With the help of local Taxidermist Aimee Martin of Great Outdoors Taxidermy for offering to do a replica mount for the Winner, Kansas Crappie Club was able to hold a Big Fish of the Year Contest. It was a fun little adventure as we traveled across Kansas this year enjoing the great Crappie fishing this State has to offer. We got to see plenty of good fish come to the scales, but none of them were as nice as the surprise Dustin Hobbs recieved at the Single Pole Shootout on Tuttle Creek in Manhattan, KS. The weather that weekend was about as good as it gets for fishing, although we did have a bit of fog on the water that morning. Dustin, along with his Tournament Partner Will Bevan, were out on the Main Lake using his Lowrance HDS Gen 3's to take a peek at a few waypoints before putting his Motorguide Xi 5 to work holding them over a submerged tree that was covered in Crappie. The first jig down was dropped by his partner Will and was hit by something huge he said, probally a Catfish that got off the hook before showing himself making all but one of the marks Dustin was looking at on his HDS Gen 3 scatter. The particular tree he was fishing sat in 20 ft with the top of the tree being 10 ft down or so. He said he saw the fish come about 2 ft up out of the tree and smack his Jig. After hooking up, his first thought was he had hooked into a big Drum or White Bass. Much to his astonisment though, his big Drum was actually a Monster Slab, and after realizing he didn't have his net handy, he crossed his fingers and just flung him in. This was the first year Dustin put away the Walleye gear and really focused hard on Crappie he says. He had a great year fishing the Kansas Crappie Club Tournament Trail. He consistanly placed towards the top and ending up in the Top 3 and Winning Big Fish several times this year. He fishes out of an Evinrude powered Deep V Ranger, rigged with Lowrance Electronics and a Mototrguide Xi 5, when asked what baits he uses to fish and place near the top, which is where I've come to expect him to be, he simply said,.....Garlands,...Always. Just dropping a few quick lines to touch on an upcoming 50/ 50 split Fundraiser for KCC and Fishing's Future. I have been getting asked for Club Shirts and our Logo Lisc Plates, as some of you know,....this is funded out of my VA Disability, and the things I want to do for the Club and the things I actually can do for the Club are sometimes 2 different things, so this is going to finally fix all that. Phil Taunton has taken point on this, and he has really knocked it out of the park. I will have a full list of prizes in the next few days posted to the Facebook page, tickets will be going up for sale soon, and the drawings will take place out our Council Grove Tournament during our Spring Crappie Camp on the 6th and 7th of May, 2017. The Spring Camp is going to be a big deal, with a Kids Derby,
Giveaways including an Old Town Canoe at random during the day, a fish fry contest Sponsored by Quail & Upland Wildlife Federation, and a live band and dinner hosted by Council Grove Marina for us. It's sure to be a great time with Awesome Prizes that include Camping Gear from Coleman, an Abu Garcia Revo STX combo, a Lifetime Kansas Fishing License, and much more. Full details coming soon, for more information the point of contact will be Phil Taunton and we are looking for Volunteers to help sell tickets,...of course there will be fishing trips and jigs for anyone that helps. This is gonna be a good time,...so be sure to start letting everyone know. |
AuthorJoe Bragg Archives
December 2019
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