2007 Big Bass To Date:
6.31 lbs
Andy Shands
Mark Twain Lake

Congratulations!

Lake Ozarks - 9/29-30
29 boats turned out for the last Regular Season Tournament of the year. With perfect weather and a Friday Pre-fishing Report of a fish on every cast, things were shaping up to be a great weekend. Then the gremlins hit. They found their way into a lower unit, they worked on a couple of trolling motors, and last they ended up in my engine.

The fish must have heard that the gremlins were in town too, because by Saturday they were scattering for cover. Only 3 anglers managed to get their limit on Saturday, Bryan Walker, Greg Shands, and Charlie Beach. Sunday was even worse with no limits coming to the scales. Bryan Walker found 4 fish but just couldn’t get the last one to bite.

Taking home the First Place check was the team of Jeff Schwent and Dan Bean. These guys managed to find 6 good fish that tipped the scales at 19.48 pounds. Jeff had one on Saturday that weighed 4.17 pounds and one on Sunday that went 4.68 pounds. Power Worms were the winning bait.
Second place went to Dave Sona and Tom Crockett. These guys too had 6 fish for a total weight of 18.89 pounds. Dave had one Saturday which went for 3.56 pounds and on Sunday he pulled one out of the bag going for 5.19! Brush Hogs and Spinner Baits worked for them.
Third Place was won by Mark Boyette and Buddy StoneKing. These guys zeroed out on Sunday but their 5 fish on Saturday weighing 15.59 pounds were enough to carry them to a third place check. They said Power Worms did the trick.

Finishing out the top 7 paying places were:
4th Place: Greg and Andy Shands
5th Place: The team of Bryan Walker and Ed Knoll and the team of Terry Stanek and Bob Treadway tied for 5th place. Each team received points for 5th place and the money from 5th and 6th place was divided between the teams.
7th Place went to Dave Jett who fished by himself.

Congratulations to all the winners.

CLICK HERE for complete results

Saturday’s Big Bass
Saturday’s weigh-in had some impressive bass but it was Dave Jett’s 4.45 pounder that topped the list. Dave said he caught it on a Pop-R. (Did you hear that Lori, a Pop-R!)

Sunday’s Big Bass
When Jeff Schwent weighed in his 4.68 pounder, everyone thought that was going to be Big Bass but Dave Sona hadn’t weighed in yet. Dave had 2 fish. The first one he pulled out was a 2 pounder. Then in pure professional form Dave reaches in, pauses, and lifts over his head a 5.19 pounder which was good for Big Bass Sunday and for the week-end. Dave caught his fish on a spinner Bait.

Angler of the Year
Well, it’s official, Dave Sona is the 2007 Angler of the Year. It came right down to the wire. With Bryan Walker right on Dave’s heels; and knowing that Bryan generally catches his limit at the Ozarks, Dave knew his work would be cut out for him. Dave was definitely focused in on catching fish. I couldn’t help but watch Dave fish, as we fished a lot of the same areas. When Dave would leave from a spot, you knew that spot was completely fished out, he literally seined the area. Congratulations Dave on a successful year!

Here is the Club’s top 10 Anglers for 2007

1. Dave Sona – 180pt
2. Bryan Walker – 174pt
3. Greg Shands – 156pt
4. Scott Hasty – 154pt
5. Terry Stanek – 139pt
6. Brian Robinson – 137pt
7. Andy Shands – 135pt
8. Jim Evers – 131pt
9. Ken Jones - 124pt
10. Charlie Beach - 115pt

Big Bass of the Year
Well, Andy Shands can finally start breathing again. After a long four months of waiting, it’s official. Andy’s 6.31 pounder is the Big Bass of the Year. You know the funny thing about Andy getting the Big Bass of the Year is that he currently doesn’t own a G-Loomis rod and what few times he has used mine, he always said he doesn’t like it, guess that means that since I’m his partner and the guy who netted his fish, he’ll be giving me the rod. (Yeah Right!)

Annual Hawg Hawlers Awards Banquet
The Awards Banquet is scheduled for Oct 20 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Washington, MO. All members who finished at least two Tournaments are eligible to attend at no charge and receive an attendance prize. For those who would like to attend but have not fished 2 tournaments the price is $9.00 per person. Please send your RSVP forms and any payments to Scott Hasty.

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Truman Lake Classic-10/6
 

The Classic Tournament

            Well, the first ever Hawg Hawlers classic went off without a hitch.  14 members showed up at Truman Lake on Oct. 6^th to participate in this 1 day (8 hour) tournament.  This was a modified draw tournament with a 3 fish per angler limit.  Qualifying members signed up as a team and fished from the same boat but prior to take off each boater drew a non-boater name as their weigh partner and everyone received a nice lure pack.   

Taking 1st Place honors, the Classic Champs are Scott Hasty and Andy Reynolds with 5 fish weighing 10.39 pounds.  They split $210.00 for their work.
2nd place went to Greg Hoch and Pam Wakim with 2 fish hitting the scale at 5.84 pounds.  Their check totaled $126.00.
3rd Place went to David Greenberg and Andrew Hoch with 1 fish weighing 2.61 pounds.  They took home $84.00

Classic Big Bass - was caught by Greg Hoch weighing 4.31 pounds.  Greg received a check for $140.00 for his fish.

Classic Dinner and Prizes

Osage Bluff Lodge treated us right!  They donated one of their clubhouse rooms and set up an excellent hot BBQ dinner that was waiting for us after weigh in.  Once we had our fill, plaques were presented to the tournament winners and attendance prizes & the 50/50 Raffle winners were drawn.  Here are the winners from the drawings: 

1.      Brian Jankowski – Plano Tackle Bag ($60.00 value)

2.      Jim Gross – Quantum Inferno Spinning Reel ($100.00 value)

3.      Kevin Miller - $100 cash

4.      Ken Jones - $100.00 Bass Pro Shop gift card

5.      Andrew Hoch – Quantum Grigsby Baitcast Reel ($120.00 value)

6.      Greg Shands – St. Croix Rod ($170.00 value)

7.      Scott Hasty- G-Loomis Rod ($235.00 value)

8.      50/50 Raffle:  Pam Wakim - $515.00 cash

No club funds were used for the Classic tournament.  Prizes and plaques were funded from the 50/50 raffle as well as donations from Ken Jones, Pam Wakim and Scott Hasty.  100% of the boat entry fees and optional Big Bass side pot were paid out for places and big bass.