August 26, 2021 at 1:19 p.m.
Anglers bring good weights to the scale at Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament
Anglers bring good weights to the scale at Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament
Aug. 21 marked the third annual tournament. Over 60 local businesses contributed raffle prizes to the tournament, the raffles were a huge success. The raffles at the Boom Lake Open were always a lot of fun and people from the community even came out to try their luck. So I decided to continue them. Each year I am utterly surprised by the number of businesses that get involved and offer raffle prizes. This year was no exception.
Besides the money from the raffles, we also hold out 10 percent of entry fees to give to the charity involved. But when we counted in all of the businesses that donated money and product to the tournament itself to be paid out at weigh-in, we actually were able to pay out 109 percent of the entry fees paid. That is simply a testament to businesses in the outdoor industry supporting causes that further the sports we love.
With what we raised from the tournament and raffles, we were able to donate over $1,100 to the GO Program here in Wisconsin. The GO Program is somewhat new and I am happy to be a small part of it. The program helps get foster kids out fishing. Foster kids have been through more than many adults and for them to just be able to take a break and go fishing is something Rod would have loved to see.
We also held a 50/50 raffle at the event. The proceeds from that raffle went to Little Lakes Memories in Merrill. Little Lakes is a hunting preserve that brings disabled individuals, including kids, out to experience hunting. I have been lucky enough to tour the facility, and I have to say it is incredible. The lengths they go through to get disabled kids out hunting, and to get likely the only deer of their lifetime, is amazing to me. We were able to donate almost $250 to that organization through our 50/50 raffle.
Let's Go Fishing, an organization in which Rod and I were involved until he became too sick to participate, cooked burgers and brats and sold food and beverages at weigh-in. They have been part of the tournament since the beginning. While I originally asked them to provide this service and to use it as a fundraiser for their organization, they always insist on donating their proceeds to the tournament as well. That $170 will also go to Little Lakes Memories.
The morning started out cloudy and drizzly as a small cold front came through, but the day ended warm and sunny, meaning the anglers had to deal with changing conditions throughout the day.
The big decision in any tournament on Boom Lake and the Rhinelander Flowage is whether to stick it out on the main lake or the backwaters, or to make the trip up the river. With the long "no wake" zone up the river, it takes time out of the fishing day to make that run. But, at the same time, many tournaments are won up river rather than on the lake itself. I would have likely stayed on the lake, as I feel cold fronts affect smallmouth more than largemouth, but I did not fish the tournament, so I did not have to make that call (and I would have been wrong, it turned out).
One of the twists in this tournament is that we had three "Dash for Cash" hours. In one of these hours, if a team believed they had the biggest fish that would be brought in that hour, the could come and weigh the fish. That fish would go back in their live well and become part of their daily bag limit of five fish. For anglers up the river, making that trip back down might be out of the question, even if they had some good fish. But for teams that opted to stay closer to Hodag Park, even a solid two-pounder has won an hour when no other teams weighed in. Anglers found some nice fish on the lake, too, and it took over 3.5 pounds each hour to win. Winning teams collected $100 for their efforts. These three Dash for Cash hours were sponsored by Chip Bennet, who has a second home in the Minocqua area, Trevor and Amanda Mildenberger of Tomahawk and the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail, which is the trail I run.
Another of our sponsors had an innovative and fun idea. Heidi Koplitz from Arbor Vitae Marine suggested the idea. She came up with a "Secret Weight" for each of our trail tournaments as well as the Memorial Tournament. She wrote a secret weight on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope. Even I did not know what the weight would be. Normally, the team that comes closest to the secret weight without going over wins the prize. In this case, though, the secret weight was 5.20 pounds and none of the teams brought in a weight that low. We were forced to go with the team that had the lowest weight. Bob and Jim Kerchefski of Rhinelander brought four fish to the scales for 7.47 pounds to claim the $300 Secret Weight prize
Once all the teams weighed in and the scales were closed, two teams were able to bring over 20 pounds of fish to the scale. The team of Luke and Jason Lowe wrangled up 22.34 pounds for their five smallmouth. Kyle Martinson and Brendan Garrigan, who have historically done very well on Boom Lake, likely thought they had the winning bag as they came back down the river to weigh their catch. Indeed, the 21.03 pounds of smallmouth they brought to the scales could have won any other tournament out there. But last Saturday it landed them firmly in second place. They also had big smallmouth for the tournament with a 5.85 pound bronzeback.
The team of Greg Klug and Jake Minch took third with 17.82 pounds. Chase Vaughn and Tyler Jesse landed in fourth with 16.03 pounds of largemouth. Bennet and his partner Travis DeGolier had five smallmouth for 15.54 pounds and found themselves in fifth place. It would take over 14 pounds to break into the top eight. Neal Wisinksi and Dylan Minch brought in a monster largemouth at 6.55 pounds, Minch's personal best, to win the big largemouth pot.
Only one team was unable to bring any fish to the scale. Ed Wales said all he could catch were 13.5-inch fish, not big enough to keep.
In all, 102 fish were brought to the scales, 56 of them were largemouth and 46 were smallmouth. Total weight for all fish weighed was 282.62 pounds, meaning a 2.77 pound average per fish. Teams averaged 12.28 pounds of fish per team.
All that is left now is to fill out the DNR paperwork for the tournament, write checks to GO Program and Little Lakes Memories and start planning for next year. I cannot say enough about all of the sponsors of this tournament as well as the anglers who continue to participate in it. It means a lot to me, and I know it would mean a lot to Rod, that we can help to get kids out hunting and fishing and enjoying the outdoors with these donations.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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