April Newsletter
Written by Greg “Cuz” Shands
With high gas prices and bad fishing reports, 18 boats still came out to fish the muddy Lake of the Ozarks. Even the spring up at Ha Ha Tonka State Park was pumping out dirty water. At least the weather was nice for both days. 13 boats brought in a total of 27 fish to weigh-in, a big improvement over the last tournament.
First Place went to Chris and John Ramey. These guys sat back and let everyone else have all the fun on Saturday, but came back with a vengeance on Sunday with 4 fish weighing 11.51 pounds. Chris had 3 that weighed respectfully 3.72, 3.26, and 3.02. They both said crank baits were the winning ticket. They received $168.00 for their work.
Second Place goes to the father and son team of Chris and Dallas Jackson. It seems that dad hogged the front of the boat all weekend and made Dallas do all the work running the net. I heard that dad owes Dallas most of the earnings because of a spectacular net save. Seems Chris had hooked a fish back behind a dock and over two cables. Dallas managed to reach out over both cables and net the fish. Now you say “I’ve done that before”, but here is the best part, Dallas is only 9 years old.
Their 4 fish catch weighed 8.71 pounds and got them a check for $134.00. Chris said crank baits and jigs were the right baits.
Special note to Chris - watch out Chris ‘cause you know your days in the front of the boat are numbered.
Third Place goes to Dave Jett and Paul Berger. Dave had 2 fish on Saturday weighing in at 8.68 pounds and one was a 5.95 pounder. Wiggle Warts worked for these guys (Didn’t I read that in a fishing report?). They received $102.00 for their efforts.
Fourth Place went to Ken Jones and Matt Crile -- $72.00.
Fifth Place went to Greg Shands and Bob Ray -- $54.00.
Saturday Big Bass
Several nice bass were brought to weigh in on Saturday that were pushing the 4 pound mark but it was Dave Jett’s 5.95 pounder that took the honors. Dave caught his fish on a Wiggle Wart. Dave received $64 for Saturday’s big bass and the $90 side pot for big bass of the weekend.
Sunday Big Bass
When Dallas Jackson brought his dad’s 3.77 pounder to the scales it looked like they had the big bass for Sunday. Then Chris Ramey dumps out a sack of three plus pound bass, the biggest one weighing 3.72 pounds. Last, Matt Crile comes forward and drops a 3.95 pound bass in the basket, good for Sunday’s big bass and worth $64.00. He reported catching the fish on a crank bait.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Big Bass for the Year
My partner told me Friday night that Dave Jett was the guy to watch out for. Well, Dave didn’t take first place but he sure did take the money for the weekend. Between a $102.00 third place check, a $64.00 big bass check, and the $90.00 side pot, Dave and Paul split $256.00. .
Dave is now in the hot seat for big bass of the year. Good luck Dave - it’s a long way ‘til the end of the season.
Angler of the Year
With 2 tournaments over now, here are the current top ten anglers:
1) Chris Jackson - 29 pt.
2) Jeff Schwent - 26 pt.
3) Terry Stanek - 20 pt
4) Chris Ramey - 17 pt
5) Dave Jett - 17 pt
6) Bob Treadway - 17 pt
7) Matt Crile - 15 pt
8) Greg Schwent - 15 pt
9) Bob Ray - 13 pt
10) Greg Shands - 13 pt
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Next Tournament
Our next tournament is at Table Rock Lake on April 26-27. Take off and weigh in will be held at Schooner Creek Resort. Times are Sat 6:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and the same times on Sunday. Saturday’s tournament directors are Greg and Andy Shands
Tournament Directors
We still need tournament directors for several tournaments, including Sunday at the upcoming Table Rock tournament. Please contact Dean or Dan for a spot. Remember it’s worth 3 points (you can only receive points once per year).
Remember to get your entry fee money in to Jim before 5:00 p.m. the Wednesday before the tournament. You can include the optional $10 per boat side pot with your entry fee.
From Cuz’s Boat
Well, guess what? Dear old Cuz has finally found someone else to write about besides my partner and myself.
As we all know gas prices have just gone crazy and it doesn’t look like they are going to get any better this summer but one Hawg Hawlers team has figured out a way to beat the oil companies – JUST DON’T BUY GAS FOR THE BOAT.
It would seem like the team of Schwent and Schwent went out and got themselves a new boat. Now I don’t know if they gave too much money for the boat and just didn’t have money left over to buy gas or maybe they forgot to put gas in before the start of the tournament. All old Cuz knows is when it came time for team Schwent to blast off as the first boat out Saturday their engine wouldn’t start. At weigh in one of them made the mistake of telling me that they were out of gas. Don’t worry guys at least you got to see how good the batteries for the trolling motor worked.
I’m not sure if their new boat is a bass boat or a catfish boat because it seems like they brought one of each to weigh in on Saturday. Guess it worked out for the best though. They managed to sell enough catfish dinners Saturday night to buy gas for Sunday’s fishing.
CUZ
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March Newsletter
Written by Greg “Cuz” Shands
22 boats braved the cold weather and rain to attend the kick off of the 2008 Hawg Hawlers season. As members began showing up Saturday morning the weather was still bearable but as soon as the tournament directors began releasing boats the rain began to come down and the wind started blowing. This was the norm for most of the day and the fishing was just as bad as the weather. Many boats reported going all day without getting a single bite but 4 boats did find a fish apiece. Oh well, this tournament was just to get all the cob webs out of everything. The next time out will be better, I promise, but don’t hold your breath.
This was also our memorial tournament, where we took a moment of silence to remember those anglers who are no longer with us. Ken Jones also asked that we all have a safe season. Thanks Ken.
