Attendance down for Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament

The Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament saw attendance dip a bit this year, but almost 40 anglers took to Boom Lake in the hopes of bringing in the heaviest five bass of the day. Gaskill was an avid bass angler who moved to the Northwoods from Las Vegas, Nevada in the mid-1990s. At the time, bass fishing was not nearly as popular as it is now, but there was some interest and Gaskill, with a core group of other anglers, created the Hodag Bassmasters, which would become a B.A.S.S.-affiliated club. Each year the club held the Hodag Bassmasters Boom Lake Open in August. After Gaskill lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2018, organizers got the idea to bring that tournament back, which was last held in 2014, and name the tournament after him. 

Changes next year

This year a decision was made to change the date in an attempt to attract more anglers. However, next year, the tournament will return to its normal third weekend in August, but with an exciting twist. The Boom Lake Open had always cut off the tournament anglers at the McNaughton Bridge. The feeling was that the resource above that bridge was special, and not something that should have a lot of tournament pressure. For that reason, the Rod Gaskill Memorial Tournament also does not allow anglers to boat north of that bridge. 

Gary Slagle (right) and Tom Hagge wound up with big largemouth of the day on Boom Lake with a 4.54 pound bucket mouth.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)

This year organizers came up with a twist that many anglers said they would enjoy. Next year the event will return to a two-day tournament, as the Boom Lake Open used to be. 

On day one, all teams will launch and weigh-in at the Hodag Park boat landing, as they always have. The first day of the tournament will look very similar to the current Rod Gaskill Memorial Tournament. Places will be awarded based on how many teams compete, with one place per every five boats being paid out at the end of day one. Part of that purse will be held back for the overall finishers at the end of the two-day event.

On day two, the top 10 teams will be easing off from the McNaughton Bridge with the opportunity to go north of that bridge if they so choose. The caveat will be that anglers north of the bridge must adhere to a slow-no-wake speed. They will take off one hour earlier than the rest of the field, and weigh in two hours earlier. First and second place will be paid out of the purse of those who fished above the bridge that day.

The rest of the teams who choose to compete on day two will compete on the same tournament waters as day one — anything south of the McNaughton Bridge, and will be taking off and weighing in at the Hodag Park landing. Day two results will be determined just as day one results were, with one place for every five boats that compete on day two. Overall winners will be paid out based on a points system with likely first through third place being paid out.

This tournament will also see the return of food and beverages being sold as well as bucket raffles. Tournament organizers are working with the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, and the proceeds of this tournament will go toward a WWF scholarship program. Gaskill was a strong proponent of getting the next generation into the outdoors and the scholarship program, which benefits students who are going into the natural resources field, felt like a good fit, organizers said.

2024 results

The day started out cool and cloudy, and anglers could feel fall in the air as they took off from Hodag Park in the morning. There is always a decision to be made with this tournament, or any tournament on this body of water. Should a team head up river, meaning a long no wake that eats time out of the fishing day? Or should they stay down on the lake, which means more fishing time, but which may not bring as big of a bag?

For many years of the Boom Lake Open, tournaments had been won up the river as well as down on the lake. In the last several years, however, it has seemed that in order to win the tournament a team would have to go up the river. For the last two years, however, the lake has been proving itself to be a player in the game again, with tournaments being won in both the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail and Upper Midwest Bass Challenge Series events by teams who stayed on the lake.

One twist with this tournament that factors into the decision for teams is the three Dash for Cash hours. Dash for Cash used to be popular decades ago, and organizers brought it back for this event. In the 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock and noon hours, if a team believes they have the biggest fish to be brought in during that hour, they can come in and weigh that fish. That fish cannot be weighed for any other hour, and must remain as part of the team’s limit for the day. The team to bring in the heaviest fish each hour wins $100. Most of the teams fishing up river will not make the trip back down to weigh a big fish, but on occasion one does. This year, however, all three hours were won by anglers who stayed on the lake for at least part of the day.

Two of the hours were taken by the same team, Rex Hilgart and Wayne Dezotell, a pair that has fished the Boom Lake Open many times and knew Gaskill well. They brought in a fish just over four pounds for the 9 o’clock hour and one just under four pounds to win the noon hour. The team of Chet Netzel, who is one of the tournament organizers, and Mike O’Shaughnessy brought in a 3.19 pound smallmouth to win the 10 o’clock hour.

The fish cooperated with most teams during the tournament with only four teams failing to bring a limit of fish to the scales. Only one team did not weigh any fish at the end of the day. 

Denny and Terry Strasser wound up with big smallmouth of the day with a 4.22 pound bronze back. Gary Slagle, a long-time Boom Lake Open angler, was teamed up with Tom Hagge this year and Slagle was able to boat the biggest largemouth of the day at 4.54 pounds.

Chase Vaughn and Tyler Jesse, who were also Boom Lake Open regulars, took third place at the end of the day with a mixed bag weighing in at 16.17 pounds.

Second place went to Slagle and Hagge. Their big largemouth anchored their five fish limit of largemouth, weighing in at 16.29 pounds.

Hilgart and Dezotell wound up with a solid first place finish. They, too, had all largemouth and spent the day fishing on the lake rather than heading up river. They had 18.90 pounds in four fish.

“When we took off this morning, I said, Rod, this one’s for you,” Dezotell said. Both Dezotell and Hilgart said it was the best day they had ever had on Boom Lake.

Overall, 19 teams brought in 86 fish, with an almost even split of largemouth and smallmouth. That was an average of 4.5 fish per team.

All totaled, the fish weighed in weighed 233.26 pounds. This put the average fish at 2.71 pounds and a team average of 12.27 pounds. 

While all tournaments seem to bring together what anglers call “fishing family,” this tournament in particular brings together a great group of anglers, most of whom have fond memories and fun stories of fishing with Gaskill and fishing the Open back in the day. The tournament is open to any team whose boat meets minimum tournament requirements and with at least $300,000 in liability insurance on their boat. More information on next year’s Rod Gaskill Memorial Bass Tournament will be added to the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail website, wisconsinbassteamtrail.com in the coming weeks. Entry forms for the 2025 event will be available after January 1, 2025. Take off order for day one of the tournament will be determined by the order in which entries are received.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].