Hawg Hawler News
Written by Greg Heinz - Secretary

APOLOGY:
This apology thing is getting old. Fact is that my computer crashed, and I didn’t have anywhere to compose the news. Well, it’s all better now, and hopefully will not be a problem in the future.
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CLEARWATER RECAP:
Here is a quick recap of the happenings at the first Hawg Hawler tournament of 2004.

It was Clearwater Lake. It was early spring. It was the first tournament of 2004 for the Hawg Hawlers. Just two weeks prior to the tournament there was snow falling around St. Louis. But not to worry, somehow we always manage to luck out for the March tournament. There were plenty of new members who discovered the Hawg Hawler way of fishing over the winter. It seems that someone has been talking about our little secret club. There were plenty of new names and faces to commit to memory. Some made some notable names for themselves in their first Hawg Hawler Tournament.

We had a great turn out at Clearwater. A total of 44 boats signed up to fish. Was it the winter doldrums that brought out the anglers, or was it the “no limit” size lime, or was it because it was the best Bass Club around? That question will be discussed for many years. We know one thing…. The 44 boats was the second highest boat total that the Hawg Hawlers has ever had. It was second only to the March 2002 Tournament at Lake of the Ozarks where we had 45 boats. It was also the Memorial Tournament, where we honor those Hawg Hawler members who have gone on to fish in the “next” life. The member who’s passing started this “Memorial” tournament was Gene Reim. Gene was a force to be reckoned with when it came to Big Fish. He had numerous big fish to his credit, including Walleye, Northern Pike, Stripers, and a 58lb catfish (caught on a rod & reel).

Gene’s most notable Hawg Hawler Bass was the one he caught in 1994 on Lake of the Ozarks. It weighed in at 7.40 pounds and set the record for the all time Hawg Hawler record. That record stood for 9 years… until Clearwater, 2004. It was broken, or should I say shattered by not ONE but TWO anglers. Dave Sona weighed in a 7.74lb bass that was a real whopper, but unfortunately it was only worth 2 points as Josh Zelnis weighed in a bass that went 7.96lbs. That is now our current Big Bass for the Year and Biggest Bass ever weighed in during a club tournament. Congratulations to NEW MEMBER, and now CURRENT BIG BASS RECORD HOLDER………Josh Zelnis. If Josh’s fish holds up for the year, and there is a pretty good chance of that, he will have his name added to the “Gene Reim” Big Bass Traveling Trophy.

Returning Angler of the Year, Dave Sona, and his partner Neil Volkmann won the tournament with their double limit weighing nearly 15lbs, and anchored by Dave’s 7.74lber. See the full tournament results, patterns and AotY Points Standings on the attached sheets. Also notice the other big fish that were caught during this tournament. The bigger fish were definitely biting.
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TOURNAMENT ENTRY:
Please remember that the only thing we need to enter a team in a tournament is signed membership forms and their names and a check. If there is a situation where you cannot get access to the “Tournament Entry” form, rest assured that it is only a formality. The most important thing is the membership form, because without that, you cannot fish with us. After we have those on file, all we need is 2 names and a check.
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A WORD ABOUT THE CLUB SCALE:
At the Clearwater tournament, we still had last year’s battery on the club weigh scale. A couple of club members thought the scale was weighing heavy. When we returned home we used the same battery and weighed some sample weights of 3, 5 and 10 pounds. We then connected a brand new battery, and weighed the same weights. After numerous trials, the biggest discrepancy we could find, at any weight, was .07 lbs. Since this discrepancy benefited everyone who weighed in fish, it is irrelevant. And since the club Big Bass Record was broken by .57lbs, the weights will stand as recorded. Thanks for the concern of all who mentioned this discrepancy.
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NEXT NEWSLETTER:
Without any further computer disasters, you should receive another newsletter by mid-April.
 

