09-13-2010, 08:27 PM
Team,
Just returned from spending the last 4 days with my (tournament) partner, Chad Miller at Starvation for the 19th Annual Starvation Classic. What a fantastic time and much needed vacation this was for me. An opportunity to see and spend time with many of the new friends I have developed over the past 2 years. Fantastic people from Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah that I only get to see a few times a year. The pot luck dinners, open bar, and lie telling around a picnic table, under a gas lantern until too late each night combined with the early wake up calls and friendly but intense competition all combine to create an atmosphere of close and respectful relationships. I’ll be eternally grateful to Roger and Debbie Shaffer for taking me under their wing and introducing me to their (walleye tournament family) over the past couple years. My wife may view it differently now that I have developed such a severe case of tournament fever over the last 2 years. George Sommer and Paul once again did a fantastic job organizing and putting on this event. It’s an event that has gone from a novel idea to an annual tradition for me over the past 2 years. Now to the details.
· We arrived on Thursday morning about 7:30. The wind was blowing a bit and threatening to storm in the afternoon so we decided to take a few minutes and set up camp before hitting the water to prospect. We rolled into the campground and found all the boats still in camp. It seems our tournament family had put on quite a bender Wednesday night and nobody was too quick to get out on the water that morning. Everyone we talked to said fishing had been terrible all week. We finished getting the tent up and hit the water.
Air temp was around 42 at launch and water temps were in the 61 deg range each day in the morning warming to 65 in the afternoon. We headed down lake toward the headwaters areas and spent all day prospecting that end of the lake. We ended the day with only a couple of small walleye and a few bruiser slimers but felt like we had “eliminated some water”. [crazy]
Good thing I brought a bunch of halibut and salmon for our fish dinner that night. We usually have a big fish fry on Thursday night but since fishing had been so tough we didn’t have enough walleye. No problem, Kurt from Twin Falls had brought along his trusty Traeger grill and did a wonderful job of grilling up enough halibut and salmon fillets for us all.
· Friday morning woke up about 5:30 and tried to shake the scotch cobwebs from my head as we headed into town for a cup of coffee and breakfast burrito. Hit the water about 6:30 with the wind still blowing and the temps about the same. Spent all day on the east end of the lake this time and tried to see if we could figure out any kind of pattern. Ended the day with only a couple fish over the minimum 12 inch size but felt like we may have been starting to figure something out. Friday night we went to town for our now traditional (read superstitious) taco dinner before the tournament would start on Saturday. Although we tried to put on a confident front for each other I really don’t think either one of us felt that confident going to sleep that night but we had a plan that we were going to follow.
· Saturday – Finally the infamous Starvation wind had quit blowing!. Made a quick run to town for our coffee and burritos and made it back just in time for launch and blast off. Got to hand it to George and Paul, they really had their act together as we never waited in line for boat inspection or launch more than 5 minutes! We were boat number 21 of 28 so we were in second flight. Good thing we didn’t have a particular spot on a spot that we were trying to get to. Wouldn’t have mattered if we were in first flight with my boat topping out around 32 and most of the others in the 50 to 60mph range. What a beautiful morning with the sun just starting to lighten the east. I turned northeast as we idled through the buoys and started opening the throttle, following ½ of the field that had already sped off in that direction. We got to the area we had planned to start in and joined in with the parade of other boats already there. I was not crestfallen though as I have come to develop some confidence in my partner and our techniques as we’ve had success a few times now even when the fishing is congested.
I waited for an opening and slid us in line. We had decided the night before that if we could just get a limit of 6 fish above the 12 in minimum in the live well by 10 o’clock we would feel pretty good about our chances to then upgrade and be competitive. Pretty optimistic considering we’d only had a few fish in the boat in the last 2 days combined that would meet that criteria! [pirate] We had a limit in the live well by 8:30 and by 10am we had upgraded several times. By noon we had a 21.5 to go with a pair of twin 18’s, a 17.5 and a couple 15.5’s, then the bite just shut down. We continued to grind it out and expand our search area until 3:00 as we had to be back by 3:15. We felt really good about our chances to at least be in the top 10. Our plan had been successful and we had not taken ourselves out of contention. We ended day 1 with 11.77 lbs and third place. Tom Davis and Jay were in second with a little over 13.5 lbs, and Kevin Lund and his partner had the top spot with a fantastic day one totally of 15.58 lbs.
That evening as we sat around camp sipping whiskey and eating a couple rib eye steaks I fried we compared notes on all the information/mis-information [
] we had compiled since weigh in. We decided most of the bigger fish had definitely come from the Rabbit area. Some of the jiggers had some well many not so well, most of the crank bait guys had zero’d. After more careful thought, discussion, and one or two more drinks we decided we had to stick to our guns and stick with what we know best. We felt that it would be difficult for the jiggers that had been successful to duplicate it again on Sunday given the current conditions and what we had observed. We made the decision that no matter what, even if the bite was off and really tough we were going to live and die grinding it out in the same area we had the day before. We really felt this was our best chance. How prophetic that would turn out to be!
