Gable and McNamara Run Away From the Field in

1^st Geneva Tournament with 27.71!!!
 

“When I saw the wind, I knew it would be a good day for us.”

In typical fashion, the weather man predicted light winds all week long for Saturday at Lake Geneva.  Not surprisingly, that prediction went out the window right before the tournament and forced many anglers to change their game plans.  Mike Gable and Shane McNamara however, were unfazed by the gusty conditions and actually welcomed them.  Having competed in a 2003 spring tournament on Geneva under the same circumstances, the team was confident they could put together a nice bag… and they were right! 

Much like last year’s 1^st event, smallmouth were all over the beds making for easy pickings in Geneva’s gin clear waters.   But the aforementioned 25 mph winds turned the smallmouth pattern into a blurry, frustrating mess.  The teams that chose to focus on pre-spawn largemouth made up the majority of the top ten finishers.  One such team was Mike Gable and his nephew Shane McNamara who blew away the competition by almost 3 pounds with their eye popping weight of 27.71.  The pair reported limited practice time with Mike only pre-fishing about 4 hours on Memorial Day.  Prior experience definitely helped this duo locate and catch their massive bag as did the “Got R Done” jigs Mike gets from Kurt Eberly.  Mike would like to thank Kurt for the jigs and Ryan Incorporated Central for the use of their truck.  For their efforts, the two took home $1,800 and will receive $1,000 bonus cash from Skeeter Boats.  Awesome job guys!

Finishing 2^nd was the always dangerous team of Doug Becker and Ron Ottinger who brought another huge bag to the scales at 24.96.  With last year’s season ender weight of 29.56, these two caught almost 55 lbs. of fish in their last two tournaments at Geneva.  Doug commented that the lake is definitely in a peak of a cycle and that the weights are better than he’s ever seen.  The pair logged some good practice time and mentioned that fishing actually slowed significantly on tournament day.  They had to work for their fish and ended up catching 2 that combined for 9 pounds in the last 45 minutes of their day.  It always pays off to fish hard to the last minute – especially on Geneva.  Doug and Ron are sponsored by Rainbow signs and JD Guide service and took home $1,540 for their day – congratulations guys.

Ending their day in 3^rd was the team of William Heim and Dean Martin with 23.57.  This pair also logged some good practice time and located one key stretch of weeds about 50 ft. long in 10-12 ft. of water.  They had 3 spots where they caught all their fish and also landed a monster 5.8 lb largemouth shortly before weigh in.  Their key was being able to fight the wind all day effectively with the batteries William bought at Action Marine.  Heim wanted to thank Julie and Jack Mudgett for allowing him to exchange a battery a couple weeks back which proved to be the difference.  William and Dean are sponsored by Action Marine and Skeeter Boats and took home $1,200 for their efforts.

Rounding out 4^th place with a weight of 20.66 were Brad Rubin of Antioch, IL and Pete Sagartz of Elk Grove, IL.  Like the 1^st 3 teams, this pair focused on prespawn largemouth and caught their fish on a combination of “Dirty Jigs Tackle” jigs and soft plastics.  Losing a 5 pounder at the boat and watching it swim away in Geneva’s clear waters, the pair managed to pull it together and cash a nice check for $950.  Brad is sponsored by Dave’s Reel Service in Vernon Hills, www.dirtyjigstackle.com, Captain’s Boat Wiring and Lee’s Bait and Tackle in Elk Grove.  Pete is sponsored by marine super warehouse www.Ebuyersworld.com.

Congratulations to the 1^st – 10^th place teams for cashing a check on this challenging, windy day.  The June 21^st tournament on Geneva will likely be a slugfest with several teams vying to break the 30 lb. Barrier.  We hope to see as many boats as possible there to fish this incredible lake.  The on-the-water weigh-ins are working very nicely and the new DNR regulations haven’t hampered the fishing a bit.  Fishermen are taking great care of their catch and the results are clearly visible with extremely healthy fish swimming away after weigh-in.  Thanks to everyone for taking such excellent care of this valuable resource!

Thanks again to Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Action Marine and Jack and Julie Mudgett for putting on a great tournament.  See you on 6/21!