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1st Place Chris Johnson
1st
place Chris Johnson mainly fished isolated deep rocks from 16-22
feet of water but did utilize some points and flats to fill out
his limits. "I
did allot of junk fishing utilizing Strike King bleeding bait
tubes, Zeros, KVD spinnerbaits and drop shotting to come up with
the two day #32.98 lb 10 fish total." said Johnson "I
was somewhat intimidated with the quality proven competitors in
this tournament with well kwon names like Ben Potaracke, Randy
Burch, Kevin Fassbind and Mike Mattis not to mention Jimmy Johnson
this years ninth place classic finisher." stated Johnson
"I feel like I am on a bit of a roll now after winning the
Wisconsin bass federation zone 2 tournament last month. However
like most bass fishermen my mind is unsure and this success is
almost certainly short lived as we are all one fish, one equipment
breakdown or a minor mental mistake away from sucking pond
water." Chris Johnson is sponsored by: Quantum,
Sufix, Strike King, Triton and Evinrude
State
Tournament Congratulations
I
would like to congratulate, Chris Johnson, winner of our 2006
State Tournament, Chad Johnson, Rick Lindus, Jason Stangel, Dan
Brovarney, Mike Mattis, Jon Wojak, Brent Lindus, Dan Elsner, Jim
Barzack, Kevin Fassbind & Mike McQuitty, the 2007 Wisconsin
B.A.S.S. Federation Nation State Team from the qualifying State
Tournament at Sturgeon Bay, WI held this past weekend July 22
& 23, 2006. This is an awesome State Team that will be
challenging 7 other State Teams from Minnesota, Indiana, South
Dakota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, & Ohio on Lake Erie at
Sandusky, Ohio in September, 2007.
Because
we are an Alliance State we are proud to announce that Chris
Johnson will win an additional $1,000 for being a Triton boat
owner and an additional $200 for owning Lowrance electronics. An
additional $1,100 would have been awarded Chris if he had owned a
Mercury Outboard Motor and a Motor Guide Trolling Motor.
This
year we had a unique and different State Tournament and Saturday
evening awards banquet and everyone had a very good time. The
water weigh-in was a new experience and we had a few minor
glitches that we will correct for next year and will continue with
water weigh-ins at all of our tournaments for 2007. At this time I
would like to thank Vern Wagner, Conservation Director from the
Minnesota BASS Federation Nation at the request of Ken Snow, who
graciously offered to bring their equipment to our State
Tournament and help us with our weigh-in. Together with our
tournament director, Chris Wenzel, Vern Wagner and Ken Snow, we
had a successful and relatively smooth tournament. We believe
water weigh-in tournaments are the wave of the future and we will
definitely explore all situations to secure equipment to purchase
and build the best state of the art water weigh-in system we can
afford.
The
family atmosphere at the banquet Saturday evening was a success
and everyone had a very good time. The 2 hours it took allowing
the fishermen to relax a little, enjoy each other’s company,
have a meal and participate in the raffles was a great time had by
all.
The
board members contributed timeless hours setting up the tournament
and banquet for the weekend are: Ken Snow; Conservation Director,
Chris Johnson; VP & Sponsor Chairman, Chris Wenzel; Tournament
Director-Youth Director and Jeff Dyer; Secretary -Treasurer.
Without their efforts and their timeless hours of their own free
time, the State Tournament wouldn’t have been the success it was
and I for one thank them very much. Jeff Dyer is the behind the
lines board member and without Jeff none of us would survive. He
not only is the ultimate figurehead on our board, he helped
tremendously in every task at hand besides his own duties. Chris
Johnson was obviously fishing, but he is mainly responsible for
the several sponsor contacts for our state and helping us to get
the donations to get our tournament off the ground.
There
are three ladies that we don’t want to forget, because without
them we wouldn’t have had the success that our tournament
experienced. They were absolutely the heart and soul of the
tournament and banquet success, bar none! The neatest thing about
these 3 ladies, Jennifer Grossen, Brenda Sigsworth and Kathy
Snyder, is that this the first time that they ever met each other.
Jennifer Grossen who entered all the tournament information on the
computer and produced all the stats so we had a website posting of
the results that very evening. Brenda Sigsworth and Kathy Snyder
took charge of all the tournament weigh-in slips and the banquet
registration. The board is grateful and appreciates all their
efforts, time and detail they contributed to the success of our
tournament and banquet. Believe me when I say that without these
three ladies we would have been lost, and I for one thank them
from the bottom of my heart.
We
would also like to congratulate the winners of the State Kids
Casting Contest held this same weekend on Saturday of the State
Tournament by Chris Wenzel, Youth Director. Alix Kaiser for her
winning the 11to14 age group, and her brother Riley Kaiser for
winning the 7to10 age group. They will compete at the BASS
Federation National Championship in January 2007 in Gadsden,
Alabama. Alix and her brother Riley are the daughter and son of
Ken and Lisa Kaiser.
There
were numerous volunteers that I would like to personally thank
starting with Lisa, Wells, Alix and Riley Kaiser. Mike, LaNette,
Shane & Sophia McQuitty, Kenneth, Austin & Dillon Sidel,
Josh Stein, Rania Richardson, Brian Christianson, Randy Eddy, and
all the release boaters. I’m sure there is someone I forgot and
I apologize. We would like to thank all the WBFN members and the
state tournament fishermen and their families for participating in
our first inaugural State Tournament and awards banquet.
Last
but not least, we would like to remind everyone of our next
tournament, The “6” Man State Team Qualifier on Lake Wissota
in Chippewa Falls, WI, September 22, 23 & 24, 2006. The host
motel is the Sleep Inn & Suites, Chippewa Falls, WI, Leinie
Lodge and Leinkugel’s Brewery is the host of our pre-tournament
meeting on Friday and the Weigh-in location is The View Bar and
Grill on Lake Wissota. All club Reps have been mailed a complete
schedule of events and tournament application. We look forward to
having another great time and tournament with the help of all the
WBFN club teams that enter.
We
would like to thank B.A.S.S. and their sponsors; Triton Boats,
Mercury and MotorGuide, Lowrance, Evan Williams, Quantum, Bush
Beer and all of our WBFN state and local sponsors, the City of
Sturgeon Bay, Leathem Smith Lodge, Warner’s Dock, Inc, Suffix
Line, KVD Line & Lure Conditioner, Re-New a Lure, Brovarney
Baits, Fig Rig Fishing Rods, Bobs Bait/La Crosse & Custom
Lures.
Thank You,
David Snyder
President
Wisconsin B.A.S.S. Federation Nation
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