· Sunday – followed the ritual of running to town for coffee and burritos. Were the last boat in the first flight and as we sat there waiting our turn to blast off all but one boat headed the same direction we were going to. It seems that more folks had made a similar decision as us. [:/]Too late to second guess ourselves now I thought to myself as the throttle hit the stop. 10am came and went and we only had 4 fish in live well with the biggest at 14.5. This was just not going to do it for us. We were both starting to second guess our plan with Chad being the one brave enough to voice their concern first. In return I put on the best front I could and tried to come up with a theory that I thought someone with his vast big tournament experience might buy. I said “Don’t get too spun up yet man. If you are someone that gives any credence to the solar lunar tables, I think that moon rise advances somewhere around 45 minutes to an hour each day, I don’t remember exactly. Based on that the fish are going to show up at some point and maybe they are just later today than yesterday.” I got lucky and ended up looking like Nostradamus as the fishing started to turn on about noon. The same time it had died the day before. Just after noon Chad thumped a .5. pounder and that really lifted our spirits. An hour later I was able to add a 17.5 incher that allowed us to upgrade a 13 incher. Over the last 2 hours we were able to upgrade twice more and end the day with a 14.5 incher as our small fish with the 25 incher on top. We ended the day with 11.22 lbs and second place. Our total for the tournament was 22.98 lbs and the winning team of Tom and Jay had right at 31 lbs. If you’re going to “lose” a tournament, that is the way to do it. Get blown away by someone bringing in an absolute pig, not getting bumped by 3 ounces and having to second guess each decision you made for years! At the weigh in I had nothing but respect and admiration for Tom and Jay and for our team as well. I felt we had performed as well as we possibly could and that was extremely satisfying. It’s a feeling I can’t describe and can’t get enough of. I am so glad Roger Shaffer not only recognized that in me 2 years ago but talked me into giving it a try because he knew I’d love it and be passionate about it. [fishin]
Spinners and bottom bouncers in 21 to 34 feet of water proved to be the formula we relied on most. We tried to find the clouds of small perch and just fought our way through them for the walleye that were hanging out around them. Almost all the fish I filleted had small 2 to 3 inch perch in them. Good luck...
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Just returned from spending the last 4 days with my (tournament) partner, Chad Miller at Starvation for the 19th Annual Starvation Classic. What a fantastic time and much needed vacation this was for me. An opportunity to see and spend time with many of the new friends I have developed over the past 2 years. Fantastic people from Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah that I only get to see a few times a year. The pot luck dinners, open bar, and lie telling around a picnic table, under a gas lantern until too late each night combined with the early wake up calls and friendly but intense competition all combine to create an atmosphere of close and respectful relationships. I’ll be eternally grateful to Roger and Debbie Shaffer for taking me under their wing and introducing me to their (walleye tournament family) over the past couple years. My wife may view it differently now that I have developed such a severe case of tournament fever over the last 2 years. George Sommer and Paul once again did a fantastic job organizing and putting on this event. It’s an event that has gone from a novel idea to an annual tradition for me over the past 2 years. Now to the details.
· We arrived on Thursday morning about 7:30. The wind was blowing a bit and threatening to storm in the afternoon so we decided to take a few minutes and set up camp before hitting the water to prospect. We rolled into the campground and found all the boats still in camp. It seems our tournament family had put on quite a bender Wednesday night and nobody was too quick to get out on the water that morning. Everyone we talked to said fishing had been terrible all week. We finished getting the tent up and hit the water.
Air temp was around 42 at launch and water temps were in the 61 deg range each day in the morning warming to 65 in the afternoon. We headed down lake toward the headwaters areas and spent all day prospecting that end of the lake. We ended the day with only a couple of small walleye and a few bruiser slimers but felt like we had “eliminated some water”. [crazy]
Good thing I brought a bunch of halibut and salmon for our fish dinner that night. We usually have a big fish fry on Thursday night but since fishing had been so tough we didn’t have enough walleye. No problem, Kurt from Twin Falls had brought along his trusty Traeger grill and did a wonderful job of grilling up enough halibut and salmon fillets for us all.
· Friday morning woke up about 5:30 and tried to shake the scotch cobwebs from my head as we headed into town for a cup of coffee and breakfast burrito. Hit the water about 6:30 with the wind still blowing and the temps about the same. Spent all day on the east end of the lake this time and tried to see if we could figure out any kind of pattern. Ended the day with only a couple fish over the minimum 12 inch size but felt like we may have been starting to figure something out. Friday night we went to town for our now traditional (read superstitious) taco dinner before the tournament would start on Saturday. Although we tried to put on a confident front for each other I really don’t think either one of us felt that confident going to sleep that night but we had a plan that we were going to follow.
