PANFISH CHAMPIONS!

2006 Story

Ryan and I entered our first ever fishing tournament, and we were fortunate enough to win! It was a panfish tournament, held on June 17, 2006 at our home waters, Houghton Lake, Michigan. OK, so we did have "home field" advantage - we still put a LOT of effort into our win. We practiced and scouted hard for 10 days prior to the tourney, and it was necessary because fishing has been tough on Houghton Lake this year. During our practice, we caught over 20 keeper walleyes; we only caught 3 more the rest of the summer. Key to our victory was our ability to find crappies - we were the only team to bring in the 7 crappie limit, along with a limit of 10 bluegill and sunfish. We got a couple of cool trophies, a nice check, and had a great time! Matter of fact, the best part of the experience for me was being able to team up with my son.

It was a true team effort, too. I caught most of the crappies, while Ryan caught all of our keeper bluegills and sunfish. Yes, ESB's were a significant factor, used on about 75% of the fish we caught. The tournament was sponsored by our good friends Lyman's on the Lake.

There is supposed to be another one next June, and we can hardly wait! Any challengers?

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