Midwest Sportsman Mich Div 20 (Huron Valley)

[ebond]

Bass Tournament Enthusiasts,

I hope you plan to compete in the Midwest Sportsman Michigan Division 20 team bass tournament trail. All six events will be held on Sundays in the Ann Arbor area on numerous lakes connected to the Huron River. The entry fee for each event will be $100, including $90 paid back at 90% to the top finishing teams, and $10 for big bass paid back at 100% to a single team.

Teams will qualify for the Michigan Classic based on their best 4 finishes. Teams fishing at least 5 events will automatically qualify. A substitute partner may be used up to two times. Membership dues of $40 are required for each participant during the first three events. Non-members are invited to join us at the final three events. Only members will earn points toward the standings.

Registrations will begin Sunday mornings at 6:00 AM at the launch, payable in cash only. Tournaments will last from 7:00 AM until 3:00 PM, except as noted for Portage Lake, where registration will begin at 7:00 AM at Riverside Pizza, across from the launch. Teams will also be required to pay an additional $5 at Portage Lake to offset the cost of the DNR site use permit, with any surplus used for buying pizza for participants at the weigh-in.

My good friend, Grant Shively, will be the assistant director and my teammate at every event. He can be contacted at 734-478-1218 or grantgoblue@hotmail.com. Volunteers and sponsors are invited to contact us if they wish to contribute. We look forward to conducting events that are well run and fun to fish. Please tell your friends about this new trail. Thanks for your interest. We'll see you at the lakes!

Eric_Bond

Tournament Director
Michigan Division 20
Midwest Sportsman

248-629-6370
erdobo70@yahoo.com

Schedule/Details/Results/Standings (click to view)

[FOB]

Eric,

I was under the impression that there was an NBAA that had pulled a permit and was going out of that launch that day, 8/16/09.  I had received the flyer from Adam Hieber at our open house on March 30.  Now I see you posting your tounament schedule on 4/10 with the same date.  I did not think they allowed 2 tournaments to go out of the same launch.

Please let us know for sure.
Thanks,

[AdamH]

Just to confirm...NBAA will be launching out of the WEST RAMP that day.  This "other" tournament is launching out of the East for some reason...

[McCarter]

are we talking about kent lake?  i am assuming because you guys are talking about east and west launch???

McCarter himself

[McCarter]

nevermind, seen the date.  No biggie.  Kent fishes big.  It can handle 2 tournaments as long as we are at different launches.  I dont think you need "permits" for kent.  You just have to call Dick Shaeffer and let him know your coming that way they dont schedule 2 tournaments at the same launch on the same day.  But it happens. 

McCarter himself

[AdamH]

Yeah, I agree, there's plenty of room.  The permit we received back in January had the incorrect date written in by whomever types those things up over there at Kent Lake, no bid deal...all it took was a phone call to clear it up once we figured out it happened.  Why someone would knowingly schedule another one for that same day is beyond me...especially considering we've been posted on NBAA's site since late Jan/early Feb and I handed my schedule to the director of the other tourney going out of the East Ramp when I saw him at the Wonderland show, which is before his was even scheduled.  We'd have better payouts if we just had the 1 tourney instead of 2.  Most are probably NBAA members anyway, hope to see you all at the West Ramp, don't whoop us too bad, should be fun event.

AH

[ebond]

Sorry for the overlap! I was not thinking about NBAA when we were asked by MWS to add a sixth event to our series on a tight deadline. The park superintendent said the date was open and it was the perfect fit for our trail. They approved the permit April 2. I have never had any problems getting permits at Kensington.

This scheduling conflict was unintended. Anglers from both trails are earning points toward a championship, so jackpotters are not likely to pay a membership fee just to fish this lake on this date, anyway. Hopefully the members were not planning to fish both trails. I doubt either event will suffer much as a result.

Midwest Sportsman teams use only 4 of 6 events to qualify for the championships. If we lose a few teams that day to NBAA because of a typo, I won't mind. Both trails have something to offer, depending on the desires of their members.

[blakstr1]

something is up with Midwest Sportsman website, when you go there and try to click on the Michigan tab....it doesn't link to anything??

i'd like to view all of the divisions in Michigan, but especially something around mid-Michigan.

