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Posts: 3899
| Hi Guys!
Wow, what a great feeling to have so much support and well wishes behind me! I really appreciate it, and I know it helped. I had a great time, both prefishing, and during the tournament. I was torn between hoping for the blow day on Thursday, and wanting to fish it. I know a couple pros that were within striking distance, and it would have been good for them to have the shot. But, this is Lake Erie, and we played the cards we were dealt.
I was prefishing with Mark Keenan all week, and I really learn alot when fishing with him. Prefishing started out great. Second fish in the boat was mine at a fat 29.5". We caught 13 fish the first day, and the top 5 would have went an easy 35 lbs. The bite was slower than last year, but we caught some pretty decent fish all week. Sunday, we only caught 2, and they were 6 lb'ers. We fished different spots, and almost always caught fish. Some spots didn't hold the bigger fish we were looking for. Monday, we had a storm come through that had a period of very high winds. I would say they were approaching 50 MPH, and lasted for about 3 minutes, In that time, we saw horizontal rain from the tops of the waves, and some very high waves. I was a little shaken by that. It settled back down to an even 25 MPH, and we had a careful ride home. Tuesday, we didn't get out til 9, and fished til 1:00. Lots of weather moving through, and we had strong winds, big waves, and rain and sleet. Mark's prop was blowing out in the waves, so we got off to look for a different prop, and to get the motor lowered a hole. It took Jay only 10 minutes to fix us up, and we were off to get ready for the meeting.
After my experiences of the past 3 years, I came into this tournament with a different frame of mind. I knew I was going to have fun prefishing, but I decided to actually have fun in the tournament, too. No matter what, I was going to try to just enjoy it, and not be so hung up on catching the big fish to make the cut. I was relaxed at the drawing, and when my name was called after Rick Franklin, my friends all said I finally got a good day one Pro. I'd heard of Rick, and was excited to be his day one co-angler. We met outside, exchanged numbers, and agreed he would pick me up at my motel on the way to the launch. After, I talked with RangerPat, Carl G, and a couple other guys I knew. I also met Jack Dunn, finally, and we talked for a bit. We had tried to hook up earlier, but I was just too busy with the guys I was out there with. Then, after a Ponderosa dinner, we headed back to get ready for the coming morning.
Rick picked me up 15 minutes early, and I jumped, actually, pulled myself up, into his big red Chevy Diesel powered truck pulling his Merc 250 powered Crestliner with the checkered graphics on it. We got to the launch, and I backed him in. I got a good parking spot, and headed to jump into the boat, for what I hoped would be a fun day on the water. We motored over to the marina to pick out a dock to wait at, and I saw and wished good luck to a bunch of guys. Took a few pictures, and at 6:45, started pulling on my rain gear, and life jacket. I was ready. Rick told me what he needed me to do throughout the day to make things as smooth as possible, and I went through my mental checklist 100 times. We talked about our presentaion, where we were going to fish, and what we needed to do when we made a move. I was ready, and then they delayed the start for 15 minutes! It seems as though not all the boats were launched. So, as we waited for the start, we went over stuff again.
We were boat 66, and once the first boats finally started, we found the boat we were to follow. A couple waves and good wishes from people, a tug on the hood straps, and we were passing the starter's boat, Old Glory waving in the wind. With a roar of the 250, we were off towards Kelly's Island, and hopefully a great day! The ride was a little rough at first, as the water was churned up from the 65 boats that started before us. But as the field spread on the way to their own spots, we found the water fairly calm, and Rick opened her up. That 250 XS really makes a distinct sound, especially approaching 6000 RPM! It seemed we reached our first spot in minutes. Getting there, we went about getting our lines set, and while I put out the drift socks, Rick was setting the speed on the kicker. We were marking lots of fish, but it took over an hour to get that first fish to hit our offerings. Rick said he was going to change his inside line a lot, hoping to find a combination that the fish would like. Things were going just fine, as we had a good fish hit a short while later on our second pass, and we put about a 7 in the box. But only after I got to show Rick a little trick I learned from Mark. He thought it was very cool, and we laughed at how simple it was, and that he had never seen it before. We talked about our work, family, where we grew up, where and why we moved, other tournaments we fished, muskies, websites, dogs, hunting, and my kids. Time was flying, we were having a great time, ansd soon, it was 10:30, and we still had only 1 fish in the box! Time to make a move, this time to some deeper water, where Rick had pulled some good fish during prefish.
We made one pass and had two hits, but we lost them. The next pass we took a 4. The next two passes yielded nothing, so we moved again. Upon reaching that spot, the Horseshoe, I told Rick our luck was about to change for the better, as I had a sure-fire method I learned from GregM. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled a handful of change, and selected a shiny Quarter, Dime, Nickle, and Penny. I faced the bow, said a prayer to the Muskie gods, and tossed the 41 cents over my shoulder into Lake Erie. I am not kidding here. Less than a minute later, a board went back, and I reeled in a 6! A couple more passes there produced nothing, and it was time to move.
We had about an hour to fish, as Rick wanted to leave 35 minutes to get back, so we decided to try a little shallower, as the sun was shining, and we thought the fish might go a little higher up. In 2 passes, we took 2 fish, a 4 and a 3. We had 5 fish, maybe 24 lbs, and about 15 minutes to fish. We made one more pass, missed one, and Rick said it was time to go. He went to the bow to pull the socks, and I started to reel the inside line on his side of the boat. As the board was approaching the boat, I saw the inside line on my side go back hard! A fish! I dropped the rod in my hand, grabbed that rod, and called for Rick to get the net! A short while later, Rick netted a fat 7! As I reeled the other lines in, Rick pulled the smaller fish from the livewell, and not having the time to balance beam them, made a decision on which was the lesser weight. He tossed the fish over the side, put the other in the well, donned his life jacket, and we were off. That 3 lb upgrade would prove to be very important.
