date is September 14th. Once I know exactly how many boats we have, I will post the payout schedule.
I'll see you on the water!
Brad
Monday, April 17, 2017
League Dates & Lakes 2017!
Event 1 - Thursday 5/25 - Pelican - Stewart's Bay Landing - 6:00-9:00
Event 2 - Thursday 6/08 - Gull Lake Chain - Zorbaz Landing - 6:00-9:30
Event 3 - Tuesday 6/13 - Edward - 6:00-9:30
Event 4 - Thursday 6/22 - Roosevelt - 6:00-9:30
Event 5 - Thursday 7/06 - Whitefish - Lower Hay Lake Landing - 6:00-9:30
Event 6 - Thursday 7/20 - TBD - 6:00-9:30 (Woman Lake in Longville)
Event 7 - Thursday 8/03 - Rabbit - 6:00-9:00
Event 8 - Thursday 8/17 - North Long - 5:30-9:30
Event 9 - Thursday 8/31 - Rice - Lum Park Landing - 4:00-8:00
Event 10 - Thursday 9/7 - Whitefish - Lower Hay Lake Landing - 4:00-8:00
TBD Lake Possibilities:
Ten Mile (pike slot)
Sylvan (pike slot)
Serpent (Deerwood Landing)
Borden
Woman (pike slot)
Farm Island (walleye slot)
Leech (walleye slot)
Event 2 - Thursday 6/08 - Gull Lake Chain - Zorbaz Landing - 6:00-9:30
Event 3 - Tuesday 6/13 - Edward - 6:00-9:30
Event 4 - Thursday 6/22 - Roosevelt - 6:00-9:30
Event 5 - Thursday 7/06 - Whitefish - Lower Hay Lake Landing - 6:00-9:30
Event 6 - Thursday 7/20 - TBD - 6:00-9:30 (Woman Lake in Longville)
Event 7 - Thursday 8/03 - Rabbit - 6:00-9:00
Event 8 - Thursday 8/17 - North Long - 5:30-9:30
Event 9 - Thursday 8/31 - Rice - Lum Park Landing - 4:00-8:00
Event 10 - Thursday 9/7 - Whitefish - Lower Hay Lake Landing - 4:00-8:00
TBD Lake Possibilities:
Ten Mile (pike slot)
Sylvan (pike slot)
Serpent (Deerwood Landing)
Borden
Woman (pike slot)
Farm Island (walleye slot)
Leech (walleye slot)
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