Lloyd and Lloyd Top 50 Boat Field in WI East Opener!
Winneconne April 28, 2006, by Chris Jones

Throughout the last two seasons, tournament fishing on the Winnebago system has been a picture of inconsistency in terms of where anglers were catching their fish. Traditional destinations like the Wolf River , and the three pound average which it is well known for, have lost some of their luster with Lake Winnebago beginning to develop as a legitimate check cashing threat. This was quite evident at take off, with more than 60% of the Fishers of Men WI East Division field heading south from Waterfront Park in Winneconne. “I was truly amazed with what I saw,” replied WI East Division Chaplain Tim Northway.  “Clearly Winnebago is back in the game plan for anglers.”  Over the course of the next six hours as the FOM team prepared for the 3:00 weigh in, the topic of conversation revolved around what kind of weights would be brought back from the big lake. Early predictions from both anglers and staff at the Friday night meeting at Oshkosh Community Church indicated that a limit in the 11-13 pound range could put an angler in “check cashing” contention, although most agreed the winning weight of bass would likely exceed or approach 16 pounds.

When the scale officially closed and WI East Division Director Chris Jones took the stage for the awards ceremony, Bob Lloyd along with brother Al were atop the leader board with 16.56 pounds. Lloyd is no stranger to big finishes in WI East Division events, with several top ten finishes and a 6^th place finish at the 2006 Midwest Regional to pad his FOM resume. Bob and his usual tournament partner Joe Stiehl will fish the FOM National Championship on Lake Murray in less than two weeks. On this day though, Bob’s brother Al filled in as a sub. FOM rules allow anglers to compete with immediate family members or a child under the age of 19 as legal substitutes. Although the two spent a great deal of time beating up on each other as youngsters on the streets of Oshkosh, the two now often beat up on the bass of the Winnebago system, fishing several local tournaments together each year. Like Bob, Al is no stranger to tournament fishing, and this well seasoned angler can hold his own from the back deck of any bass boat.

During the awards ceremony, the two stated that they, along with many of the teams, started the day on Lake Winnebago in search of pre-spawn smallmouth. After several hours of throwing tubes, spider grubs, jerkbaits and spinners, they decided to head back to Lake Butte des Mortes, where the second half of their day would key on pre-spawn largemouth. “We pulled in there on the way back in the afternoon, and they just turned on,” said Bob Lloyd, owner of Mr. Marine, who’s dealership is located in the heart of Mercury country in Fond du Lac . “We caught all of our fish in a small 30 yard stretch of shoreline,” replied Al with a smile.

The Lloyd’s caught their keepers, including a solid 4.45 pounder, flipping jigs through shallow weeds. The jig of choice was an Ambush pattern Flippin jig made by Dirty Jigs Tackle Company. “We were popping them through the weeds, and the bass were just sucking it in,” Bob commented. This was no surprise to Rod Brady and Curt Demerath of Dirty Jigs Tackle a WI East Division sponsor. During an on stage interview he touted the newly formed company and its line of high end fishing tackle as the fruition of many years of hard work developing patterns and colors that consistently catch fish throughout the country. You can check them out on line at www.dirtyjigstackle.com  Lloyd and Lloyd took home $1,890.00 for their efforts on the water.  Congratulations Guys!

Close behind in second place were Mike Mayan of Rosendale and Jim Barczak of Fremont who eased a 16.18 pound limit to the scales. Although the weights were very close between first and second, the composition of the two limits were completely different. While Lloyd’s winning limit was comprised of four largemouth and one smallmouth, Mayan and Barczak’s limit was dominated by four smallmouth and one largemouth. One similarity however, both of their big bass were of the largemouth variety. For the two locals this would be a very respectable day of seconds with second place finishes in the final standings, the bonus bucks and 2nd big bass honors. The two took home nearly $1,000.00 for their efforts. They caught most of their fish on ISG Tubes and various other soft plastics fishing in the Wolf River .

In third place were Jeff Eggert of Appleton and Scott Lischefski of Menasha. Like Lloyd and Lloyd, the second year veterans of the WI East Division also caught their limit later in the afternoon. The two were all smiles as the scale locked on 14.78 pounds of smallmouth bass securing the third place position. “The last hour of the tournament we really caught a lot of big fish,” commented Lischefski. “At 1:00 we only had one keeper, and when we hit that one particular stretch of shoreline on Butte des Mortes, the smallies just started slamming the crankbaits we were throwing.” Their bait of choice was a small blue/back crank worked along a rocky shoreline in 2-5 feet of water. Rounding out the top five were Jeff Miller and Cliff Pickart both of Fond du Lac who weighed in a mixed bag tipping the scales at 14.56 pounds, good for fourth. The father-son team of Jerrold and Kevin Erickson of Lombard and Lockport, Illinois respectively finished in 5^th place with 13.51 pounds.

The first event of the season was a great success, and division director Chris Jones cited the increase in the number of boats to the many anglers who promote Fishers of Men within their local bass clubs throughout the state and in Illinois. “Guys are talking up FOM in their bass clubs and getting their buddies to fish. These guys are the best form of advertising we have.” Although the field was heavily laden with teams from Wisconsin, the Illinois teams made another strong showing, and with a June 16^th date on Lake Geneva, expect the number of those teams to increase significantly.

Weigh in was concluded with several door prizes including the newly formed “Wear it with pride, fill up your ride” prize package. Teams crossing the stage wearing FOM apparel (which includes hats, patches, T’s or jerseys) are entered into a drawing at the end of the tournament for two 25.00 gas cards compliments of Kwik Trip. Thanks to Kwik Trip, two cards will be awarded at each of the five division events this season. The winners were Steve Rady and Ken Amundson who crossed the stage with a FOM T-shirt and patch.

“It was a great day for a bass tournament,” replied weighmaster Kevin Revolinski of Oshkosh, who stepped on board as staff this season after winning the Point Championship last season. “Lots of fish were brought to the scales, and the crowd of more than 150 was cheering on the anglers. We have a strong family following, with guys encouraging their wives, children and friends to attend the weigh in.” Third year veteran FOM angler Jeff Miller of Fond du Lac even crossed the stage with his 6 month old son who in a quite candid interview replied that his dad caught his big fish in the lake, but that he wasn’t quite ready to share exactly where or what he was using. Jeff has apparently already been teaching his son the ways of the tournament angler.

The Friday night pre-tournament meeting was held at the Oshkosh Community Church, where anglers were treated to a Friday night fish fry provided by the Fellowship of Christian Anglers Society (F.O.C.A.S.).  Special thanks to Mike Dietz and the F.O.C.A.S members for their efforts cooking the food and to division business sponsor Dawn Northway of Custom Interiors and Canvas who had the church ready for early registration at 5:30. Her efforts on Friday night and on tournament day recording the weights on the FOM stage are invaluable.  Thanks Dawn!

Next stop for the WI East Division is a May 19^th date at Big Green, where both the smallmouth and largemouth bite is expected to be in full swing. The Wisconsin East Division thanks Division Sponsors: MG Lures, 1^st 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, Kwik Trip and The Binding Edge.  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 EAST FISHERS OF MEN FOR COMPLETE RESULTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS