The setting was Williamsburg, Michigan at the home of Judy and Dave Crouse 
for the annual Mother Cup fishing tournament. The reigning champion Class of '85 (Seadogs) were up against some tough competition this year from the Class of ’84 (Son’s of Liberty-SOL) with their switch of one Dan (Mitchell) for another (Harken). Rumor on the street had it that Roger told Mitchell the outing was next week but that was just hearsay.
for the annual Mother Cup fishing tournament. The reigning champion Class of '85 (Seadogs) were up against some tough competition this year from the Class of ’84 (Son’s of Liberty-SOL) with their switch of one Dan (Mitchell) for another (Harken). Rumor on the street had it that Roger told Mitchell the outing was next week but that was just hearsay. As had happened last year, the SOL group charged out of the gate on Friday evening with the boat being held by Champion and Tommy making a great showing in leading the SOL's to a commanding four pound lead after the first session. What was most impressive for the two is 
that they picked up roughly eight pounds of fish while fishing with the pontoon boat. Not one of the most stealth-like fishing machines. The crazy thing is Champion and Tommy are the equivalent to Brandon Inge and Ramon Santiago of the Tigers; any production they get is a bonus for their team. To take it one step further, you could say that Keith, Roger, and Dan are the Miguel Cabrera's of the team in that they are supposed to produce, however, for the most part it was not happening for the trio.
that they picked up roughly eight pounds of fish while fishing with the pontoon boat. Not one of the most stealth-like fishing machines. The crazy thing is Champion and Tommy are the equivalent to Brandon Inge and Ramon Santiago of the Tigers; any production they get is a bonus for their team. To take it one step further, you could say that Keith, Roger, and Dan are the Miguel Cabrera's of the team in that they are supposed to produce, however, for the most part it was not happening for the trio.The SOL's held strong in session number two Saturday morning holding on to a eight pound 
lead after all was said. Tommy and his trained leeches lead the session with close to six pounds for his efforts. I had my first and last experience with the weighing of the fish after the session. I managed to read kilograms instead of pounds so needless to say, a few fish totals had to be converted. Sorry about that one fellas. Too many Hendrix sessions on the morning fish I guess.
lead after all was said. Tommy and his trained leeches lead the session with close to six pounds for his efforts. I had my first and last experience with the weighing of the fish after the session. I managed to read kilograms instead of pounds so needless to say, a few fish totals had to be converted. Sorry about that one fellas. Too many Hendrix sessions on the morning fish I guess. After the morning fish, the two teams gathered in peace to break bread and wine (lot's of wine)on the Crouse pontoon boat taking a leisure tour down the Torch River into Torch Lake. A beautiful ride it was.
Something had to give for the Seadogs leading into the third session Saturday evening. Could the reign be over after one year? Boat captain's Al and Greg weren't about to let that happen. What occurred might have been the fishing gods looking down on us but the weather from about six to seven o'clock that evening turned pretty crazy. The winds were making fishing quite difficult for everyone. Greg, Rob, and I weren't sure if our two rock bass were going to win it was so tough to get a hold of anything. However, the front moved out, the lake got calm, and here came the fish! Al managed to bring in 12 pounds and Greg almost nine. The Seadogs now had an eight pound lead, a 16 pound turnaround! The SOL team was down but determined to make a solid showing in the final session Sunday morning. The evening was complete with a nice deep fried dinner of fish and onion rings. 
You couldn't ask for a better scene for the final session. The lake was glass and the Seadogs were determined to run away with the cup. And boy did we. Al lead the charge with over eight pounds and Rob caught a nice pair of largemouth bass and brought in a total of seven pounds. With that, the massacre was on.
The final totals:
TEAM
Seadogs 61 1/4 pounds
SOL's 39 1/2 pounds
MOST TOTAL LBS/BIGGEST FISH
Al
The competition and the whole weekend was again a great time. Kudos to Judy and Dave for again putting up with 11 burping, gas passing, musically challenged group of people.
Trail Head
