Ludington Gander Mountain Offshore Classic

[Hamilton Reef]

Fish, fish and more fish

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32080

7-20-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

The fishing was fantastic on Wednesday, just in time for the Gander Mountain Offshore Classic.

Catches for nine boats full of sponsors ranged from nine to 29 fish as several anglers commented that they’ve never seen the fishing so good in mid-July.

But the title sponsors of the fishing tournament that drew more than 250 boats in 2005 weren’t just happy about the fishing, they also remain pleased about the way the tournament is being run in Ludington and foresee a continued relationship with the event.

“The tournament and everything around here keeps getting better and better,” said John Schildt, district manager for Gander Mountain.

Asked if Gander Mountain would continue the relationship with the tournament, he said “absolutely. We’re very happy with everything. It’s a good relationship on both sides.”

The tournament acquired a title co-sponsor this year in Toledo Beach West Tiara Pursuit.

Among the other anglers from the Gander Mountain corporate offices was Annette McEwan, vice president for the company’s Midwest region.

“It was so cool,” she said of fishing aboard Greg Magee’s Blue Fairways. “It so far exceeded my expectations. Everthing about it was phenomenal.”

She claimed credit for “four and a half fish,” admitting that she handed off one rod before the fish was completely in.

“It was pretty much the first time since I was six years old that I had been fishing.”

McEwan helped the crew reel in 28 fish, including three steelhead. Her steelhead was 10 or 11 pounds.

“That was the one that about finished me off,” she said.

A new title sponsor for the event is Dreamweaver Lures, backing the big fish division.

Roger Bogner, owner of the lure company, said his biggest trophy and also his favorite, is a huge one he was given for catching the biggest fish at an event. He said he tried to buy a trophy so large that organizers asked him to buy a smaller one.

“I like the hardware,” he said with a smile.

He eventually settled for one about the same size as the first place trophy for the pro/am event. He said what’s nice about a big fish prize is that you can be completely out of contention and still win that event.

“I like the big fish thing in the tournament because anyone can win it,” Bogner said.

On Wednesday, the only trophies awarded were for biggest fish — a 17.5-pound king and smallest fish, a one-pound king. The biggest fish was caught on a Dreamweaver Spindoctor pulling a Strong Fly in the color KGB (Killer green blue) aboard Jim Fenner’s Pequod II. Dreamweaver III laid claim to smallest fish, which hit a Dreamweaver SS in the color yellowtail.

Today kicks off the public portion of the tournament with the Great Lakes Ford Ruboy Thursday Shootout. Asked Wednesday about the possibility of inclement weather, tournament committee member Greg Magee said it’s par for the course. Magee explained that the original idea for Ruboy Thursday came from a tournament that Capt. Pete Ruboyianes won prior to his death in 2003.

A day of fishing was canceled due to rough weather in Manistee “and rightly so,” Magee said. But Doug “Pole Cat” Strzynski said he was fishing and wondered if anyone else wanted to. By the time he walked from one end of the dock to the other, he had 29 boats signed up in what became known that weekend as the “whitewater classic.” Magee said after Pete died, the Ruboy Thursday event was founded with the only rule being that “there are no rules — except DNR rules.”

Teams will weight their heaviest five fish after six hours of fishing which concludes at 2 p.m. The scales — located at Waterfront Park’s amphitheater today — will open at noon.

Late Wednesday night, organizers said they had more than 90 boats, eclipsing the mark of 89 boats set in last year’s Ruboy Thursday. Using the proceeds from the tournament, Capt. Shane Ruboyianes, Pete’s son, will present the Ludington Charterboat Association with a $1,000 check for its net pen program at the group’s annual meeting in January.

The awards ceremony for the event is at 3:15 p.m. today at the tent at Waterfront Park.

Early registration for the event’s other divisions was well ahead of last year’s pace, leaving open the possibility that the event will eclipse last year’s mark of 256 boats.

Friday starts the Bud Light Ladies Pro Am and the West Shore Bank Youth Classic. A captain’s meeting for the Ladies’ event takes place at the tent at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The youth tournament meeting begins at 6 p.m.

