East Division
2005 Tournament Results
As the boats blasted off from the beautiful waterfront of the Green Lake
Conference Center, Wisconsin East Division director Chris Jones had a feeling
it was going to be a good day for the fisherman. Largemouth bass had moved
into the shallows and begun spawning, while main lake conditions were ideal
for big pre-spawn smallmouth bass. When the teams returned to weigh, his thoughts
were quickly confirmed. The weigh in started with six straight limits including
two over 15 pounds, and the question quickly shifted from how many limits
would there be to how heavy would the limits be? That question would unfold
in dramatic fashion during the next hour. As the teams remaining to weigh
in began to dwindle, the weights began to increase. Local favorites and brothers
Jason and David Loewe of Ripon, Wisconsin weighed in, and when their final
weight was announced, the crowd of over 100 cheered as 17.64 pounds settled
on the scale!
The duo anchored their limit of smallmouth bass with a chunky 4.71 pound beauty,
which had a bigger belly than an NFL offensive lineman at an all-you-can-eat
buffet! The question was, would it be enough? As the rest of the teams continued
to weigh in solid limits in the 8-13 pound range, all eyes began to focus
on boat number 18, Wisconsin East Division sponsor Rod Brady, owner of the
Stump Bumper jigs and his tournament-tested partner Joe Stiehl. Little did
the crowd know that as Rod and Joe brought their fish to the scale, their
limit of smallies, contained in the official Custom Interiors and Canvas weigh
bag, would put the crowd into a frenzy and have the Loewe’s nervously awaiting
the final result. “When they weighed their big fish, and it was almost identical
in weight to Loewe’s big one, I knew the total weights were going to be pretty
close,” commented Mike Rhoe, Wisconsin East Division “weigh master” and chaplain.
He was correct. When the scale settled, a new leader was announced with a
total weight of 18.03 pounds! What a finish to a fantastic day of fishing
with some very impressive weights brought to the scale! Brady and Stiehl caught
their fish on main lake flats using a variety of jerk baits and several of
Rod’s custom made jigs made specifically for clear water smallmouth. Their
biggest fish came on a Stump Bumper ¼ ounce finesse jig in Mean Gump Green.
According to Rod, “It was a great day on the water, and I feel very fortunate
and blessed, to bring that size of a limit to the scale on a lake I had fished
only once before, especially when you consider the caliber and experience
of the other anglers that we were competing against.”
Finishing in second with a 17.64 pound limit of monster smallies was the team
of Jason and David Loewe, who drew a strong following from friends and family
members attending the weigh in. Like Brady and Stiehl, the brothers also set
their sights on pre-spawn smallmouth on main flats with the majority of their
fish caught using brown and pumpkin colored Mizmo tubes. Jason Loewe commented,
“We decided to do something a little different than the rest of the crowd,
and it paid off.” “We knew the channel bite was on but didn’t want to wrestle
with the crowds to get a solid limit, so we decided to fish the main lake.”
The key to the Loewe’s big bag was rock to sand transitions in areas between
6-15 feet of water. “If we didn’t have a sand transition we didn’t have any
fish.” he added.
Finishing in third was first time FOM participants Gary Gottschalk and Dan
Helmer with a beautiful limit of largemouth bass weighing 16.81 pounds. Their
impressive bag was anchored by a dandy 4.42 pounder. Gary and Dan pulled their
limit, fishing channels using spinner baits and green pumpkin Yum tubes. “We
caught most of our keepers on a 100 yard stretch of shoreline where fish were
transitioning up to the bank from the main lake,” commented Gottschalk. “We
actually noticed the pattern on Friday when we caught a fish that was really
faded in color and looked as if it had just moved up from the deeper water
near the shore we were fishing.” When asked about his experiences with Fishers
of Men, Gottschalk commented that he and Helmer were very impressed. “We both
thought it was a very professionally run tournament.”
Finishing in fourth for the second straight event were Jeff St. Clair and
Rick Hartwig with 16.06 pounds, vaulting them to the top of the division standings
after two events. The team caught their fish on a dock bite that produced
four largemouths and a Smallmouth. In fifth were Jim Abts and Kevin Revolinski
who weighed in with 15.24 pounds. Rounding out the top six was the Illinois
team of Brad Rubin and Ed Hendricks with 14.68 pounds. The MG Lures Big Bass
honors went to Pete and Dick Sauberlich who weighed in a hefty largemouth
that tipped the scales at 5.10 pounds. Second big bass honors went to Jason
and David Loewe with a dandy 4.71 pound smallmouth. Twenty-one teams participated
in the event with 15 limits being brought to the scale. A total of 92 fish
were caught on what turned out to be a beautiful day on the water and a fantastic
day for fishing!
