SSS--Here Is Some Good Lengthy Reading Material

[GC 54 31]

OUR FIRST TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE AS A TEAM--SSS 2006

I remember being wide awake before the alarm was to sound at 4:00 am. I remained what I thought was motionless with my engine running, waiting in anticipation of the words, ?team 40, GO?. Was I actually awake or was I dreaming of what was to come later that morning. Right then my wife told me ?shut off the alarm?. As I snuck out of the bedroom I thought I heard her mutter ?good luck?, but I?m sure it was just another ?good night?.

The big day had finally arrived. Team Clark was ready for their first fishing tournament together, the Shebandowan Smallmouth Showdown. Everything was loaded into the truck the night before, boat was hitched, just had to throw our lunch and ice pack into the cooler bag. After a quick circle-check of trailer lights, tie downs, and safety chains GC and DC were on our way before 4:30 am.

Our first stop was only a couple of blocks from home. I don?t know how Izumi does it, but we can?t get our truck and boat through a Tim?s drive thru. Espressos are certainly not the order of the day. We were already pumped. Bagels and orange juice to go.

Then, who walks into the store, one of the tournament directors, ?Are you guys nuts?? Davis asked. ?Early bird gets the worm, don?t they?? I was quick to reply. We leave and hit the road. It was pretty quiet for the first part of the drive as we devoured our breakfasts. ?Hopefully the bagels and juice is the breakfast of champions?? I ask my son. He grins back, knowing that we have done our pre-tournament homework and we?re up to the challenge.

Not much traffic on the road this time of morning. Only a red fox proved to be the early riser of the animal kingdom that morning. Strategies are discussed. Many hours were spent by the Clark duo pre-fishing the lake. Hopefully it will pay off.

After all, first place takes home five grand. Not too shabby for a day of fishing, that?s if you?re able to beat out all of the other teams. That was the main catch for the cash, no pun intended. But you had to beat out all of the other teams before heading to the bank.

Competition was going to be tough. Last year?s winning team of Noga and Lane were first to blast off, Ellis and Balec who have proven themselves many times before were teamed up, Zimmer and his father who kept a presence on the lake many days before the event had lots to live up to, the Friday brothers who are always great contenders were on hand, as was the Berringer and Earley pair from Kenora. Many other ?bass masters? were on hand. The combined talent that day should prove the myth of the five and six pound bass everyone sees beside the boat but no one seems to catch on this lake. The tournament scale would serve up justice at the end of the day.

Even with DC coming off a second place finish in the Frazer Lake tournament, we were confident, but luck was still going to be needed. Think positive, stay focused, keep your eyes and ears open, don?t stick to the same baits, keep changing to something that works?..these are all words of advice that were offered from those who should be in the know. We had to stay focused on our game plan.

Arriving at the public launch just before daylight, believe it or not, we were the first team to pull in. We unloaded the gear from the pickup and strategically placed it in the boat. Everything has a spot at the start of the day. This boat had to have enough room; after all, like I had told my wife about our previous boats, ?this was the boat of our dreams?. She continues to remind us that every time we talk about ?footitis? or ?HPitis?. If you have ever encountered one of these symptoms, you can relate. Others would use the words longer and faster.

It wasn?t long before teams started to arrive. We quickly launched and pulled up onto the beach to allow room for others. After checking our storage compartments and live wells, we were given the ?all clear? signal from one of the SSS volunteers who had the task of inspecting boats, making sure that the no live bait rule was not being violated. Nowadays, some of the artificial baits are so lifelike that it is hard to tell the difference.

Its now just after 7:00 am, many teams are on the water. So we hop into our boat and head just off shore and watch the goings on. You can easily hear the PA system. As you look around you see who you?re up against. You look at the boats and the power-houses on the back ends. Cars are getting smaller these days, but outboards are sure getting bigger. Are we keeping our priorities and perspectives in order? As a boat fisherman, I would say so.

The countdown to 8:00 am is underway. Engines are fired up. I hear the words of the starter, ?team one, go?, followed right after with ?team two, go?. It didn?t take long and we hear ?team forty, go?. This is reality and no longer a dream. The time has come, Team Clark has been called to duty and we head out on the lake.

It would be a fifteen minute run till our first stop. We pre-fished this spot a couple of times and did quite well. As we get closer, DC utters his first words since we left the starter blocks, ?looks like we have company?. Six boats were already crowding each other. I make a snap decision and killed the engine.

The bow electronics, both motor and sonar, are put into action. ?Get ready DC, they?re still here?. Down goes my jig, and on the first lift I nail our first bass. ?Get the net, get the net; I?m not sure if it?s a keeper?. A quick measure of just under twelve inches and back into the lake it goes. If you score that quick it can only mean one of two things. Let?s hope it would be the positive of the two.

Everyone leaves the spot except this father and son team who are still marking lots of bass. ?There?s one dad, get the net?. One scoop with the net and we were on the board with a sixteen incher. ?Only need four more of those and we can start culling?. A short while later, I hear the sound of braided line against the rod guides, DC advises ?this is a good one, don?t blow it?. It?s quickly brought aboard, and dispatched into the live well. ?We?ll weigh that one after I put my line back out.?

If our new digital scale was accurate, I figured DC had just landed what might be the big fish of the tournament. The numbers registered 3.6 pounds. I am quickly advised that a 3.6 was bigger than last year?s big fish. Back in the live well it goes. We stayed on this spot for a little longer and boated one more keeper.

?Let?s get out of here, we?ll fish this spot on the way back.? So we quickly pull up the front electric, put on our PFD?s and head to Upper Shebandowan. As we pass through the narrows into Upper, we pass by boats who are sitting on spots that we had success during pre-fish. But we were headed even further. We still had a half of day of fishing ahead of us. Less the thirty minute run back to the launch. This is where HPitis comes into play again. I?m reminded that we would not have even travelled this far if we still had our other ?boat of our dreams?.

As we approach the far west end we begin to scan the water for those obstructions that eat lower ends. I know what it?s like to lose a prop; we carry a spare one of those, but not a spare lower end.

?Good, no one?s here, let?s just work our way in slowly, don?t get too close.? I followed the first mate?s commands. It wasn?t long and we realized we had hit the mother lode of bass. We landed over twenty bass in this small area. Before long we had the balance beam out, verifying which sixteen incher was heavier. The tally rose to ten, the number of culled bass that would pass through our live wells. We now had five good fish with one of them being a big fish contender. ?If it?s under fourteen inches, just throw it back. If it?s fifteen or over, we?ll need to balance it with the one with the red culling tag?, DC advises. Four more fish between twelve and fourteen inches are brought aboard then quickly returned to the warm summer water.

?What time is it?? ?Three twenty-two.? ?Let?s get out of here.? ?One more cast.? ?Alright, let?s go.?

The race back to the launch and weigh in is much like the take off. Everyone under full throttle to arrive on time. The faster your boat is, the longer you can fish. Here?s that HPitis again. We arrive back to the starting gates and it is not long before a flotilla of sixty plus boats assemble. We receive number 39; we wait for our number to be called to come to shore for weigh in. Crowds had started to gather on shore to witness the weigh in. ?When you take the fish from the live well, start with the smallest?, I instruct DC.

Number 39 is called and we pull up on the beach where a tournament volunteer greets us to obtain our catch. I ask that the fish box be set into the boat, I wouldn?t want to see one of our fish shake from our grasp and fall into the lake without getting to the weigh scale first.

I stay in the boat while DC goes to the weigh scale. I hear the words, ?we have a great looking catch here. Includes one real nice size bass?. Anticipation is building. We knew we had a decent catch. But we heard rumors while we waited that Zimmer and his dad were sitting with close to sixteen pounds. But as it is with fishermen, sometimes the truth is stretched. The scale will later expose the truth.

?11.88 pounds for Team Clark. A great showing for their first tournament together?. ?Now we?ll weigh Team Clark?s big fish?, then a long pause, ?3.66 pounds, we have a new big fish leader?. Dustin is called up on the stage and hoists our two largest fish. The crowd responds with a round of applause. A proud moment for his father. Dustin answers a few questions and heads off stage.