Friday’s weigh-ins will take place at the gazebo at Waterfront Park, with awards to follow.

[jdman]

These's Some Big Kings Up There... Going To Be One Hell Of A Tournament...... "Sand Dollar" Won The Ruby Thursday With 5 Kings And 92 LBS.... 18.6 Lbs Average.........


Jeff

[Hamilton Reef]

Tournament opens with bigger fish than '05

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32096

7-21-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

Bigger fish and more of them.

That’s what every Great Lakes angler hopes for when pulling into Ludington.

The port delivered in a big way as Ruboy Thursday kicked off the Gander Mountain Offshore Classic.

The event, sponsored by Great Lakes Ford, was inspired by an informal $100-a-boat event that charter captain Pete Ruboyianes won in Manistee in 2003. That day, tournament organizers canceled the official fishing, and Doug “Pole Cat” Strzynski took it upon himself to organize a tournament for those gutsy enough to give it a try.

Although that event was dubbed the “Whitewater Classic” by some and involved fishing through a thunderstorm, Thursday’s event was held up for two hours by a severe thunderstorm. After two hours of waiting, the lake was fairly flat, the skies were clear and the fishing was phenomenal for the 89-boat field.

Bill Bale of Best Chance Too, a Saugatuck-based charterboat that spends most of July and August in Ludington, predicted it would take 90 pounds to win the event — big words after last year’s top stringer was just 76.1 pounds.

But Bale was right on, as Manistee boat Riverside captained by Paul Schafley hauled in 93.75 pounds. Tony Hamm’s Hammbone was second with 83.05 pounds and Bale and partner Dave Engle placed third as Best Chance took in 76.8 pounds.

Bale said it was the best fishing he’s seen all year.

“Spindoctors,” Bale said of his bait of choice. “That’s all we pulled.”

Bale wouldn’t divulge the color of rotator or Action Fly he used.

Schafley also got his big five, which averaged almost 18.75 pounds, on Spindoctors, but he was less guarded about his color choices.

“White, white/blue and what we call ‘Mountain Dew,’” he said. He said he used Ken’s Aqua Flies in Aqua Gold.

While some anglers had better than 20 fish, Schafley had fewer, but he wasn’t complaining about that or the $3,000 top prize.

“We had quality fish,” he said. “That’s my best quality catch this year.”

Former Ludington Wrestling Coach Hamm, who fished on his 30-foot Sea Ray, caught most of his fish on Dreamweaver spoons in Green Dolphin and Yeck magnum Holographic Blue Dolphin spoons. He was joined by stepdaughter Kailey Patterson, Ged Strzynski, Noah Albright and Steve Miller.

In eighth place were the now-famous Fin Girls, who have almost perfected their fish dance. With an all-woman crew, the Finweaver II caught 74.20 pounds.

“We had good luck on our wire diver and our chute rigger,” said Shelly Anderson of Hamlin Township. “We did well on SOGE (silver with orange and green ends) on wire and Green Dolphin.”

She added that a Dreamweaver SS Blue Bubble spoon — which they dubbed Hanky Panky — also did well.

Today kicks off the Bud Light Ladies Pro/Am and the West Shore Bank Youth Classic. One hundred and seventeen youth anglers headed out on 55 boats and 86 boats registered for the Ladies Classic. Ladies’ boats must be back inside the pierheads by 2 p.m. and are scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. awards ceremony at the Waterfront Park tent. Youth boats must be inside the pierheads by noon and are scheduled for a 1 p.m. awards ceremony.

The captains’ meeting for the Gander Mountain Pro/Am presented by Toledo Beach West Tiara Pursuit is at 7:30 p.m. The event kicks off Saturday morning at 6 a.m.

Bale predicted the good fishing would continue. Pro boats like his fish for the best 12-fish limit, with only nine of those fish being one species. The top boats will be the ones that find their salmon and their steelhead, lakers or brown trout.