BOAT

NAMES

BB SAT

BB SUN

# SAT

# SUN

SAT WT

SUN WT

PNLTY

TOTAL

POS

PATTERN

8A

Sona, Dave

7.74

5

14.89

14.89

1

Brush Hogs & Hula Grubs

8B

Volkmann, Neil

5

14.89

1

36A

Hasty, Scott

4

12.44

12.44

2

Rat-L-Traps

36B

Cook, Rob

5.97

3

12.44

2

31A

Fileccia, Ed

6.34

5

10.25

10.25

3

Red Wiggle Warts

31B

Fileccia, Judy

0

10.25

3

34A

Bartram, Rich

0

9.03

9.03

4

Deep cranks

34B

Zelnis, Josh

7.96

3

9.03

4

11A

Shands, Greg

5

8.80

8.80

5

Rat-L-Traps & Shad Raps

11B

Ray, Bob

5

8.80

5

32A

Scheller, Bill

5

8.02

8.02

6

32B

Grobe, Russ

2

8.02

6

25A

Knoll, Ed

5

7.97

7.97

7

25B

Sanford, Keith

5

7.97

7

23A

Reim, Teddy

4

7.54

7.54

8

23B

Reim, Dave

2

7.54

8

22A

Fanter, Jim

5

7.33

7.33

9

22B

Fanter, Jim, Sr.

5

7.33

9

6A

Walker, Bryan

5

7.12

7.12

10

6B

Coyner, Jim

5

7.12

10

38A

Earls, Ed

5

6.76

6.76

38B

Meyer, Philip

0

6.76

35A

Black, Tom, Sr.

2

6.11

6.11

35B

Brennan, Mike

1

6.11

14A

Beach, Charlie

5

5.93

5.93

14B

Beach, Brooke

1

5.93

27A

Luzynski, Ken

3

5.04

5.04

27B

McGarity, Dave

1

5.04

29A

Reim, Ted

3.11

2

4.91

4.91

29B

Medley, Gary

3

4.91

21A

Armstrong, Rick

5

4.76

4.76

21B

Armstrong, Ricky

1

4.76

5A

Wakim, Pam

3

4.38

4.38

5B

Stanek, Frank

2

4.38

1A

Henley, David

4.08

1

4.31

4.31

1B

Raney, Carl

1

4.31

39A

Derousse, Danny

2

3.79

3.79

39B

Sago, Will

2

3.79

44A

Carnal, Steve

2

3.35

3.35

44B

Wentzel, Dennis

1

3.35

43A

Stanek, Terry

0

3.25

3.25

43B

Treadway, Bob

2

3.25

15B

Ritrovato, Frank

0

2.88

2.88

15B

Ritrovato, Tina

2

2.88

10A

Heinz, Greg

0

2.63

2.63

10B

Beach, Chuck

3

2.63

26A

Robinson, Brian

3

2.60

2.60

26B

Robinson, Kelly

0

2.60

42A

Berry, Larry

1

2.48

2.48

42B

Phelps, Scott

1

2.48

9A

Stranghoener, Gary

2

2.33

2.33

9B

Maness, John

0

2.33

33A

Lichius, Warren

1

2.28

2.28

33B

Lichius, Daniel

2

2.28

12A

Ketcherside, John

0

2.11

2.11

12B

Nolie, Kelly

2

2.11

17A

Moore, Troy

1

2.11

2.11

17B

Koirtyohann, Jason

0

2.11

37A

Johnson, Sean

1

1.75

1.75

37B

Randell, Neil

0

1.75

16A

Mincemeyer, Bill

0

1.70

1.70

16B

Kennedy, Jason

1

1.70

40A

Horstmeyer, David

0

1.65

1.65

40B

Horstmeyer, Michael

1

1.65

28A

Howard, Matt

0

1.64

1.64

28B

Ryan, Rustin

1

1.64

7A

Shands, Andy

1

1.53

1.53

7B

Dillinger, Tony

0

1.53

2A

Boehme, Paul

0

1.46

1.46

2B

Boehme, Sam

1

1.46

30A

Luzynski, Lori

0

1.30

1.30

30B

Merli, Mike

1

1.30

18A

Eubanks, Gary

0

0.37

0.37

18B

Eubanks, Donnie

1

0.37

3A

McNeil, Ken

0

0.00

0.00

3B

Durbin, Dan

0

0.00

4A

Creamer, Tom

0

0.00

0.00

4B

Robbins, Ken

0

0.00

13A

Graves, Don

0

0.00

0.00