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Benjamin Franklin once said
“Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes a Man
Healthy, Wealthy & Wise.”
It’s doubtful Franklin was thinking of tournament
fishing when he said that but Marc Hewkin of Zion, IL
and Jason Rief of Winthrop Harbor, IL made it apply to
the Lake Geneva Bass that were in full blown spawning
mode last Sunday. They reported pulling up to their
first spot and immediately catching two pairs of 4 pound
smallmouth in just a few minutes. Bronzebacks are known
for their predisposition for annihilating lures, but
when protecting their nest they seem to take on an even
more aggressive “kamikaze” mentality. Marc and Jason
took Ben Franklin’s advice, used the aggression of these
bed fish against them and built a huge limit early. The
only question for them was…would their fish make them
look healthy, wealthy and wise when it came time for
weigh in? Their main concern was whether any teams had
dialed in the pre-spawn largemouth bite which has been
elusive for Lake Geneva anglers all season. So as the
minutes wound down they spent some time fishing for the
stubborn species and on his last cast…Jason landed
another 4 pounder to finish their mixed bag!
Needless to say, Hewkin and Rief are looking pretty wise
for the strategy that made them $1,600 wealthier. Their
overall weight of 23.18 was good enough to eclipse 2nd
place by almost two full pounds. The team stated that
they caught fish throughout the day on various baits
including tubes for some of their kickers. Marc is
sponsored by “HAWG-N-SONS” and is on the Ranger Boats
Pro Staff. Jason, an alumni of the Zion Benton High
School Bass Fishing Team, would like to thank his family
for supporting him in tournament fishing. Great job on
a very HEALTHY looking bag of fish guys!
Claiming second place was the familiar team of Rob and
Bob Fleming. This veteran partnership also targeted bed
fish and had a large limit early. Rob reported finding
some very large spawners on Friday, but was doubtful
they would still be there come Sunday. He was also sure
that to have any chance at them he would need a great
boat draw #. After pulling #35 of 39 total boats…the
Flemings were resigned to a fate of settling for smaller
fish this tournament. But…to his surprise, his spot was
vacant, the big ones were still there, and seemed eager
to join him in his Skeeter ZX225!
Rob started the day off right landing the biggest
smallmouth he’s ever weighed in at a tournament at 5.13
pounds! He quickly followed that up by landing a couple
more fish in the four pound range and the Flemings were
on a roll. They reported catching 15-20 keepers
throughout the day and ended up with a great bag of fish
weighing 21.84 lbs. The father and son team took home
$1,250 for their efforts and are sponsored by Amron
Consultants. Great tournament Flemings!
Rounding out third place was the experienced duo of Pat
Upthagrove and Buzz Oros. Like the other top finishers,
this team had a great limit in the boat early. A slight
mishap set them back by at least a half pound or so when
they accidentally released a fish that would have helped
their overall weight! The team went back to the beds to
try to recover their lost poundage, only to catch
smaller keepers. At the end of the day they swung for
fence looking for that big bite to seal the deal but it
never came. They finished with 19.88 lbs for a solid
third place finish and a check for $850. Pat is
sponsored by
www.patrickwindows.com and
www.newnorthwindows.com.
Finishing in fourth were the reigning anglers of the
year Brad Rubin and Matt Vose with another respectable
weight of 19.86 lbs. Brad and Matt also caught bed fish
early and tried to upgrade with prespawn fish that just
would not cooperate. Vose used his smallmouth sight
fishing expertise to load the boat with quality fish
fast, while Rubin added a few nice bedders and one nice
prespawner. This tournament was definitely a team
effort for the Lake Geneva veterans. Rubin credited
Colletti physical therapy (www.collettipt.com)
with allowing him to fight through back pain from a
bulging disc. He also believes that the smooth drag
systems that were worked on over the winter by Mark
Anderson at Dave’s Reel Service in Mundelein, IL were
critical to the team’s success. Rubin and Vose took
home $700 for their finish and are gearing up for
another run at anglers of the year. Rubin is sponsored
by: Action Marine,
www.dirtyjigstackle.com,
www.Davesreelservice.com,
www.webeewaxin.com, and Captain’s Boat Wiring. Vose
is sponsored by: Xtreme Lubricants,
www.Talonlures.com, KicknBass Fish Attractant, and
www.Matthewvose1.com.
Big Bucks Bass, Julie Palmer and her family ran another
wonderful tournament on beautiful Lake Geneva.
Hopefully in June both species will be cooperative and
the winning weight will be close to 30 pounds! Thanks
to Action Marine, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the
Main Street Tap and www.badhabitfishing.com for their
sponsorships. If you haven’t been out on Lake Geneva
recently, do yourself a favor and come check us out.
Tournaments on this lake are loads of fun and the
fishing is tough to beat. We hope to see you on
6/27/2010 |