Wow, what a thrilling last hour! We were slapping fives as we powered through 2 footers north of Kelly's. Upon reaching the open water west of the island, we were greeted by the strong south wind, and the biggest waves all week! They had to be 5 footers, and we had to quater into them. We still had over 25 minutes to go about 7 miles. After a few hard hits, Rick slowed a bit, and just made good speed, wothout beating us, or the boat up. It was a wet ride, and we still took some shots, but we made it to the point with 10 minutes to go. I was expecting calmer waters, but as we rounded the point, it was anthing but, and we were headed right into the waves. Heading straight into them was harder than quartering, but we didn't have a choice. We made to the check in boat with 4 minutes to spare. Once checked-in, Rick go me to the docks, and I jumped out to get the truck and load him up.
As we drove to the weigh in, Rick called his girlfreind, and she couldn't find the weights so far. I told her to go to WalleyeFIRST.com, and immediately she said the leader had 34 lbs. We thought we might have 28-30, and that maybe we had a chance to be close to the cut. On the ride to the park, we just talked about what a fun day we had, and Rick paid me a very big compliment when he told me I was the best co-angler he had ever fished with. I think I might have blushed! I felt good, and satified that we worked hard, and as a team. We put the fish in the bag provided, and headed for the tanks, and the bump master. It was then that I realized how tired I was. I was exhausted as I waited and looked at the other fish brought in. It was our turn on stage, and I was happy when Mark Dorn said we had almost 28 pounds, and we were in 7th place! Only after I left the stage did I wake up, and figure out there were 3 more flights, and a lot more fish left to weigh. We watched together as one by one, baskets of fish were weighed. 8th place, then 9th, and then 10th, 11th, 12th. I went to talk with some of our guys to see how they did. Mark was in with 30 pounds, and Terry had 30, too. When I looked up at the screen, we were in 19th! Yikes! The boats were still coming, and some bags had 5 fish in them! Would they ever get to the end?
I was getting real nervous now, as I knew Thursday could be cancelled due to the wind and the big waves that would result. And then it was over! Rick and I high-fived, and talked about what a great day we had in his boat. The day went so fast. Rick Franklin is a very good angler, and not afraid to take a risk. He did so by trusting me to do the right things, whether it was choosing the harness, how deep to run them, reeling in the fish, or netting them. We worked hard, and as a team. I never sat down in the boat the whole day, and I was so focussed on the task. I really don't think we missed anything. We did as well as we could, and it was the best tourney day I had ever had. I went back to my motel, and prepared for the coming day. I went to sleep early that night, with the strong April wind picking up strength, strength that I was secretly hoping would cancel the next day's day on the water.
Thursday, I woke to the slightly less strong winds. I met my Day 2 Pro, and word came down that the Tourney directors were going to delay the launch for an hour, to see if the rising sun would bring stronger winds. I talked with all our guys, and some others as we waited for word. It finally came at 9:00, and we would not fish Thursday. I made the cut, along with Co-angler Terry Seidl(11th) and Mark(10th). We were to meet at the RCL stage at 3:00 PM, and there we found out, by rule, we were to fish Day 3 with the same parnters from Day 1. I was glad to fish another day with Rick, and we left after making plans to meet in the morning. Mark was generous, and let me use his truck to drive to Toledo to see my sister. I enjoyed a couple hour visit with her, and headed back to Holiday Village for dinner with Doug the owner, Mark, Terry, Mark Brumbaugh, and some others. Had a great meal at the Yatch Club, and some good conversation. We headed back and went to sleep.
Friday came with cloudy skies, the threat of rain, and a moderate SW wind. We launched the boat, and waited for the 7:00 start. The 19th boat out, we were on plane in 2 footers, and made a quick trip to the north side of Kelly's. I lost my WF hat half way there. Sorry Zach. Setting up, we marked fish from top to bottom. We made 2 passes, and caught only a white perch. That was it. We moved to east of Kelley's, and made a long troll. We marked fish, but again, no takers. We made a short move to the Horeshoe, made a short troll, and once again, nothing! It was now 11:15, and we still had yet to get our first bite! Rick said we were going to go north to the border, where he caught several good fish in prefishing. After a quick 10 minute ride, we set up, with Garrick M getting ready to leave. After 15 minutes, I reeled in a nice 6! The skunk was out. Hoping we were on an active school, we mades several short passes, but never got another bite. We ended the day east of the Perry's Monument where both Rick and I thought we could pull a couple or 3 quick 4's to maybe save the day. It was not to be. Our day, and our tourney would end with only one 6 1/2 lber caught. Only 1 bite, and 1 fish to show for our hard work. We ended up the day where we started, 19th place. I was happy to make the cut finally, and received a nice check. I think I made a new good friend, and I went home feeling pretty good, but still wondering what we could have done different to put a couple more fish in the box. I will be back to Erie.
Here are some pics from the week. I will send the rest to Zach to put up.
Edited by Shep 5/4/2004 10:24 AM
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 Saturday1st.jpg (46KB - 79 downloads)
MondayGooderOne.jpg (39KB - 84 downloads)
knifers.jpg (63KB - 75 downloads)
Mark and Knifers2.jpg (60KB - 86 downloads)
DayOnePrelaunch.jpg (41KB - 81 downloads)
DayOnePrelaunch2.jpg (38KB - 78 downloads)
DayOnePrelaunch3.jpg (48KB - 72 downloads)
JimMinemaDayOne.jpg (65KB - 29 downloads)
MikeandDean.jpg (173KB - 83 downloads)
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