April 20, 2023 at 11:53 a.m.
Fish Like a GIRL
Gearing up for another tournament season
There are open tournaments almost every weekend that anyone can join. There are series to fish, which is always fun because most of the same people fish each tournament in a series. This creates camaraderie and the feeling of an extended family.
For that reason, I truly enjoy running the series that Chet and I run, the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail. We took the series over four years ago from the Park City Bass Club. I was a member of that club for many years, based out of Merrill, and helped run the series when it was called The Central Wisconsin River Series. I made a lot of friends in the club and the series as well. When the club expressed little interest in continuing with the series, Chet and I took it over and renamed it - something of a fresh start, if you will.
My experience with running bass fishing tournaments goes back to 2006, when my late husband Rod and I were in a bass club in Rhinelander called Hodag Bassmasters. We helped to run the Boom Lake Open, and Rod was tournament director of that event for many years, up until 2014.
Those days were so much fun. We never did very well in the tournament, as it is difficult when you are running the tournament. We would not even launch the boat until everyone else was gone, and we would have to be back early to help get everything ready for weigh-in. Back in the days of the Open, it was more about being out on the water with all of the guys than it was being competitive - at least in that tournament.
It was a two-day tournament, with Saturday fishing running from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. We always had food and beverages at weigh-in, courtesy of club member Jeannie Eades. We also had a huge raffle as our club fundraiser. Local businesses would always donate all kinds of different things. Anglers would bring donations to raffle off, and we even had some raffle prizes from big, national companies. It took a great deal of effort for four of us to make it all work, but we did it, and it was a lot of fun for many years.
After Rod and I moved on from the Hodag Club, they no longer ran the Open. They simply did not have enough club members who would step up to help run it, so it went by the wayside. I hate to see that kind of thing happen, as once a tournament is gone, it will likely never come back.
Now, though, Chet and I run the Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament on Boom Lake at the same time of the year as Rod and I used to help run the Boom Lake Open. I really meant that tournament to take the place of the one that has fallen by the wayside, and it does. We get some of the same guys we used to have in the Open, and it still holds the same sense of family that it did back then. It is a fun tournament and each year we choose kids' organizations to receive any proceeds.
For the last few years the Let's Go Fishing Hodag Chapter has provided food and beverages as a fundraiser for their nonprofit as well. Let's Go Fishing is an organization to which Rod and I donated a good deal of time while he was alive and able. Rod became a boat captain and I became a first mate, also helping out with taking photos and promoting the organization.
Let's Go Fishing's mission is to "bring nature's healing and well-being to seniors, veterans and the disabled." We would take out groups of seniors or people from group homes. It was always a good time, especially with the seniors as many of them had lived in the area all of their lives and would have many different stories about the families that lived in various houses along our cruise route. It is great to be able to include that group in Rod's memorial tournament.
In another example of not letting a tournament go away, for over 25 years the Wausau bass club held a two-day tournament called the Up/Down. The first day anglers would fish on the Stevens Point Flowage and the second day they would hit the Biron Flowage. This club, too, ran out of members who were interested in running the tournament.
Their tournament director, Roger Modrzezjewski, had been a tournament director for over 40 years, not only with the club but with The Bass Federation (TBF) at the state level. He was ready to hang it up. Some of the anglers in our series asked Chet and I if we would be willing to "just pick up one more tournament. Please?"
Of course we agreed.
Both us of understand that once tournaments are gone, they will likely stay gone. That was the reason we took over the series. It is not often a new series comes along, although we did have one in the last few years, the Wisconsin Elite Series, which seems to have a lot of its own clientele in the southeastern part of the state. Our good friend Gregg Kizewski from St. Germain also runs one of the best trails around, the Upper Midwest Bass Challenge Series (UMBCS).
The UMBCS has been around for many years. In fact, Rod and I fished the Western Division a time or two, and Rod fished that with his previous fishing partner before I fished with him. The Central Division is the newer of three divisions Kizewski runs, but it has still been around for years. Chet and I fish his series and he fishes ours. That is how the fishing family works.
With the addition of the Up/Down tournament last year, that gives Chet and I nine tournament days that we run tournaments. The Up/Down is somewhat of an anomaly, as teams can fish one day or both, and awards are given both days. There is also an overall first through third place awarded (depending on the number of boats). So that two-day event and our two-day championship, plus Rod's memorial tournament and our four qualifier tournaments for the series brings us to nine days.
On the surface, nine days does not seem like a huge commitment. But a lot goes into running tournaments, as any former tournament director will tell you. It is not just the one day on the water that is important. Lining up sponsors is a year-round commitment. We have been super fortunate that all of our sponsors have stuck with us since the beginning. Arbor Vitae Marine has been our presenting sponsor for the last two years and Corey and Heidi Koplitz. They are friends and also fun to work with. Heidi and I come up with crazy ideas and just run with them. The anglers seem to enjoy our interesting twists as well. So it's not all drudgery and work, but there are many things that need to be done in the offseason.
Our season actually kicks off with our boat draw event, which we held earlier this month. That takes a lot of preparation, too, and can be a bit stressful, but in a few hours all of the fanfare is over and all of the teams know the take off order for all four of the qualifier events for the season. For our opens, the Up/Down and the Memorial, we do take off order a bit differently, so those we do not deal with at boat draw.
Of course, all of our tournaments require a permit from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as well. I try to pull permits at least by January in order to have all of that paperwork in order before the beginning of the season. Because we have a permit, there is also a requirement to file paperwork regarding the tournament once the tournament is held. This must be done within 30 days, or the tournament director may not be able to pull permits in the future. One nice thing about this, though, is tournament directors can use the tournament portal to complete that paperwork without having to mail everything in. But it still has to be done.
Once we get to the championship, most of the work is done.
This year, our championship will be in Minocqua. We will be fishing the Minocqua Chain on September 23 and 24. I am still working with the Let's Minocqua Chamber on some details, but I know the event will take place somewhere on Lake Minocqua rather than taking off out of Lake Tomahawk. Krystal at the chamber has been great to work with regarding tournaments. She truly understands the money our anglers bring to the area and the draw of having tournaments.
Many of our anglers bring their entire families and eat, dine and shop in the Minocqua area for a week leading up to the championship tournament. They also spend time here throughout the summer as they prefish and get ready for the competition. They specifically asked to come back to Minocqua again this year for the championship, and Chet and I were happy to oblige that request.
The Northwoods is a great place to recreate and for all of the families of our 72 anglers to relax and enjoy themselves. We look forward to being here in September again. The public is always welcome to attend weigh-ins.
More information will be provided here in this Outdoors section as the date gets closer.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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