Roland Martin and Big Smallies highlight WI East event on Big Green
Big Green Lake, May 19, 2007, by Chris Jones

On a weekend where Roland Martin addressed the crowd at the Friday night pre-tournament meeting and almost 25 pounds of smallies tipped the scales on Saturday, many of the WI East anglers are still in a state of awe after the recent events on Big Green. “I’m still reeling a little,” replied Division Director Chris Jones who admittedly was very excited to see a legend like Roland at the Friday night meeting, who came just to hang out for pictures and autographs, and then to have 24 pounds of smallmouth tilt the scale on Saturday was unbelievable. “I’m used to seeing Roland in my living room on TV, not standing next to me posing for a picture.” It was a great weekend to be part of the WI East Division. One great fisherman on Friday night. One great weigh in on Saturday!

For David Loewe of Oshkosh and Dave Larsen of Menominee their practice period was characterized by a strong Largemouth bite, but the two anglers found themselves in a precarious position after the Friday night boat draw. In a follow up interview Monday evening David Loewe commented, “We originally had planned to go channel fishing like a lot of the other teams, and then we drew boat 40. At that point we knew we’d be fishing ‘used water’, so we decided to roll the dice and take our chances on the main lake.”  It clearly paid off for the two anglers. Positioning their boat in more than 30 feet of water, the two angled into the wind, working their subtle presentation along a 20 foot break line and proceeded to rip into a school of Smallmouth bass that most anglers only dream of catching. The weapons of choice were a tube and a finesse worm. They declined to comment on the color.

“We thought we had about 20-21 pounds,” replied Larsen during the awards presentation.  The two stated that they had previously weighed their smallest fish, and it was at least 4.2 pounds, but what they likely underestimated was the actual weight of their three biggest fish, all of which were clearly over the five pound barrier. “When Chris read 24.62 pounds over the microphone I started laughing. I was totally speechless.  It was just one of those days”, commented Loewe. “Over the past few years I’ve come to realize that a lot has to go in your favor to win one of these FOM events, and today it all just came together.” By the time the two anglers had reached the weigh in tanks and bumpmaster Steve Treankler, a lot of anglers knew a bag of epic proportions was about to hit the scale. More than a dozen anglers crowded around the tank with jaws dropping, eyes gawking.  For many of the anglers in this division the competition is strong but the bonds of friendship are even stronger. “Seeing your buddies come in with a bag of a lifetime is very exciting, even if it means coming in second to them.” replied angler Rod Brady.

As the two weighed their big bass, a portly 5.65 pounder, Division Director Chris Jones overheard several anglers saying just wait, there’s more where that came from. In fact, bumpmaster Steve Treankler believes “it is quite possible they didn’t even weigh their biggest fish. They picked the fattest one, but I seriously thought another one of the fish was broader across the back and maybe even a little longer. In the end, it really didn’t matter. They were all huge!”

“Nobody really expected a monster sack of smallies today, even though we all know it’s possible on this lake,” replied Jones. “I had no idea what was in the bag when it came on stage, but it was clear from the look in weighmaster Kevin Revolinski’s eyes and the strain in his arms that something pretty serious was in the bag.” When the scale bottomed out at 24.62 pounds the crowd went wild. “People were genuinely happy for these two guys.  They were cheering and yelling, cameras were flashing, it was an awesome experience!” Revolinski reflected on the dramatic moments on stage. As the two walked off stage, there was no doubt they had won the event, took home the MG Lures Big Bass Award with that fat and sassy piglet, and had won the bonus bucks. With the win the two brought home $1794.00 in winnings, but David Loewe said it best when he stated, “We really could care less about how much money we had just won, we were still in amazement of what we had just done.” For many of the die hard locals the record sack finally legitimizes Big Green as one of the best inland lakes in the state, which is what many of them have said all along. Congratulations guys!!!

