MN Pro/Am - Whitefish Chain, 7/19/03

Whitefish was a tough event for me.  I was catching some decent fish on deep weedlines with Power Worms.  Two days prior to the event however, I suffered mechanical problems.  Luckily, I was able to borrow a very nice Ranger 520 from my buddy, Steve Mattson.  With my gear moved into his boat, I got in a few hours of pre-fishing on Friday.  I stuck a couple of quality fish on some docks and now had two patterns to rely on.  Saturday would prove to be a long day.  Both patterns went south on me.  My partner, Mike McNeilus, and I managed a small limit (13.31 pounds) and finished well out of the money.   Tournament fishing can be a humbling sport.  

 Tip:  As humbling as a poor tournament day can be, try to learn something.  Beware of “dock-talk” though.  Anglers who had a good day are often fired up and flowing with information. Determining the validity of that information can be a balancing act however.  Try to develop a network with 1 or 2 other anglers that you trust.  Learn from each other, while ignoring the “dock talk” of anglers who haven’t earned your trust.

 John Ruud and his co-angler partner, Paul Rausch won the tournament with 26.72 pounds.  Awesome catch guys!