Thumb Area Offshore Challenge

[Captain]

This is going to be good one! Who's in?:fish:

THE FIRST 40 ENTRIES WILL RECEIVE A COPY OF PRECISION TROLLING BIG WATER EDITION. THIS IS A $24.95 VALUE FREE JUST FOR ENTERING EARLY.

http://www.eaglebayoutfitter.com/assets/images/autogen/a_OFFSHORE-CHALLENGE-REVISED.jpg

[double trouble]

thats one heck of a linup of sponsors you have there.i know one thing. if kingfish products is involved it must be a fair and well run event.good luck to all.

[BallsRdragn]

:coolgleam Team BallsRdrgn is in .

[fish patroll]

Team Fish PaTroLL will be there !!!

[Getaway]

I'm in!

See you guys in a couple weeks.

[Captain]

If you have not done so yet, please get your entry forms/fees into Tournament Control. Thx

[mrymar]

I am in. See ya there. We in Port Austin again.

BTW - Who got the big one last year?:evil:

[Getaway]

Good question Mike!:evilsmile .

[Captain]

Maybe that same person will get in the side bet this year.....:rolleyes: :D

[mrymar]

Probable will Drew this year. I actually have a crew going into this one. Where last year, I was begging guys to come up the night of the event.......

I think we are just going to donate this year thoough, probable go into the Bay and go after some of those limits on walleyes guys are getting.

[Getaway]

You MIGHT talk me into the side deal......

Last year I was glad I saved my $$.

[Iceman1]

Mike, I havent heard of any walleye reports yet out of PA. Did I miss something?

[Captain]

Probable will Drew this year. I actually have a crew going into this one. Where last year, I was begging guys to come up the night of the event.......

I think we are just going to donate this year thoough, probable go into the Bay and go after some of those limits on walleyes guys are getting.

SURE!!!!!;)

[Captain]

Mike, I havent heard of any walleye reports yet out of PA. Did I miss something?

Couple here and there so far John, Water is still to cold. Mud creek to Sand point has been on fire in tight....Drifting over the weeds with Harnesses

[Iceman1]

Good to know, it wont be long now, We need a little warm weather, and those eyes should start rippin. Now I just need to find some time, My sons baseball has pretty much taken up all my time. The next time I can make it
up there is the weekend after the 4th.

[Captain]

Prime time by then......

[mrymar]

SURE!!!!!;)

Can we weigh walleyes?

It we can, I am doing that......

If not, I can run to six fathom and take a limit of 10 pound kings. Run to Yankee and take a limit of 15 pound trout. Or I my stay in tight and fish for a brown like this guy:
http://vh10018.v1.moc.gbahn.net/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BP&Date=20060430&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=604300307&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=600&Q=80

So many options.... My team is ready. Hero or Zero!

Is it getting deep yet? I am throwing the hip boots on right now.

[Captain]

LoL its getting deep.....The Boys have Been to Yankee before, year before last, might be hitching a ride and Going to Six Fanthom on the 27th. 66 miles from GS.

[Getaway]

Have fun on your trip. Those hog brownies don't like to swim that far. They are probably right under your nose when you throttle up....:D

[mrymar]

I am going to predict right now that it will be won by someone running to 6-fathom.

I just spooled up some 600ft of copper rods so I can fish both 6 fathom and the port austin light at the same time. Watch for my leadcore flag, dont pass behind me.....

[Getaway]

might be hitching a ride and Going to Six Fanthom on the 27th. 66 miles from GS.


Why? To catch even MORE lakers:lol: :lol: .

You better get a Canadian license.

[Fletch09]

Why? To catch even MORE lakers:lol: :lol: .

You better get a Canadian license.

I thought there were no Canadian Waters allowed in this tourney?

[Captain]

Recon....You never know. All Yankee held was LTs 2 years ago....

[Fletch09]

I promise you there are more than Lake Trout at six fathom.......if you know where to look ;)

[Captain]

I thought there were no Canadian Waters allowed in this tourney?

I said on the 27th, the tourney is the 24th and 25th. Got a few days off that week so the wife wants to go somewhere probably Vegas, so I probably won't be able to go with those guys..:rolleyes:

[Thors Hammer]

Thor's Hammer will be there. Money is sent, Boat is shiney and I am fired up about the event.

I have never fished out of Port Austin so it should be a true adventure.

[Captain]

Good Luck!

[Fletch09]

I said on the 27th, the tourney is the 24th and 25th. Got a few days off that week so the wife wants to go somewhere probably Vegas, so I probably won't be able to go with those guys..:rolleyes:

Oops, sorry, didn't read your post closely enough. You should try and get out there once this summer. Its an interesting fishery, with some pretty wild structure.

[Iceman1]

Jason, are u fishing this tourney? I thought u would be on the other side by now.

[tmacguire]

:fish: Congrat's Rob and James on the winning the Thumb Offshore Challenge and good luck in the Gander Mt.

Tip
Lil Red

[Captain]

Congrats to Team Riptide! As well as Mike and Dave from Fishigan for their second place finish and Team Getaway for taking Big Fish with their 16lb Brown. I think final standings went something like this for boats that took home some winnings!;) If anyone has the official results please post them.

1st. Riptide
2nd Fishigan
3rd Gone Bad
4th SandPiper
5th Lucky Strike
6th Good News
7th Flippin Silver

[mrymar]

Congrats to Riptide. Rob and his crew had ~56 pounds on day 1 (2nd best catch for the day) and ~52 pounds on day 2 (best catch for the day).

