Pete Stoltman
06-18-2012, 09:47 PM
Saturday turned into a pretty good day for the tournament. Not too windy and we avoided rain for the better part of the day. A total of 5 fish were caught from this small but stalwart group of rowers. Big fish award went to Ben Nierman with a 41.5". Ben's dad Craig took second with a 37" and third went to the father and son team of John and David Morton. Awards also went to two boats. People's Choice award for the boat you'd most like to take home was a beautiful handmade boat by Dave Schmidt and daughter Mandy Staver. The "Ultimate Musky Machine" award went to John and David Morton for their boat the "Cisco Dancer". A special award called the "Bob Ellis Conservation Award" was presented to Scott Hassett for his tireless efforts on behalf of the waters of Wisconsin. A special treat was an impromptu speech by Stan Ellis (Bob's youngest brother) with insight and humorous stories about Bob and his fishing techniques. If my count is correct I believe we had about 51 participants including a good number of first timers. Ya gotta love a tournament who's number one rule is "There aren't too many rules". If you caught a fish it's on your honor to report the length. Fish on a choice of 5 different lakes and row trolling only. Everyone came back to our host location the Skyview Lodge in Presque Isle with smiles on their faces and tons of good fellowship. Kudos to Kevin Wallenfang and Jeff Koser for handling the organizing of this event. I have a bunch of photos posted on the Row Trolling Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Row-Trolling/369775133040597 . If you'd like to get in on the fun next year keep in touch and I'll make sure I get word out as we get more details together.