Saturday December 29th was the day of the Ultimate Panfish Leaques Rochester division event on the Mississippi River Backwaters on Pool 4 in an area called the Finger Lakes. These backwater lakes are located between Wabasha and Kellogg Minnesota. The spieces fished for are panfish, namely bluegills [sunfish] and crappies. This is the 3rd event in a series of 13 events which take place at different locations. These events are a great way for anglers in this area to get together and have alot of fun fishing and make new friends. Tyler Holm and Mike [HOF] Smith of Hooked On Fishing Bait & Tackle of Rochester Mn joined forced this winter to combine the two Leaques into one.
This is an event where each person weighs 4 crappies and 4 sunfish. Its very low key and alot of fun. The event last 4 hours and involves alot of fishing, fun, talking and meeting & making new friends. It takes place on different bodies of water in SE Mn so you get to learn new waters by fishing them.
The entry fee is just ten dollars and theres a big fish pot of one dollar per angler if you care to enter in that. As you can see, especially by the first pic where Ron [RHW] is certainly having a great time. The second pic is HOF weighing fish.
The last pic is of the top three winners showing off their prize [cash]. lol. Events like this are something that anyone can start in the area where they live. Its basicly a bunch of anglers getting together to have fun fishing together on the ice. These events also carry over into the soft water months and are weekly also. This is a different kind of report than what you are use to reading. The purpose of it is to help promote fishing and to share ideas of how you can promote fishing in your area. This is a great way to get your spouse, girl/boyfriend, children, other kids, co-workers and friends interested and involved in fishing. Its a way to help share your love of fishing with someone else and to make new fishing friends.
Hope to see you on the water, hard or soft.
Thanks, Bill
For more information on the Ultimate Panfish Leaque just click on the link below.
Ultimate Panfish Leaque Rochester Division
Very nice!!!! Good friends and good fishing go hand in hand.
I know the secret bait Ron was using!!
Looks like a blast!
By the looks of it,I would say your group had a great day Bill
Nice that you guys go out of your way to get everyone involved while promoting the sport.
So what were some of the winning weights?
Heres the top five. Notice how close places 3-5 are.
1st place worth $90 – Dan Theim – 4 bluegills – 1.652 lb.
2nd place worth $45 – Ron Weltzin – 4 bluegills – 1.550 lb.
3rd place worth $15 – Tony Hanson – 4 bluegills – 1.420 lb.
4th – Nate Cadwell – 4 gills – 1.404 lb.
5th – Bill Harwick – 1 crappie, 4 gills – 1.402 lb.
Looks like a good time Bill