Taking first place honors were Greg and Jeff Schwent. Jeff managed to find one fish that weighed in at 3.11 pounds. Jeff said he caught it on a black and blue jig. The team received $186.00 for their effort.
Second place went to Terry Stanek and Bob Treadway. Terry had one fish which weighed 2.39 pounds. Like Jeff, Terry also caught his fish on a black and blue jig. They got $152.00 for their work.
Third place was new member Chris Jackson who fished by himself. Chris had one fish weigh in at 2.11 pounds. He caught it on a jerkbait. His fish was good for $120.00 check.
Fourth place went to Dave Sona and James Gibson. Dave had one fish which weighed 1.80 pounds. Dave said jerkbaits were the trick. They got a check for $ 88.00.
As you can see, the bite was really tough this time out. I’m sure that as the weather straightens out, so will the fishin!
Big BassThe Big Bass for this tournament was Jeff Schwent’s 3.11 lb. bass. Way to go Jeff! Jeff received $74.00 plus the side pot of $95.00, for a total of $169.00.
New Members
I’d like to welcome all the returning members and the following new members:
Steven Gerard, Ron Martin, John Murphy, Chris Ramey, John Ramey, John Salvo, Dan Shepherd, James Gipson, Matt Crittendon, Chris Jackson, and Chris Bergman.
Next Tournament
The next tournament will be back at Lake of the Ozarks coming out of the Flame Resort on April 5-6. Saturday’s take off time is at 12:00 noon and weigh in is at 6:00 p.m. Sunday’s start time is 6:30 a.m. and weight in is at 12:30 p.m. Tournament directors are: Saturday - Shands & Ray, Sunday – Schwent & Schwent.
Be sure to get your money in to Jim by 5:00pm the Wednesday before the tournament, and remember this year you can send in the optional $10.00 big bass side pot with your tournament entry form and fee.
Tournament Directors
We still need tournament directors for the upcoming Table Rock tournament at the end of April as well as some others. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Dan or Dean and they will sign you up. Each angler will receive three points for serving as a tournament director. You can volunteer to be tournament director for more than one tournament but points are awarded only once per year.
Standings
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Jeff Schwent 17 pts
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Terry Stanek 14 pts
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Bob Treadway 11 pts
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Chris Jackson 10 pts
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Dave Sona 9 pts
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Mick Schwent 9 pts
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James Gipson 6 pts
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All other members who fished and received 3 attendance points.
CUZ’S BOAT
Well, the first tournament has come and gone and thank God it’s over. I thought that 3.30pm would never come on Saturday. Between the cold wind and the rain, it was down right miserable. I had planned on the bad weather and packed extra gloves in the boat but I made the mistake of telling my partner about them. Within the first hour he had gone through three pairs which left me with only the pair I was wearing from the start of the day. Needless to say, my hands were frozen solid by afternoon and that’s when the fish decided to bite. When the first one bit, my reel handle got caught on my rain coat and I couldn’t set the hook. On the next bite, my hands were so cold that by the time my brain got the message that I had a bite and that message got back down to my hands and arms 2 or 3 minutes had passed and the fish had long since let go and swam off. My partner had proceeded to stay curled up in a ball down in the bottom of the boat. Every 15 to 20 minutes he would stand up and make 2 or 3 casts and then go right back to his fetus position. Things did get exciting for a few minutes when I finally managed to hook a fish and I realized that this was a big fish, at least a 5 pounder! Well it was a 5 pounder but it was all Drum.
I saw Russ Grobe before the start of the tournament and he was already wearing his life vest. When I ask him why , he said it was for the extra warmth and he didn’t plan on taking it off all day. I walked past Lori about 5 times and each time she was adding another layer of clothing. Sock tops, coveralls and heavy gloves were the clothing of choice this weekend. It’s a shame we couldn’t have all been able to have weighed in our clothing ‘cause then we could have had a decent weigh-in.
Hopefully it will warm up some before the next tournament.
See you all there
Cuz
First Place honors was our club president and tournament chairman - Pam Wakim and Dan Durbin. Pam weighed in 9 of the 13 fish, the most by any one member. Their total team weight was 33.72 pounds, making theirs the second heaviest weight in club history. Creature baits, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits were the right lures .
Second Place went to Chris and Michelle Jackson with 8 fish weighing 21.10 pounds. After weighing in 2 fish on Saturday Chris said he had them figured out for Sunday and he was right weighing in almost 15 pounds Sunday. But now their secret is out, they used green pumpkin grubs.
Third Place goes to Dean and Terri Sullivan with 9 fish that pushed the scales down to 20.20 pounds. Brush-hogs worked for them..jpg)
Fourth Place went to Jeff and Amy Schwent. They had 7 fish which weighed 16.27 pounds.
Big Bass for Saturday A lot of fat kentuckys pushing the 3 pound mark came to the scales Saturday but it was Chirs Jackson’s 4.31 pound largemouth that took the money. He said the fish bit a coleslaw colored spinnerbait.
Big Bass for Sunday A lot of us caught 3 pound smallies this weekend and when that fish hit you thought you had hooked a freight train. Now imagine what it must have felt like when Pam Wakim‘s rod loaded up with 5.07 pounds of smallie that bit on a creature bait. If you’re not sure then ask Dan Durbin because he had one weighing 4.27 lbs that hit a spinnerbait ten minutes into the tournament Sunday morning. We are checking the club archives to see if this is the largest small mouth ever weighed in at a Hawg Hawlers tournament.
Cuz’s Boat