“There’ll be lots of nine-fish limits,” Bale said, referring to the limit of king salmon specified by the pro-division rules. “My guess is the top four will have 12 fish.”

[Hamilton Reef]

Thursday's and Friday's Fishing results
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32099

[Hamilton Reef]

Salmon Slayers take first in Bud Light Ladies Classic Friday

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32102

7-21-2006 By MELISSA MCGUIRE Daily News Staff Writer
mmcguire@ludington 843-1122, ext. 307

Choppy water didn’t stop the Bud Light Ladies Classic Friday.

First place for the Pro division was the Salmon Slayers, a team that has three first-year competitors, catching a total of 71.75 pounds.

The team caught three king salmon and three steelhead near Big Point Sable.

“We had all of our qualifying fish by 11:30 a.m.,” Penny Ellis said. “The weather was great for fishing, the fish were biting better without the sun beating down and there weren’t any biting flies.”

Amateur division winners were Out of the Blue, catching a total of 58.10 pounds. Their cooler had three king salmon, a lake trout and a steelhead.

Their secret, according to their captain, Kirk Mosher? “When something works, put a lot of it down there.”

Five- to six-foot waves made it difficult to steer the boat and keep it straight for the team, but they still managed a first place.

“The girls had 22 fish total, and they didn’t miss one with the net,” Mosher said.

This was their first year in the tournament and they had help from Tim Swartz and Matt Mikulski.

The biggest fish for the day caught by an amateur team was Day Tripper and the fish was a 22.25 salmon.

“We caught it up by the lighthouse at the State Park,” Jean Leiby said of their catch.

The pro division big fish winners, Pequod II, caught a fish a little smaller at 22.15.

“The name of our boat is the name of the boat in Moby Dick, that’s why we catch the big fish,” Captain Jim Fenner said.

Fenner said the team caught the fish in 100 feet of water using a lead core fishing line and a Spin Doctor with a Strong Fly, which is a locally made bait.

“I have sore arms and some blisters on my hand from it,” Shirley Moore said.

The Fin Girls from the boat Finweaver II, a pro team, came in third.

Highlights of their fishing, according to the women, is “Crazy fun, there are no men on the boat so we can have music on, the perfect music, and we never even turned on the fish finder.”

Angie Hickman, a member of the team, said, “We would all like to thank our husbands, I think, because they are the ones who taught us how to fish and give us the bait and equipment.”

The other women agreed.

They caught a total of 68.30 and it was three king salmon and two steelhead.

“Sometimes it takes two of us to bring in a net, but it is a lot of fun,” said Captain Tracey Laaksonen.

The team competed in Ruboy Thursday and came in eighth out of 88 teams.

[Hamilton Reef]

244 boats to fish tournament
118 youths enter West Shore Bank event

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32104

7-21-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

A little rough weather didn’t stop 118 kids from heading out on Lake Michigan in more than 50 boats for the West Shore Bank Youth Classic.

Several event participants caught the biggest fish they’ve ever caught and 25 walked away with U.S. Savings Bonds.

Boys, girls and teens headed out on boats in search of salmon, lake trout, brown trout or steelhead. The goal was simple: catch the biggest fish you can catch.

Troy Moore of Ludington walked away with top honors, including a $1,000 savings bond and a $25 Gander Mountain gift card. But what he’ll treasure more is the 18.95-pound fish he caught, which he can hang on his wall courtesy of free taxidermy provided by Doug Gruno’s Mounted Memories Taxidermy located inside Pere Marquette Sport Center.

The big king was the first fish of the day for Troy, fishing with his father, Dennis.

The fish took a green Spindoctor pulling a green fly fished on a downrigger.

Chase Peterson, also of Ludington, took second with an 18.5-pound king that also took a green Spindoctor pulling a green fly, although the lure was behind a Dipsy Diver.

Jordan Oehrli and Brad Wojtaszak tied for third place with 17.85-pound salmon.

Wojtaszak’s came on a monkeypuke Dreamweaver spoon fished on a full core. He said he battled the fish for 20 minutes.

