Mother Cup 2012 - flag pole warfare

The Hatfields vs. McCoys, Michigan State vs. Michigan, Milford vs. Lakeland, Jan vs. Marcia (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!), the Seadogs vs. the Sons of Liberty; some intense rivalries there. As they say, you can throw the records out the window when these two meet up (the Seadogs have taken five of the last six in the series though but who’s counting?). This past weekend at Skegemog Lake for the annual Mother Cup showdown, there was a sense of change in the air, or maybe that was the odor coming from the bathroom. Whatever it was, it was time to fish!

The SOL team were tight lipped all spring on their Mother Cup strategy. There were rumors of new jerseys but nothing could match the pre-game ceremony that they presented. It’s hard to put into words but picture seven dudes marching in unison carrying an aluminum pole donning their newly created logo on a black and white flag while wearing their fancy new uniforms. I can’t recall their chant but I must say they had a presence at that moment. Do you think the five-time Mother Cup champion Seadogs were going to sit back and watch this spectacle go down without some action? Heck no. When time allowed and the SOL’s were away, down came the pole and up went the Seadog flag (fluke we even brought our flag), taking its rightful place on top of the pole. No pomp and circumstance, no chants, no marching; we just took care of business and returned to our cold beverages.

As fishing tournaments aren’t won in the backyard, it was time to take to the water and see what group marching and fancy jerseys do in attempting to take the cup from the back-to-back champions. Well, not much. The Seadog flag pole takeover was just a sign of things to come as the pound totals after round one came to 44-18 in favor of the ‘Dogs.

The second session was pretty much a carbon copy of the first that had the lead up to 84-44 in favor of the good guys. The SOL’s put up some numbers in the last session but the fat lady had already sang, ate, and was home sleeping by that time. The final, Seadogs-113 lbs; Sons of Liberty-67, and another presidential visit to the White House for the class of ‘85. Al’s new boat proved to be a nice addition as he took big fish (4.10 lbs) and most overall poundage (40+ lbs). It was a Seadog sweep for the hardware as I carried Mitchell to take the golf scramble on Friday morning. My back hurts from carrying him so much that day (ha).

All joking aside on the “rivalry,” a great time with a great group of people it was. Post fishing consisted of cold beverages, good eats and some way back machine stories. We weren’t talking about how to fix the economy but we had some great laughs on getting into fist fights as adolescents and proper school bus behavior after a football game.

Thanks, as always, to Dave and Judy C. for putting us up for the weekend. The Mother Cup celebration never gets old.

Trail Head

mother load for Al

winning never gets old

the crew

Sons of Liberty (Munson picture diving in all of these)

nice new modification for the angler trophy

big fish hardware for Al

more hardware for the 'Dogs (scramble win)

Badwater Bass Club - Pettibone Lake - last Sunday was a mirage

As the east coasters say, we were working haaad today on Pettibone Lake. Last Sunday's fish-a-palooza became a 10 inch bass festival to say the least today; slim pickings. The scorecard tells the story. That is a lot of zeros! The production was so sad, the only fish picture worthy of showing is Jimbo's winning fish. The rest are pictures of us sad fisherman just trying. To add fuel to the fire, Jim's total poundage was the same as the big fish from last week. He is, however, the back-to-back Pettibone Lake champion so congratulations to JVic!

Trail Head

    

Opening Day - Badwater Bass Club - Watkins Lake

The Club (nice sponsor/ad placement there)

Opening day, it doesn't get any better. Just like baseball, the Badwater Bass Club's opening day is a dawn of a new era with a clean slate for everyone, even 2011 basement dwellers Raj and myself. At 6 AM on Watkins Lake yesterday morning, I was in a 16-way tie for first place. After a pretty productive spring training, this is going to be the year when I make the standings!
After catching my limit (way to put us on the fish Captain Doke), the victory cigar was ready to come out. Even though Al also got his limit in our boat and had more overall poundage, the top four spots get points and a fourth place/one point finish would have suited me just fine. This was going to be the day.
Well, guess who got fifth? Oh, so close. Like Ricky Bobby says though, "If you ain't first, you're last." We're just going to have to try a little harder next weekend at Pettibone Lake. 

A fine lake Watkins was is in terms of production though. With the Bass Club rule change this year to only include bass species, it was ironic that there were so many pike being caught yesterday.
An exciting season it will be.

Trail Head

Team AMSOIL

 

reward for the millionth cast at Dunham

You know how some stores celebrate when customer number X comes through the checkout line? I think that is what Doke got yesterday for what was probably the millionth cast on Dunham Lake. And quite a celebration he received in the form of a 27 inch, six pound walleye, a nice pike, and an assortment of fat bass. Pike slayer Gus took in three of the toothy kind when the weekend was complete and Raj worked the bobber/hook/worm game for a handful of panfish. A tasty fish fry it was later that evening.
Let the countdown begin for the upcoming Mother Cup in early June!
Trail Head

another panfish for Raj

2012 No-Mo - I got to use my ruler this year!

Proud Lake - about 6:30 AM

After getting skunked at last year's No-Mo (non-motorized) fishing tournament, there was only one way to go but up. After playing around early on with a carp who I think caught his tail on my hook and catching a few Dunham lakers, I thought I was in for a re-do. At least I was catching something this year. I literally did not catch a fish at last year's tournament. Tough love there.  The key to winning this tournament is not to catch the most but to catch a little of everything, ugly carp and drums included. You can catch 20 bass but only your biggest is counted. Four categories; bass, teeth, pan fish/perch, and miscellaneous. The ugly, but monster, carp and drums get equal love in this tournament.

official No-Mo ruler

At about 10 AM, my luck turned as the pink wacky brought in a nice 18+ inch bass. I then went back looking for that carp that was jumping around earlier and bam, on comes a 25 inch pike. With last year's tournament champion having a little over 50 inches for the victory, I felt like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber, when he says, "So you're saying there's a chance!" Well, my celebration was short-lived at check in as the guy in front of me was deciding which pike, which bass, and which drum to choose from of the twelve or so that he caught. While I was fighting for a few fish on Proud Lake (no complaints - great atmosphere), this guy was on Lake St. Clair, the home to MANY fish. The rules are any public access body of water in Michigan so I can't complain. That early carp I had on, however, could have been the difference in putting me over the top. Waaaaaa.... 

Thanks go out to fishing scouts Raj and Slick for making it out today. A fine day's catch there.

Trail Head

Saturday registration - Wyandotte