06-25-2013, 08:59 PM
BFT friends,
I just returned from spending a few days at Starvation to fish in and support Camp Hobe through the Catch a Cure for Cancer annual charity tournament.
My partner, Chad Miller and I have been supporting this charity for the last 4 years. This year it became much more personal to me as my mother was diagnosed with appendix cancer last winter and one of my nearest and dearest friends has a beautiful 17 year old daughter that was diagnosed with ASL Lukemia about 6 weeks ago. She has been undergoing a just brutal weekly chemo treatment regime ever since.
Camp Hobe supports children with cancer and their siblings by providing a summer camp they can go to free of charge. For many this is such a wonderful opportunity for the family to have a break from the just brutal emotional grind that they are constantly going through. The Catch A Cure tournament has raised over $100k to support this.
I realize now that it is just as tough on the families as it is on the individual. There is alot more to it than just getting some chemo. It's all the terrible side affects of the chemo and the other drugs such as hi level steroids, etc. The constant fear of an infection that the body cannot fight as the immune system is almost non existent.
This year's tournament was even more melancholy for me this year as this would be the last time Chad Miller and I would fish a Utah tournament together as he will be moving to Denver in a couple weeks.
We arrived at Starvation on Thursday to start pre-fishing. The last couple years Chad and I have enjoyed pre-fishing alone in our own boats so that we can cover more water and work different techniques. We meet up on the water often to discuss or communicate through texts so we're updated on what each other is finding.
I started off the day Thursday morning by catching a nice 6 pounder. That really got my blood flowing and after a quick photo of her lying on the 30 inch livewell lid I released her. The rest of the day went pretty well as I caught several 20 inch class fish (fyi: there is a VERY strong year class of 20 inch fish in there) and quite a few in the 18 to 19 inch range. We didn't beat up any particular areas much as we kept moving and trying to develop a pattern. Weather was great with high temps around 84 air and 67 water in the afternoon.
Thursday night we had a great elk steak dinner and a few libations while we got caught up on each other's lives.
Friday morning we headed out separately again. Chad started it right off by catching a beautiful 6 pound walleye which he quickly released. I didn't land any big fish this day but did put 5, 20 inch fish into the boat by early afternoon.
Saturday morning arrived with a nice breeze and we were in the middle of the pack for blast off. We made it ot our first spot and on the third cast Chad nails an awesome 7 pound walleye on a crank with a bleeder chain! We had always dreamed of starting off a tournament day with a hawg in the box but had never managed it yet. 45 minutes later he has another BIG fish on. This one much heavier and got it right next to the boat but the fish was just staying down bulldogging and shaking her head. Chad just kept steady pressure hoping she would finally raise her head when all of a sudden the hooks just pulled out. [pirate] Man, talk about heartache! I think I was more heart broken than he was.
We pulled it together and went back to work. After the initial frenzy the bite got really tough, much tougher than it had been the previous 2 mornings. We finally scratched up 3 more fish in the 18 to 20 inch range and were stuck, as we couldn't seem to get the last 2 we needed for a limit. Then the wind came up and talk about brutal conditions. We had to use the 8HP kicker and the 80lb bow mount together to handle the 3 and 4 foot waves. We finally got a couple of 13 inchers in the boat and never were able to upgrade them.
We ended up with a 2nd place finish 16.43 lbs for 6 fish and first place was 16.62 lbs for 6 fish. Talk about a close finish. One 15 inch fish would have put us over the top.
This year we caught fish shallow to deep bottom bouncing, jigs, casting and trolling cranks. Weedlines and structure near deep water were the keys.
Once again I greatly enjoyed spending time with many of my friends and associates at this wonderful event. Most of all I'll cherish all the hours I got to spend in the boat over the last 4 years with a fantastic walleye fisherman and one hell'uva guy, Chad Miller. We had a good run. [
]
Boysen Spring Challenge (WWC)
Year Place
2010 18th
Catch-A-Cure for Cancer
Year Place
2013 2nd
2012 8th
2011 3rd
2010 1st
Starvation Classic
Year Place
2012 2nd
2011 6th
2010 2nd
2009 4th
[signature]
I just returned from spending a few days at Starvation to fish in and support Camp Hobe through the Catch a Cure for Cancer annual charity tournament.
My partner, Chad Miller and I have been supporting this charity for the last 4 years. This year it became much more personal to me as my mother was diagnosed with appendix cancer last winter and one of my nearest and dearest friends has a beautiful 17 year old daughter that was diagnosed with ASL Lukemia about 6 weeks ago. She has been undergoing a just brutal weekly chemo treatment regime ever since.
Camp Hobe supports children with cancer and their siblings by providing a summer camp they can go to free of charge. For many this is such a wonderful opportunity for the family to have a break from the just brutal emotional grind that they are constantly going through. The Catch A Cure tournament has raised over $100k to support this.
I realize now that it is just as tough on the families as it is on the individual. There is alot more to it than just getting some chemo. It's all the terrible side affects of the chemo and the other drugs such as hi level steroids, etc. The constant fear of an infection that the body cannot fight as the immune system is almost non existent.
This year's tournament was even more melancholy for me this year as this would be the last time Chad Miller and I would fish a Utah tournament together as he will be moving to Denver in a couple weeks.
We arrived at Starvation on Thursday to start pre-fishing. The last couple years Chad and I have enjoyed pre-fishing alone in our own boats so that we can cover more water and work different techniques. We meet up on the water often to discuss or communicate through texts so we're updated on what each other is finding.
I started off the day Thursday morning by catching a nice 6 pounder. That really got my blood flowing and after a quick photo of her lying on the 30 inch livewell lid I released her. The rest of the day went pretty well as I caught several 20 inch class fish (fyi: there is a VERY strong year class of 20 inch fish in there) and quite a few in the 18 to 19 inch range. We didn't beat up any particular areas much as we kept moving and trying to develop a pattern. Weather was great with high temps around 84 air and 67 water in the afternoon.
Thursday night we had a great elk steak dinner and a few libations while we got caught up on each other's lives.
Friday morning we headed out separately again. Chad started it right off by catching a beautiful 6 pound walleye which he quickly released. I didn't land any big fish this day but did put 5, 20 inch fish into the boat by early afternoon.
Saturday morning arrived with a nice breeze and we were in the middle of the pack for blast off. We made it ot our first spot and on the third cast Chad nails an awesome 7 pound walleye on a crank with a bleeder chain! We had always dreamed of starting off a tournament day with a hawg in the box but had never managed it yet. 45 minutes later he has another BIG fish on. This one much heavier and got it right next to the boat but the fish was just staying down bulldogging and shaking her head. Chad just kept steady pressure hoping she would finally raise her head when all of a sudden the hooks just pulled out. [pirate] Man, talk about heartache! I think I was more heart broken than he was.
We pulled it together and went back to work. After the initial frenzy the bite got really tough, much tougher than it had been the previous 2 mornings. We finally scratched up 3 more fish in the 18 to 20 inch range and were stuck, as we couldn't seem to get the last 2 we needed for a limit. Then the wind came up and talk about brutal conditions. We had to use the 8HP kicker and the 80lb bow mount together to handle the 3 and 4 foot waves. We finally got a couple of 13 inchers in the boat and never were able to upgrade them.
We ended up with a 2nd place finish 16.43 lbs for 6 fish and first place was 16.62 lbs for 6 fish. Talk about a close finish. One 15 inch fish would have put us over the top.
This year we caught fish shallow to deep bottom bouncing, jigs, casting and trolling cranks. Weedlines and structure near deep water were the keys.
Once again I greatly enjoyed spending time with many of my friends and associates at this wonderful event. Most of all I'll cherish all the hours I got to spend in the boat over the last 4 years with a fantastic walleye fisherman and one hell'uva guy, Chad Miller. We had a good run. [
] Boysen Spring Challenge (WWC)
Year Place
2010 18th
Catch-A-Cure for Cancer
Year Place
2013 2nd
2012 8th
2011 3rd
2010 1st
Starvation Classic
Year Place
2012 2nd
2011 6th
2010 2nd
2009 4th
[signature]
Sunrise on the water
] congrats on the success.