He returns to our boat and we shake hands. We still have a great chance at the big fish, unless one of those four or five pounders shows up. ?By the looks of it we?re going to be in the top ten?, he says with a positive tone. ?Let?s hope so, we can show our sponsors we have the ability?, I answered back. DC headed off to get the truck and trailer so we could take the boat out.

Other teams are weighed in. Some with good catches, some not so good, and others with great catches. If you are confident you have a good weight, it seems you come across the finish line at the end of the pack so you are one of the last to hit the scales.

As it would be, two other fish are brought to the scale that proved to be larger than our big fish, one that weighed 3.82 and the winner from the Noga-Lane team of 3.95 pounds. The excitement was great while it lasted.

It was now Zimmer?s turn to have the Zimack?s catch weighed. Was it really sixteen pounds? Has all of their pre-fishing in their fast boat paid off? The crowd is silent??.?14.91 pounds?, the announcer advises, ?We have a new tournament leader with only one team left to weigh in?. The last team?s weight is announced. Not enough to win. As we pull our boat from the water we hear, ?Looks like we have new tournament champions, the father and son team of Trevor and Ken Zimak. 14.91 pounds. Congratulations.?

After prizes were awarded, pictures were taken, friendships are sealed with hand shakes and ?we?ll see you next year?, a parade of vehicles and boats head back to the highway for home. A perfect weather day, for an excellent run tournament by a great group of volunteers.

On our ride home, even though Team Clark was proud of their accomplishments, 9th place finish and 3rd largest fish, it was relatively quiet since we were both pretty tired. I turned to my partner, breaking the silence I commented, ?The early bird may get the worm, but we couldn?t have used live bait anyway?.

[arvey 154]

hey gc.

this is a good topic,anybody else have a first tourn.ex.to share?

here's mine

in the early nineties i was doing some stuff for the superior fishing show and ended up going to the k.b.i..

we where there to do some shows and fish the tournament,in those days it was 200 boats. my partner and i were there about a week fishing filming and having a good time.the first day of the tourn.was tense for us

being our first one and having all these big names around.when our number came up we where off down the straight stretch boats passing us us passing boats,we caught a couple of waves and cleared water wow.trouble is that did some damage we wouldn't know about till later.there we where flying along and nobody around are first spot is in sight when water started splashing the back of the dash and before we new it smoke,the boat died and my partner and i were contiplating jumping over board.then the smoke died down,the motor wouldn't even turn over,and there was a smell of burnt wiring.after a while a big cabin crusier came along and contacted shore and somebody came out to help us. what had happed the vacum line to the speedo poped off and sucked up water and shorted the wiring from the dash to the motor.needless to say that was the end for us.

arvey

[Bear 77]

My first bass tournament experience was in 1991 with Wayner. We had a 16 foot tin boat with a 30 Yamaha, no electronics, no trolling motor, we had borrowed and a cooler I converted from the beer cooler to a makeshift livewell. We had three rods between us and a shopping bag with our tackle. We had prefished a bit, but really didnt have a clue. Because Wayne is a railroader, we could never seem to get a full day together. I prefished on the Thursday before the tournament by myself and was throwing a black tube with the hook cut off. I hit a spot where I got a big bass on. then another and another. That was the first spot we his on Saturday am. We landed 6 bass for a weight of 18.66. Six casts six fish. That has never happened to me again. Because our little cooler was full we decided to keep the smallest one and weigh in the other 5. We arrived at the weigh in at about 8:30 and they were shocked, they were'nt set up to weigh fish, so the scamble was on. We held the lead for a very long time in the weigh in on day one. We were interviewed by the local TV station and thought, man this isnt so difficult.

Sunday morning we were boat 6 to depart, man did a lot of the "pros" have a long look at us as we putted out in the tin boat. We managed a good day 2 and finished 20th overall, I think. Not too bad for a couple of rookies.

There is another story that involves corn, beer and a late night, but I cant tell you about it here, maybe over a beer sometime.

Bear

[Guest The Goof]

Here is someone that appreciates a good time. That was a good read.