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Written by Educated Angler
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Tuesday, 31 July 2007 17:03 |
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The Mansitee Salmon Splash was held on July 28th and 29th out of Manistee Michigan with a total of 76 boats - 43 Am and 33 Pro. Controversy surrounding the tribal commercial fishing nets leading up to the tournament seems to have affected the turnout with seemingly light turnout in both the AM and Pro divisions although the nets didn't play a part in the fishing over the weekend event. Hardwork by the Mansitee Area Charterboat Association, Tournament Trail, Manistee County Sportfishing Association, and others produced well listed positions of the nets and separation of the tournament from tribal related sponsors such as the Little River Casino.
Prefishing weather produced excellent catches but again as the previous weekend changing winds moved the fish around and limit catches were tough to come by with only 3 Ams and 4 Pros bringing limit catches to the scales on both days.
Pros and Ams alike found fish one day only to return to the spot and not be able to produce limits on the next day. Winds shifted around blowing from South to North to East and around again moving the water around again.
In the Pro Division Trout Scout III was able to put together back to back limits to produce two good boxes with a total of 444.85, followed by Best Chance Too and Finsation. AMs saw two limit boxes come in for the first three places with Fish Fingers pulling off the victory at 391.7 followed by Sweet Cherry and Almost Paradise.
The Big Boys only tournament within the tournament went to Best Chance Too with a $10,000 win on the big boys side bet of $1,000 each per Pro boat. Netminder and Shirley B followed in seocnd and third taking the rest of the money as 20 Pro teams competed.
Salmon Splash - Full Results
333 saw Off Call take the port championship with a 51.40 three fish weight and Fish Caller taking the big fish with a 19.65 king.
333 - Full Results
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Written by Educated Angler
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Tuesday, 31 July 2007 14:45 |
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The Ludington Gander Mountain Offshore Classic was held July 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd in Ludington, Michigan. This is the largest of the tournament trail stops bringing in 159 Amateur and 60 Pro boats to the Lake Michigan port, while entries were down from the 2006 high but competition was still tough. The Ludington Offshore offers many opportunities for anglers to go out and compete starting on Thursday the 19th.
Prefishing was great early in the week as water conditions had setup and the fish were starting to come together. But as with all tournies the weather was about to turn as the first event of the week commenced. Thursday started the events with the Ruboy Thursday Tournament, in memory of Capt. Pete Ruboyianes taking place with 81 entries. The morning began with a 2 foot chop but a solid 20 knot wind shift hit from the North blowing up 6' + seas as boats continued to pursue big Kings.
Ruboy Thursday - Full Results
Friday's tournaments were delayed by two hours waiting for the sea state to calm down after the hard North blow and conditions had changed dramatically on the lake. Both the Ladies and Kids events did commence and a good time was had by all with 101 kids entered and great turn-outs for both Pro and Am Ladies divisions.
West Shore Bank Youth Classic - Full Results
Bud Lights Ladies Am - Full Results
Bud Lights Ladies Pro - Full Results
Saturday and Sunday saw mixed fishing as continuing wind shifts plagued the area making fishing tough as prefishing information was worthless as all had changed. Cold water had moved on-shore and a few anglers adapted and took advantage of the changing conditions. Capt. Mark Chmura of Pier Pressure, a Manistee-area charter captain, took advantage showing that he may be the best cold water shallow water angler on the lake by winning the Pro Division. Dreamweaver and Blue Fairways represented Ludington well with limit catches both days but they weren't enough to overcome Pier Pressure's 461.80 points.
Just Write took the AM Division with the only 2 day limit catch within the AMs, and Ka-lee and Fish'n Machine were tight together in second and third.
AM Division - Full Results
Pro Division - Full Results
The 333 had 99 competitors join in and the highest total on the tournament trail this year of 51.80 # took the win - luckily by the publishers of Educated Angler - Team Experience Outdoors! Big Fish went to our dock mates Reel People with 20.15 tipping the scales.
333 - Full Results
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Written by Tim Pratcshler - Team Verdict
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Tuesday, 26 June 2007 05:13 |
The sixth event on the Lake Michigan Tournament Trail, the MCSFA Budweiser Pro/Am took place from the ports of Manistee, Onekama, and Arcadia Friday, June 22 through Sunday June 24. As always, the MCSFA did a great job organizing the event and arguably running the most efficient captain's meetings on the Great Lakes. The tournament not only provides a great opportunity for sportfishing teams to get out and compete, but it also supports the MCSFA's fishery and community programs including the net pens, the Lion's Club and others.
