Believe it or not, I actually wrote the following in October. I just looked, and it was never published; it was just sitting in my draft folder. Mark called me several weeks/months ago wondering when it was going to be posted, but I thought he was joking...who's the dumb ass now?
So that's it. 2018 is in the books. Our last outing on the Whitefish Chain produced some pretty surprising results, mostly by my net man, and the two guys in front actually hung on to win the season. Mark & Luther took a run at them, but ended up short of Steve & Brandon as they cruised to their first win.
I know I give my net man a lot of shit, because, quite frankly, he deserves it. He has the nickname net man for obvious reasons. He's gotten pretty good at it over the years, and he brings good snacks, so he can have a seat in my boat anytime. He does fart a lot though and will occasionally wear a Kilt, so I reserve the right to change my mind at any time I see fit. But on this particular night in September, I need to add obnoxious to the list of how I describe net man. As we were leaving the landing, I pull up on this spot where I've caught Walleye on Cross in the past. I tell him what to put on, and how far to run it out the back of the boat while we start trolling. We just get started, and BAM he's got weeds. Except this time, the weeds were putting up more of a fight than usual, so now he's not sure if it's weeds or a fish. I'm still trolling along minding my own business, because I've heard all of this before. But out of the corner of my eye, I see his Zebco kids rod and reel package, reacting like there could be a fish on. So...I grab the net and wait for his "for God's sake your drag is too loose" reel to slowly bring whatever it is close enough where I can get a look at it, and low and behold it turns out to be a 23.5 inch Walleye. For the rest of the fricken night, I have to put up with how good of a fisherman he is, because he managed to snag a nice fish and get to the boat before it got off. You would have thought he caught a new world record! His shit talking was just plain obnoxious. I could have thrown him overboard, and gotten away with murder in a court of law, because no jury would have convicted me once they found out I had to endure that for 4 hours! The guy catches one fish, and he thinks he's Al Lindner.
Now for whiny boys, our champs, Steve & Brandon. I happen to mention in a post right before fishing Rabbit, that I thought Mark & Luther would pull of a repeat season win because of their consistency. They are just as strong if not stronger during the second half of the season. So we're sitting in the little bay by the landing on Rabbit waiting for start time, and I hear this little squeaky whiny voice say 'hey...we're consistent too, you word bully'. At first I try to ignore the little voice, but then as being directed by Beethoven himself, they are now speaking as one, trying to convince me that 'they're consistent too' so why didn't I mention that. You see, I had forgotten that the younger generation was so sensitive about not only what you said about them, but also what you don't say about them. So I told them to get out their hankies, wipe their eyes, blow their little noses and then shut the hell up or I'd take away their sliced fruit and cheese platter. I'll give them this though; our champs scored 120 points the first half, and 124 the second, so I guess they were very consistent. I hope they can sleep better now.
It was a good year. We did our part to help the DNR with their undersized Pike population, especially on the Whitefish Chain. I hope someone took a picture of the pile of fish under 22 inches laying on the asphalt. I hope other people did the same this year.
On a personal note, I'd like to say that you're all a great group of people to be around. I always hate seeing the year come to a close because I miss you during the winter. The events fly by so fast, and the excitement of the season getting underway is fast overtaken by the sadness that all good things must end. At least until May of 2019 when we get to start the circle of life all over again. I hope you're all back for 2019, because it would be sad if you weren't.
Be looking for a notice regarding our kick off meeting the end of April at Billy's, and if anyone knows of a good decently priced used motor out there that actually has reverse, let me know. I'd like to have a 150 HP. See you in April!
For the final standings, click HERE
For final event detail, click HERE
