# Huron Booster Tournament RESULTS



## FreeByrdSteve (Jun 28, 2004)

Monday Oct 11, 2004  for immediate release

2nd Annual Huron Athletic Booster Club Fundraiser Walleye Tournament results:

Strong winds forced the tournament to be delayed a day and provided a challenging combination of rough water and a tough bite on the walleye for the 24 teams that braved the conditions on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio on Sunday October 10th, 2004. With good weather we expected around 50 teams. The tournament was still a success with $1700 donated to the Huron Schools Athletic Booster Club and $3455 paid out in cash to the contestants thanks to the generous donations of several Huron, Ohio businesses.

Team Blue Dolphin brought 5 walleye to the scales with a total weight of 24.80 pounds to claim the first prize of $1069 in cash. The team of Gary Zart, Wayne Jesionowski, and 7 year old Nicholas Zart hails from Hinkley, Ohio and the 4th team member Miguel Valencia is from Westlake, Ohio. The team put together a solid gameplan during prefishing on Thursday and Friday that relied on trolling Reef Runner (www.reefrunner.com) crankbaits deep. The hot colors were Fruit Loops, Orange / Chartruse Prism, and Huckleberry. They fished approximately 14 to 15 miles Northeast of the Huron River near the west side of the Lorain/Vermillion Sandbar in 45 to 47 feet of water. The rough water performance of Garys 25 foot Carolina Classic (www.firstclassboats.com) was a key to their success as 3 of the fish the team weighed were caught on their first trolling pass which started when most teams that made the long run to the sandbar area were only about half way to the spot. The ability to troll into the waves using large planar boards instead of pulling their lines out of the water and running back up for another pass like drifters have to do after a downwind troll also played a factor in the victory as did the ability to maintain speed control using trolling bags. Team Blue Dolphin used Beefy Bags and Planar Boards made in Litchfield, Ohio by Captain Frank Kittricks Amish Outfitters (www.amishoutfitters.com).

Team Buck Eyes  Mark Goodwin of Lima, Woody Campbell of Marblehead, Frank Pennington of Grove City, and Duane Scott of Port Clinton, Ohio captured 2nd place with 5 walleye weighing 23.80 pounds to win $625 in cash. They fished the deep water to the West of the Sandbar but they caught 4 of their fish on Dipsey Divers and Michigan Stinger spoons in several colors  the common thing was the spoons all had copper backs. They pulled their biggest fish on a worm harness behind a Dipsey Diver.

Tony Gonzalez and Darryl Wood of Sandusky, Ohio teamed up to bring 5 walleye weighing 23.70 pounds to the scales to take 3rd place and $444 in cash. Tony and Darryl put together a strategy of fishing closer to the Huron river rather than making the long run to the sandbar. They also relied on Reef Runners and their hot lure was Pink Squirrel. They fished about 4 miles to the North Northwest of the Huron River just North of the old Huron Dumping Grounds.

Team Hooked On It  Brett Flacczynski of Wakeman, Ohio and Jim Wicker of Vermillion, Ohio teamed up to bring 5 walleye weighing 19.60 pounds to the scales to secure 4th place and $344 in cash. They added another $260 to their winnings by weighing the 2nd biggest fish of the tournament with an 8.60 pound walleye which was sponsored by South Shore Marine Services (www.firstclassboats.com) They made the long run to the West side of the sandbar and reported they had their success pulling spoons behind Dipsey Divers.

Scott Bower of Macedonia, Carl Nawalaniec of Valley View, and Bob Hazlet of Glen Willow, Ohio teamed up to weigh 18.55 pounds with 5 walleye. They won $263 for their 5th place catch.

Bruce Trucker and Larry Hilton of Swanton teamed up with Bruce Shane of Delta, Ohio to catch t the Big Fish of the tournament and won $450 with a beautiful walleye weighing 9.80 pounds.

The Big Fish Award was sponsored by Spreaders Bar & Grill located on the Huron River just to the North of the Huron Boat Basin on the West bank of the river. Many of the contestants enjoyed dinner and some celebratory beverages at Spreaders after the tournament discussing fishing locations, techniques and telling fish stories about the ones that got away as well as stories about the boat rides in the rough water. It was a friendly competition to benefit a good cause and there was no controversy reported.

Radio Station K96 Country WKFM 96.1 (www.wkfm.com) was one of the sponsors and donated 4 tickets to the Ringling Brothers Circus at Gund Arena in Cleveland. This prize was presented to 7 year old Nicholas Zart of Team Blue Dolphin as the youngest angler to fish in the tournament. Several teams are trying to recruit Nicholas to join them in the next tournament but so far nobody has come up with enough money to entice him to fish with someone other than his dad Gary  but the rumor is that Nicholas likes to go fast in choppy water so there is at least one team that thinks they have a chance to fish with Nicholas

THANK YOU to the following sponsors and supporters of the tournament:

South Shore Marine, Huron Lagoons Marina, Holiday Harbor Marina, Gull Motel, Berardis Restaurant, Cranberry Creek Marina, Carl Walskis Boat Ramp, Spreaders Restaurant, Family Eye Care, Ace Hardware, Latanik Equipment, Katman Graphics, Western Basin Sportfishing Association, Denny Brauns Sportsmans Outpost, Doug Steinwart Huron Boat Basin.

To support next years tournament / fundraiser contact Steve Noftz at 419-656-3721.

For tournament related questions, contact Tournament Director Steve Carlson 330-283-2155 or [email protected]


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