The event began with the one day Ladies' Pro/Am on Friday which drew 51 teams between the two divisions. Teams were allowed to weigh their largest 5 fish which resulted in some close competition. The Teams were welcomed with clear, sunny skies, calm water. Despite these often tough conditions, nice catches were brought to the weigh in. The top five in the pro division were: Renegade, Trout Scout III, Riverside, Hammbone, and Sandpiper III. The top five in the amateur division were: Slip Knot, Fish Byte II, Daybreak, Legacy, and Wood Wrocker.
The conditions on Saturday also saw clear and calm conditions which scattered the fish. The 6:00 a.m. shotgun start saw boats heading off in all directions with many boats making long runs offshore to fish over 600-800' of water which can be some of the most productive as the lake and fish transition from a spring to summer pattern. Renegade was again at the top of the leader board in the pro division after day one with a 76.40# box including a monster lake trout which tipped the scales at almost 19#. The day one leader in the Am division was Daybreak with a nice 86.55# catch.
The conditions for Sunday were more of the same, clear, sunny, and calm conditions which challenged all the teams. Despite this, many nice catches made their way, often times from many miles offshore, to the weigh in at the Manistee Armory. As is typical in Tournament Trail events, Sunday was moving day where several teams climbed to the top.
The top five in the Pro Division were:
- Dreamweaver
- Fishlander
- Renegade
- Riverside
- Therapy Too
The top five in the Am Division were:
- Billy Jack
- Joanie II
- Day Break
- Legacy
- Fish Caller
Full Tournament Results - Click Here
The Gander Mountain 333 Championship Series saw 67 entries and some close competition. Ultimately it was won by Fish N Machine and the big fish was caught by Havoc. The top five were:
- Fish N Machine
- Billy Jack
- Netminder
- Out Law
- Daybreak
Full 333 Results - Click Here
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 05 June 2007 04:32 |
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The Grand Haven Offshore Challenge was held on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd out of Grand haven, Michigan. This is one of the premiere events on the Lake Michigan tournament trail and despite the price of gasoline had a very well attended tournament with great Pro turnout and some minor retraction on the Am side. This is a well run tournament with a strong tournament committee that does excellent non-pofit work all year round providing scholarships, supporting chinook in the classroom in five schools, as well as donations to groups including Teen Challenge where the first day catch was donated.
Friday saw a great time had by many boats as the Kids and Ladies tournament was a big success. Strategic rule changes by the comittee for 2007 garnered increased particpation as teams were allowed to run unlimited rods and fish until 12:30 which meant that the day could be a good pre-fishing day as well. The format was catch 12 fish weigh best five and then a kicker smallest fish contest which weighed in at a whopping .3 lbs - yes three/tenths of a pound.
Saturday saw near perfect weather as Reel Action called the start of fishing and boats ran in almost every direction as conditions were mixed and variable moving from foggy and overcast to bright and clear and back and forth. Fishing is always tough for this tournament which makes it highly competitive as the silver fish are on the move going to wherever they go so flexibility is the key and boats with a strong Lake Trout and King/Coho/Steelhead program faired well. Black Betty came in with the top box of Day One leading the Pro division by 8 or 9 points over a tight cluster of boats including My Tiara, Thunderduck, JJ and others. The Am division saw Lake Effect bring in the top box of the day at 192+ point followed by Stike Zone, Miss Shelby, and Double Down and a tight field behind.
Sunday was weather delayed until 8am on a very professional call by the tournament committee which held people at the ramps, docks, and minimized exposure to a strong storm cell that downed trees and caused much damage from high winds on shore. The major storm moved through and fishing started at 8am with a 30 minute extension until 2:30. Sunday proved to be a hard day fishing for many of the competitors, boats that ranged to the north were able to get their fish more easily while those that were closer to Grand Haven had to work hard to get what they got.
The Pro Division Top 5 were:
- My Tiara
- Black Betty
- Best Chance Too
- Hitman
- Blue Chip
The Am Top 5 were:
- Strike Zone
- Lake Effect
- Double DOwn
- In Pursuit
- Maatley Crew
Full field results - Click Here
The 333 had nearly 70 competitors with the total weighing in at 34.15 lbs. for Blue Chip who was the port champion and Big Fish went to Black Betty with a monster 15.55 lbs. Steelhead. The 333 Top 5 were:
- Blue Chip
- Lake Effect
- Miss Shelby
- Fishwich
- Reel Action (Am)
333 Full Field Results - Click Here
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