Harold Wingate, who summers in Ludington, took three other youths fishing with Wojtaszak and said although the fishing was good at the point, the ride in his 24-foot Bayliner wasn’t.

“We picked up and ran because it got so rough at the point,” he said. He said some of the waves were of the six-foot variety.

Oehrli’s fish hit a green Spindoctor pulling a green fly.

“It was fun,” said the Reed City resident.

Kyle McCatty of Free Soil placed fifth, hauling in a 17.8-pound king aboard Miss Fortune. McCatty’s fish hit a Dreamweaver Blue Dolphin spoon.

Prior to receiving their awards, the young anglers heard a few inspiring words from Kaley Schroeder, the National Cherry Queen.

Justin Squires of West Shore Bank presented the awards along with charter captain Jim Karr.

“We like the event because it promotes community involvement and interaction between parents and children,” Squires said. “It shapes the future of fishing. We’re just happy to be affiliated with (the event).”

[mrymar]

PRO

Riverside
Blue Fairways
Best Chance Too
Sandpiper III
Verdict III
Pier Pressure
Finlander
Winn-n-Angel
ThunderduckAM

Stormchaser
Hammbone
Ahab's Revenge
Bandit
High C's
Reel pressure
Guppy
Reel World
Lonna K
Uncle BudCongrats to all who placed!

[Hamilton Reef]

Tournament results
Gander Mountain Offshore Classic
http://www.ludingtontournament.com/

[Hamilton Reef]

Top prizes go to those who take chances

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32108

7-24-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

The 2006 edition of the Ludington Gander Mountain Offshore Classic favored gamblers, as anglers who thought and fished “outside the box” took the top prizes.

First and foremost among them was Riverside, the boat owned by Paul Schafley that won Ruboy Thursday and held the pro division lead Saturday night.

On Sunday, Schafley fished at Big Point Sable for his kings and had a nine-fish limit within 45 minutes. But that’s where things got interesting. He went offshore looking for steelhead but came up one fish short of the needed three fish.

With time running out, he headed back to the point to gamble on lake trout. He popped one with less than an hour left and headed in to cement his victory with more than 250 pounds caught over the weekend. The total was the biggest since Dreamweaver III’s 300-pound total in 2003 and dwarfed the 2005 winning catch of 209 pounds.

Schafley said his steelhead came on glow Fishlander spoons and his kings came primarily on green Spindoctors pulling KRW flies in Aqua Gold.

“I’ve had a pretty good program going,” said an elated Schafley. “I had a good team. We stuck ‘em pretty good. My guys were on the rods pretty solid.”

Schafley won $11,000 for the pro division on top of the $3,000 he won for Ruboy Thursday.

Greg Magee’s Blue Fairways had found all but two of its fish offshore, but was running out of time. Magee made the decision to run for the pierheads a little early and drop lines just outside of them. He needed a steelhead and a king and that’s exactly what he got. He finished second by just .35 pounds.

“Within three minutes we had two fish — one king, one steelhead,” Magee said.

Magee said his team opted for Silver Horde plugs, J-plugs and Spindoctors over spoons because they knew they’d need big kings to contend. His steelhead came on a silver Dreamweaver SS spoon with orange and blue ladderback patterns on it.

Best Chance Too, Onekama’s Sandpiper III and Verdict III rounded out the top five. Sandpiper III placed first in the Big Jon Second Chance Competition’s pro division. Amateur boat Bandit won its division in the second chance on its way to fourth in the Gander Mountain Amateur.

The amateur division also featured a little bit of going against the odds. While Saturday leader Team Hammbone fished near the point for kings, out deep for steelhead and returned to the point to try to upgrade its kings, the boat in second place took a slightly different tack.

Ludington’s Jeff Rhein and his boat Stormchaser got kings north of the point then went out deep for steelhead and stayed there hoping for a big king in deep water. The plan paid off to the tune of $6,500.

“We caught six nice trout in an hour or so, then we put our king baits back out,” Rhein said. “We got a big king to upgrade.”

