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Conditions:
Air Temp: Mid 70’s – Low 80’s
Water Temp: Upper 60’s – Low 70’s
Water Clarity: Fairly
Clear to Algae Stained
Skies: Partly Cloudy
to Sunny
The days leading up to the 2007 WABTA Classic will be
remembered for being unstable as wave after wave of thunderstorms
and rain moved through the Shawano Lake area.
The weather didn’t break until the first morning of the
tournament when the sun finally peaked out of the clouds for the
first time in days. Many
anglers wondered how the changing weather would affect the fishing
as the forecast called for sunny skies both days of The Classic.
After the final fish were weighed in on Sunday and the
weights were tallied it was obvious that the teams fishing the
deeper water of Shawano Lake were able to sustain their fish for
the entire tournament better than the anglers fishing shallow.
The top finishers also reported catching many fish but they
were all “cookie cutter” 2.5lb fish.
This is further backed up by the fact that the top three
teams were only separated by .28 hundredths of a pound.
To say this tournament was close would be an
understatement!
Edging out the other top teams and winning the prestigious
2007 WABTA Classic were the team of Corey Herwig and Lance Mehling.
Corey and Lance were ecstatic to see their two day limit of
12 bass weighing 31.88lbs. hold up throughout the weigh-in on
Sunday. The winners
reported catching fish throughout the day but the bite was best in
the late morning and afternoon.
Herwig and Mehling concentrated their efforts on outside
weed edges with jigs and soft plastics and caught good fish
consistently throughout the tournament.
Making the win even more impressive is that Lance and Corey
reported that they were only able to pre-fish for four hours in
the days leading up The Classic.
Despite their limited scouting they were able to get on the
right fish and take home $4000 and the WABTA Classic Championship
trophies for winning the most prestigious tournament of the 2007
WABTA season. Corey and Lance wanted to thank The Foxtail
Gentlemen’s Club in Montello, WI for their sponsorship.
Great job guys, congratulations!
In 2nd Place, winning $2000 is a team that must be
considered a threat on any body of water, Eric “Catfish”
Catlin and the man simply known as “Hop”.
They brought in a two day total of 31.62lbs of bass by
fishing wind blown weed edges with jigs and soft plastics.
The moved areas a lot and found that if they caught one
fish in an area, others were nearby.
Hop and Catfish would like to thank Musky
Mike’s Bait Shop in Okauchee, Wisconsin for their
sponsorship and support. Musky
Mike’s has a great selection of tournament grade bass gear and I
would encourage anyone to stop at Musky Mike’s if they are ever
near Okauchee. Congratulations
guys!
Bringing home the 3rd place trophies along with
$1500 are the team of Al Mecikalski and Josh Garber. They were able to corral a two day total of 31.60lbs of bass
by fishing weed beds with topwater baits and frogs. Included in their limit was a 5.08lb. Shawano Lake Sow caught
by Josh on day one. Al
and Josh are making their presence felt at every tournament they
enter, keep up the good work guys!
The Classic brings the 2007 WABTA
Season to a close. Congratulations
go out to the 2007 WABTA Team of the Year, the father and son team
of Leon and Darren Luterbach!
Leon and Darren were brutally consistent this year and
edged the second place team by over a pound.
Congratulations to a great team on an outstanding season!
Ken Darton
Future Bass Pro-Staff
TwinPineResort.Net
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