[Termie33]

What are the details? Was it a laker-fest liek everyone expected? Any silver weighted in? Any ideas on the hot spots, or was it the normal spot?

[BrkBro#1]

Thanks guys,

It was great being back in Grindstone fishing the Thumb Area Offshore Challenge. It was especially nice to see the good number of boats and the good number of tournament tested teams that showed up to fish!

The skill level of the tournament teams that fished continues to get better and better all the time. We were fortunate enough to string together two solid days and hold off a number of really good teams.

Hats off to the tournament committe for their hard work in making this tournament a reality. Hope to see everyone back again next year!!

There were a decent number of king taken Termie, with the greater number being taken/weighed on Sunday. All kings looked healthy.

Rob
Team Riptide

[fish patroll]

great job by team riptide on the win. also congrats to mrymar and to getaway on the big fish of the tourny.hope to see you all back next year,i think i'll just go up for the drawings and leave the boat on the trailer :)

[Getaway]

Congrats Rob for that 1st place finish! You da man again!

Nice job Mike for another 2nd place. Your a tough cookie to beat bud.

Larry, Bill and Craig on Gone Bad put some nice fish on the table. We were by them for most of the tourney and just could not box those big dogs.

Congrats Drew for 6th place.

We worked that 100-120 fow and could not get those big lakers to hit for some crazy reason.

In a desperate attempt to put some big fish in the box, we ran into shallow water looking for a big brown. We got him on Saturday in 35 fow. He tipped the scales at the weigh-in at 16.98#.

On day two, we played in that water a little longer and landed 9 dandy lakers (one being 10#), a 8# steelie and a 6# walleye. We lost what looked to be another hog brown on my same point from the day before....:sad:

I'll post pics tomorrow.....

[jdman]

Awesome Job Guy's..... Looks Like You Guys Rule Lake Huron........ See You In Ludington.......

Jeff
Uncle Rich

[BallsRdragn]

Good job guys! Many nice box's of fish. We found fish but just couldn't get the right LB's in the cooler.

Thanks to all the sponsor's that made this a fun tourament. I'm glad to see that not all of the tournaments on the east coast bugged out. After our breakdown in the BWC this was all we had left on this side.

I have to say that there were some very nice kings and steelies taken in this tournament. After having a decent silver catch this spring and seeing these nice silvers coming in on the weigh in......we might be on a come back of silver.

Good seeing my buds again...... Brown Trout Bob, 50/50 Larry and Master MaC. (Macfee and Crew). I'm leaving my spin & glows at home this weekend, I had a dream they were attacking me like bees!:evilsmile

[BITE_ME_TOO]

Good job to all the teams that placed!

I sure do miss the fishing right now:sad: Work is really starting to pi$$ me off!!!!!!

Rymer- when you gonna crack the 2nd place curse????:p

Jeff- BMT

[Getaway]

Here's a couple pics.

16.98# brown that really wieghed around 14.5 lbs....
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f268/Getaway221v/GrindstoneTourneyJune2006002.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f268/Getaway221v/GrindstoneTourneyJune2006005.jpg

Pa with a nice steelie! This fish had been on the spawning beds a lot in her life....
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f268/Getaway221v/GrindstoneTourneyJune2006012.jpg

Some decent trout on day 2
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f268/Getaway221v/GrindstoneTourneyJune2006014.jpg

My buds battle wagons......Ballz-a-dragon, Fish Patroll and yours truly....
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f268/Getaway221v/GrindstoneTourneyJune2006008.jpg

[Termie33]

nice pics, hopefully since i finally got a break form work i can get some similar pics this weekend!

[mrymar]

Rymer- when you gonna crack the 2nd place curse????:p


I dunno....... This was the 4th or 5th time......

Thanks for getting that image done for us. The shirts came out great for the first time around.

[SalmonBum]

Good job, Mike. I think it has something to do with the magical Pina-Colota's you had from your dockamtes.

[mrymar]

I did want to thank my crew. Phil and Adam did a great job. They have fished about 5-8 major tournaments with us, and the back of the boat went pretty tangle free with 11 rods in the water most of the time. Sunday was a bit of a mess, but we were trying out some new stuff....

My dad did good at the wheel Saturday/Sunday, keeping us on the waypoint from last year. And reeling in a few Saturday.

The wives made us the best dinner saturday at our cabin. BBQ brats, taco salad, cheesy potatos, ect...

Our dockmates jason and bill, for the drinks and laughs.

The tournament committee for doing a great job. I think my only complaint was that they had too many raffle prizes on Sunday.

[Jason Adam]

The tournament committee for doing a great job. I think my only complaint was that they had too many raffle prizes on Sunday.

I agree, Larry, Dave, Craig, and the rest all did a great Job. I ran the a East Side tournament for DAS last year, and I can tell you that in a tough fishery, it is alot of work to get sponsors and participants.

There were a couple things I think probably needed to be addressed. One being the somewhat vague rules. I would rather see everything speeled out in black and white with no room for inturpetation or error. There were some questions at the captains meeting regarding the time you needed to be back to the dock at each port, and there was never really a solid answer.

Another thing was the scale not being zero'd with a basket. There is really no reason not to calibrate the scale to take into account the weight of the basket.

Lastly, I would much rather see a finish time that you need to be back to the harbor(or through the peir heads/channel), not a time to "pull lines". Thats all good in a club tournament, but not in a money event. To much room for "error".

Again, no complaints, just constructive critisism, or maybe just suggestions, whatever. All in all, a first class great event. Hope to see everybody there again next year.