Friday night was also a great success. The evening started with a buffet meal
in the brand new dining facility at the Green Lake Conference Center. Tim
Northway, 2004 Fishers of Men Illinois division points champion, discussed
his experiences in Kentucky fishing the Fishers of Men national tournament
and then shared his testimony with the group. He spoke on the freedom that
Christ provides from the burden of sin and a selfish lifestyle and used his
life as an example. Whether he was sharing experiences from his days playing
Division I football at Montana State or describing how God had a plan for
his life even when he didn’t realize it, he spoke from the heart and was an
encouragement to everyone. Awesome job Tim! The evening ended with several
door prizes from our national and divisional sponsors. The Wisconsin East
Division would like to extend a special thanks to the Green Lake Conference
Center for making their beautiful facility available for our tournament!
The Wisconsin East division would like to thank Custom Interiors & Canvas,
Steve’s Marine Service, Fox Valley Independent Insurance Services, Stump Bumper
Jigs, Kipawa propellors, Calvary Bible Church, Monroe Bible Church, Straight
Shooters Christian Sportsmen and the Fox Valley F.O.C.A.S. chapter for their
support this season. A special thank you to Jeff Koser at AdvantageAngler.com
for taking the fantastic photographs of the tournament. Fishers of Men would
like to take this opportunity to thank all our fine National Sponsors. Without
them this would not be possible. Triton Boats, Mercury, Strike King Lure Co.,
Kistler Custom Fishing Rods, Presnell Plantation, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits,
Marshall’s Marine Lake City SC, Solar Bat, Spike-It Bait Co., V&M Bait Co.,
Castrol, KEELSHIELD, MotorGuide, Lowrance, All-Terrain Tackle, Stanley Jigs,
XTools, Dual Pro Charger, Spot Remover by Buckeye Lures, Hot Rods Marine Care
Products, Deka Marine Master Batteries, Jacobs Glass, BassRx, Keep Alive Oxygen
Infusor, The Original Fish Formula.
| Place | Team | # of Fish | Total Weight | Money | Points | YTD Points |
| 1 | Brady & Stiehl | 5 | 18.03 | $756.00 | 200 | 387 |
| 2 | Loewe & Loewe | 5 | 17.64 | $504.00 | 199 | 382 |
| 3 | Gottschalk & Helmer | 5 | 16.81 | $302.00 | 198 | 198 |
| 4 | Hartwig & St. Clair | 5 | 16.06 | $202.00 | 197 | 394 |
| 5 | Abts & Revolinski | 5 | 15.24 | $0.00 | 196 | 368 |
| 6 | Hendricks & Rubin | 5 | 14.68 | $0.00 | 195 | 381 |
| 7 | Barczak & Mayan | 5 | 14.36 | $0.00 | 194 | 393 |
| 8 | Gauthier & Koser | 5 | 13.80 | $0.00 | 193 | 366 |
| 9 | Woods & Woods | 5 | 13.21 | $0.00 | 192 | 385 |
| 10 | Redmann & Redmann | 5 | 12.77 | $0.00 | 191 | 191 |
| 11 | Miller & Wenzel | 5 | 12.45 | $0.00 | 190 | 378 |
| 12 | Sauberlich & Sauberlich | 4 | 11.87 | $120.00 | 189 | 358 |
| 13 | Foster & Trejo | 5 | 11.85 | $0.00 | 188 | 188 |
| 14 | Halverson & Hartgerink | 5 | 11.09 | $0.00 | 187 | 372 |
| 15 | James & Shufelt | 5 | 10.79 | $0.00 | 186 | 361 |
| 16 | Holba & Northway | 4 | 10.62 | $0.00 | 185 | 361 |
| 17 | Doering & Doering | 5 | 10.22 | $0.00 | 184 | 368 |
| 18 | Panfil & Sosnowski | 3 | 9.40 | $0.00 | 183 | 360 |
| 19 | Eckberg & Thayse | 4 | 8.87 | $0.00 | 182 | 352 |
| 20 | Bovee & Wittchow | 2 | 5.99 | $0.00 | 181 | 359 |
| 21 | Dufek & Lyon | 2 | 5.83 | $0.00 | 180 | 354 |
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