Any other day, the story line of the tournament would have read something completely different, but totally amazing in its own way. It would have read something like this: “Twelve year old fishing phenomena Jonny Schultz and partner Dave Belongia win Big Green event with 15.31 pounds!” Lost in the daze of the big smallie craze was an incredible day on the water by a young man with a knack for catching fish and a tournament tested veteran with a passion for sharing fishing with youth.  Schultz of West Bend and Belongia of Fond du Lac pulled a solid limit of Largemouth from the channels of Big Green using a variety of soft plastics to take second place. The two anchored their limit with a dandy 4.29 pound Largemouth that the stage savy youngster Schultz replied “was just as fun to net for Dave as it would have been to catch.” With the second place finish, the two sit tied for fifth overall in the point race and are in the pole position for the Adult Junior standings with an automatic berth to the Midwest Regional Championship this September at stake.

Close behind in third place were Jesse Kind and Eric Hidde of Waupun with 15.13 pounds. The two focused their efforts in channels and backwater areas like Schultz and Belongia but applied a little wrinkle to bag their limit of Largemouth.  “Like everyone else we were sharing used water, so we opted to slow down our presentation to get our fish and it worked,” replied Kind. Their fish including a 4.42 pounder were caught using Spinner baits, Senko’s and Sweet Beavers in a variety of colors.

Rounding out the top five were Dru Applehans and Kevin Fry of Poplar Grove , Illinois who weighed in with 14.79 pounds. The two cashed a check at Big Green for the second straight year earning Big Bass honors in 06 and a fourth place overall finish this year. In fifth were Kevin and Jerrold Erickson of Lockport and Lombard , Illinois respectively. With a second straight 5^th place finish the two sit atop the division standings after two events.  The father-son team brought a limit of smallies weighing 14.49 to the scale and caught most of their fish throwing jerk baits. Capturing second big bass honors with a 5.27 pound largemouth were Dave Deleeuw and Troy Kilgas who caught their largemouth using a Winneconne Craw Jig made by Dirty Jigs Tackle, a WI East Division sponsor. Twenty-nine of the 43 teams in the tournament brought limits to the scale, and 162 fish were successfully released back into the beautiful waters of Big Green to be caught another day.

Not to be lost in the shuffle of an exciting tournament day was an equally amazing Friday night pre-tournament meeting at Ripon Community Church . The Friday night meal was provided by Jordan Thayse of First Rate Mortgage in Green Bay , and the guest speakers for the evening were Jason and Jeri Loewe of Ripon. The two spoke from the heart about how God has changed their lives, and they received a standing ovation from the more than 130 people in attendance at the meeting.

After door prizes were handed out, bass fishing legend Roland Martin took the stage for 40 minutes of fishing stories and thoughts about life on the tournament trail. A special thanks to Mark Grahn of Mark’s Quality Marine in Wautoma for bringing Roland to the meeting and special thanks to Roland Martin for taking time out of his busy schedule to take some pictures with the FOM anglers and to speak to the group. It was truly an amazing evening!

After two events the WI East Division is averaging 46 boats per event, with the third stop of the season slated for Lake Geneva on June 16^th.  Teams interested in fishing the tournament should contact Chris Jones for more information or mail in their entry forms by June 9^th to avoid any late fees.

The Wisconsin East Division thanks Division Sponsors: The Binding Edge, MG Lures, 1st Rate Mortgage Company, Wolf River Outfitters, Artworks Unlimited, Dirty Jigs Tackle, WT Financial, Custom Interiors & Canvas, Integrity Database Solutions, BJB Mortgage, Pin Pals, Midwest Auto & Truck Exchange, Foto Plaques, Print Source Plus, and Kwik Trip.  The Wisconsin East Division thanks National Sponsors: Triton Boats, Mercury, Shakespeare, All Star Rods, Pflueger, Strike King Lure Company, XTools, Solar Bat, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Keelshield, MotorGuide, SOSPENDERS, Marshall's Marine Lake City SC, Kistler, All-Terrain Tackle, Dual Pro Charger, Lowrance, Buckeye Lures, Kistler, Stanley Jigs, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Spike-It, Jacobs Glass, Motorguide, Hooah Energy Bars, Poor Boys Baits, T&H Marine, BASS Rx, and Keep Alive.

PLEASE VISIT WI FISHERS OF MEN FOR COMPLETE RESULTS, STANDINGS AND UPCOMING EVENTS.