· Saturday – Finally the infamous Starvation wind had quit blowing!. Made a quick run to town for our coffee and burritos and made it back just in time for launch and blast off. Got to hand it to George and Paul, they really had their act together as we never waited in line for boat inspection or launch more than 5 minutes! We were boat number 21 of 28 so we were in second flight. Good thing we didn’t have a particular spot on a spot that we were trying to get to. Wouldn’t have mattered if we were in first flight with my boat topping out around 32 and most of the others in the 50 to 60mph range. What a beautiful morning with the sun just starting to lighten the east. I turned northeast as we idled through the buoys and started opening the throttle, following ½ of the field that had already sped off in that direction. We got to the area we had planned to start in and joined in with the parade of other boats already there. I was not crestfallen though as I have come to develop some confidence in my partner and our techniques as we’ve had success a few times now even when the fishing is congested.
I waited for an opening and slid us in line. We had decided the night before that if we could just get a limit of 6 fish above the 12 in minimum in the live well by 10 o’clock we would feel pretty good about our chances to then upgrade and be competitive. Pretty optimistic considering we’d only had a few fish in the boat in the last 2 days combined that would meet that criteria! [pirate] We had a limit in the live well by 8:30 and by 10am we had upgraded several times. By noon we had a 21.5 to go with a pair of twin 18’s, a 17.5 and a couple 15.5’s, then the bite just shut down. We continued to grind it out and expand our search area until 3:00 as we had to be back by 3:15. We felt really good about our chances to at least be in the top 10. Our plan had been successful and we had not taken ourselves out of contention. We ended day 1 with 11.77 lbs and third place. Tom Davis and Jay were in second with a little over 13.5 lbs, and Kevin Lund and his partner had the top spot with a fantastic day one totally of 15.58 lbs.
That evening as we sat around camp sipping whiskey and eating a couple rib eye steaks I fried we compared notes on all the information/mis-information [
] we had compiled since weigh in. We decided most of the bigger fish had definitely come from the Rabbit area. Some of the jiggers had some well many not so well, most of the crank bait guys had zero’d. After more careful thought, discussion, and one or two more drinks we decided we had to stick to our guns and stick with what we know best. We felt that it would be difficult for the jiggers that had been successful to duplicate it again on Sunday given the current conditions and what we had observed. We made the decision that no matter what, even if the bite was off and really tough we were going to live and die grinding it out in the same area we had the day before. We really felt this was our best chance. How prophetic that would turn out to be! · Sunday – followed the ritual of running to town for coffee and burritos. Were the last boat in the first flight and as we sat there waiting our turn to blast off all but one boat headed the same direction we were going to. It seems that more folks had made a similar decision as us. [:/]Too late to second guess ourselves now I thought to myself as the throttle hit the stop. 10am came and went and we only had 4 fish in live well with the biggest at 14.5. This was just not going to do it for us. We were both starting to second guess our plan with Chad being the one brave enough to voice their concern first. In return I put on the best front I could and tried to come up with a theory that I thought someone with his vast big tournament experience might buy. I said “Don’t get too spun up yet man. If you are someone that gives any credence to the solar lunar tables, I think that moon rise advances somewhere around 45 minutes to an hour each day, I don’t remember exactly. Based on that the fish are going to show up at some point and maybe they are just later today than yesterday.” I got lucky and ended up looking like Nostradamus as the fishing started to turn on about noon. The same time it had died the day before. Just after noon Chad thumped a .5. pounder and that really lifted our spirits. An hour later I was able to add a 17.5 incher that allowed us to upgrade a 13 incher. Over the last 2 hours we were able to upgrade twice more and end the day with a 14.5 incher as our small fish with the 25 incher on top. We ended the day with 11.22 lbs and second place. Our total for the tournament was 22.98 lbs and the winning team of Tom and Jay had right at 31 lbs. If you’re going to “lose” a tournament, that is the way to do it. Get blown away by someone bringing in an absolute pig, not getting bumped by 3 ounces and having to second guess each decision you made for years! At the weigh in I had nothing but respect and admiration for Tom and Jay and for our team as well. I felt we had performed as well as we possibly could and that was extremely satisfying. It’s a feeling I can’t describe and can’t get enough of. I am so glad Roger Shaffer not only recognized that in me 2 years ago but talked me into giving it a try because he knew I’d love it and be passionate about it. [fishin]
Spinners and bottom bouncers in 21 to 34 feet of water proved to be the formula we relied on most. We tried to find the clouds of small perch and just fought our way through them for the walleye that were hanging out around them. Almost all the fish I filleted had small 2 to 3 inch perch in them. Good luck...
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Sunrise on the water