The 16-pounder gave Stormchaser a victory by .45 pounds over Hammbone.

Rhein said his hot baits were orange Stinger spoons for steelhead and white and blue Spindoctors pulling glow flies for kings.

Tony Hamm’s Hammbone didn’t go home without hardware, though, as the team won the big fish for both the 333 Tournament and the Dreamweaver Lures Big Fish Division. The fish bit on a Yeck M&M glow spoon pulled on a five-color leadcore rod. Ged Strzynski caught the 26.3-pound monster Saturday.

“It’s the biggest fish I’ve caught in 12 years,” Strzynski said.

The fish, which brought in $4,000 for the team, will be mounted free-of-charge by Real Trophies Taxidermy. It was just slightly larger than last year’s 26.1-pound winner.

Manistee-based Blue Runner placed second in the big fish competition with a 25.35-pound king and Ludington-based Doc’s Holiday, captained by Dan Gentry, took third with a 24.35-pound king.

Organizers were extremely pleased with the event’s turnout, which was just 12 boats off the pace of last year’s 256-boat field.

Magee, a member of the tournament committee, said tournament participation has been down significantly around Lake Michigan this year thanks to gas prices and weather concerns.

“We consider (244) wonderful, especially with all the other factors,” Magee said.

Ludington Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Alberta Muzzin said not only was the size of the tournament good, the boaters also brought lots of family members and seemed to be staying longer in town than in past years.

“It went extremely well,” Muzzin said.

She was especially pleased that the youth division drew 118 anglers.

“That’s important because they’re the future of our sport,” she said.

[fishinmachine2]

Congrats! to the Stormchaser team, my brother-in-law my nephew and my brother Dan did an awesome job getting all 10 of their fish each day and some nice kings. They were in 2nd after the first day and I told then they better not choke like they did in the Manistee Budwiser tourny..LOL!!:lol: But they didnt and they kicked but the second day and pulled it off.

As for us on the Fish'n Machine we ended up 24th, not being able to get our trout killed us!!:rant: I guess thats not bad considering we were 54th after the first day. We were on some real nice lake trout on Fri up to 12# but that damn north wind moved those fish and that hurt us.

Also congrats to Paul from Riverside its nice to see a Manistee boat go down to Ludinton and kick som butt!!:lol:

Scott

[gomer]

We ended up 3rd in the AM's. We just couldn't find the big kings. We fished near the point saturday and north of the nets sunday and caught plenty of salmon but not many hogs. Our steelhead came offshore and got our 10 both days but just not enough weight.

[pikedevil]

Another great weekend for sure. Congrats to the winners and to all that participated. We had a great weekend of fishing. Landed 24 fish friday for the ladies tourny and finished in 4rth place. The girls did a fantastic job dealing with doubles and triples and netting fish, even with our "insane diver leaders". Fishing slowed somewhat for the main tourny, although it was still very good. We got our kings by 9:30 both days and ran offshore to 330-400 Fow to fish steelhead. We found some great steelies out there including a 14.5 pound monster. We had all 20 of our fish for the first time in this tournament which lead to a 3rd place finish. We couldn't find any of the monster kings that stormchaser and Hammbone found. They truly blew the 153 boat field away with some monster boxes. This tournament is a step above the rest and I would encourage everyone to participate and continue to participate.

[STEINFISHSKI]

Congrats guys, especially Steve and Team Ahabs. Gotta pull for our local teams.:)

[mrymar]

I think the best news about the tournament was the somewhat return of larger fish.

37 boats landed at least 1 fish over 20 pounds. As opposed to only 5 boats in 2005.

I am glad to see the size go up.

[EdB]

Congrat's Pikedevil and Gomer, you guys have had a great tourny season this year! A top 5 finish in this tourney says a lot, your up against the bigggest and best field for any great lakes tourney. Getting trout was tough for us and a lot of other boats but you guys nailed them both days.

The kings were sure on a rampage all week. I don't think the pace of the king fishing can get any better than it is right now.