[ebond]

The MI page link has a typo. It reads www,mwfishingmi.com instead of www.mwfishingmi.com. But the information has not been updated since '08. You might want to contact Michigan Director Mike Pierce at 517-462-0239.

[bigjc]

Great looking schedule, I cannot wait.

[ebond]

Visit South Street Tackle in Belleville to pick up the new Huron Valley Sunday division flier, featuring two events on Belleville Lake, or the complete schedule of the 20 Midwest Sportsman Michigan divisions, or the Belleville Lake Thursday division flier. The bass bait selection at South Street Tackle is first rate.

Our flier, as well as the complete Michigan divisions flier, is also available at Gander Mountain in Novi. They are conveniently located across from Twelve Oaks Mall. They have a good selection of the top brands we all use for catching bass. I am still looking for a tackle store near Portage Lake which is ideal for carrying our fliers. Any help on getting the word out to anglers who might like to fish with us will be appreciated.

[squid]

ebond,

Other than you post here, how am I to find out where to fish in divisions in my area?  Is this a secret club these days?...lol

[ebond]

Contact Gary Bailey at Midwest Sportsman at 517-784-0391 for more information regarding other MWS divisions, or get the Michigan schedules at South Street Tackle or Gander Mountain.

[squid]

Thank you. 

I have phone numbers of the Directors for the Mondays in my area, but I run an NBAA div that night, but heard there was a Tuesday night division, but I have no idea who, where, pr how to get ahold of anyone on that one.  Thanks for the info.

[ebond]

With 90% payback at the ramp, plus the Michigan Classic, this series is great for Detroit area teams. We'll see you at the ramp Sunday!

Eric_Bond

Tournament Director
Michigan Division 20
Midwest Sportsman

248-629-6370
erdobo70@yahoo.com

[McCarter]

Great tournament!  Eric and Grant did a stellar job and the payouts were very high.

Congrats to Jess Scott and Barry Bucharelli for 1st and big bass

and Eric and Grant took 2nd place.

there were 8 or 9 boats but only 4 boats weighed in.

McCarter himself

[ebond]

Schedule/Results/Standings

[Lightningboy]

Well, I don't know about "stellar".  Least they could have done was to reserve us a slip to load up when we got in.   

That ramp's a cluster when it gets busy.  That's probably one of the worst waits I've had at Belleville.

Always strikes me funny since the scenario is always the same.  Dad drives the truck to the ramp.  They wait in line and then take the straps off once they get in position to back up.  The backing actually takes a couple of tries till hull hits water.  Then they gotta tie up at the dock, preventing anyone else from using it while they unload all the kids & gear.  Then dad parks the truck, and gets back to the boat; of course it won't start.  Never heard of muffs & a hose in the driveway first.

Throw in a few arguments by those waiting to put in having their spot taken by someone trying to get out, and you got a bad Jerry Springer episode.

Life is to short to waste it at the ramp...

[ebond]

The place was very busy and, not surprisingly, slow, due to folks not knowing how to drive the boat. This simple logic problem perplexes the average pleasure boater. I recently gave my 15 year old cousin a crash course on boat operation at the ramp and backed him into the lake!

Would you believe he had no problem with on/off, forward/neutral/reverse (no brakes!), and a steering wheel? Maybe we can offer how-to pamphlets or something at the ramps when they get clogged up. Everything takes more than twice as long when the next rig has to wait for the ramp to become open. That was pretty ugly.

But the tournament was great! Kent Lake should be much better with its ten ramps, although parking can be tight. And I expect more teams to catch nice limits. McCarter's Tuesday night tournament next week should be the perfect sneak preview for our next tournament. Thanks again for coming to our inaugural event. I think we have a solid trail forming here.

[ebond]

Oh, by the way, I am sure glad "Mark117" was a no-show. Grant and I would have been bumped down to 3rd. After all, he did say:

"I was thinking of getting a part time job but this sounds like easy money.  See you out there, i will be the guy weighing in more fish than you 

Jon "technique specialist" Jezierski"

Maybe we should forget to remind him about Kent, just to be on the safe side.